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Inheritance of gait - was [RC] gaited arabs? - Rosalie MarleyA couple of months ago I decided to see what was known about "inheritance of gait". I am trying to breed horses that are patterned like appaloosas AND are "soft-gaited" (fox-trot, running walk, anything between the extremes of pace and trot). "The Appaloosa Project" is a research group working on isolating the LP gene and its modifiers and has been making good progress in understanding that part of my equation. So I figured I would see what was known about the gait part. I discovered Dr. Bailey at University of Kentucky who is the head of the Equine Genome Project. I asked what was known about inheritance of gait. He said that it was a really interesting research question, but that no work had ever been done at the genetic level, to his knowlege. By this, he meant that there have been no formal studies with statistically large enough numbers to be useful. Through an exchange of emails, we discussed ways of collecting family data to try to trace inheritance. I am very new to "gaitedness", and he patiently explained a couple of the big stumbling blocks to this kind of research. One is that there is not a standardised vocabulary for the gaits! An amble might be a pace or a singlefoot in some areas. Another is that some horses can be taught to "gait" under saddle, even if they might not do that gait at liberty. He did think that because of this, there is likely an entire complex of genes working together. Standardbred race horses are all started as trotters. Those who don't trot fast enough become trained as pacers! Based on the correspondence with Dr. Bailey, I think any "gait genetics" that is currently being written about is based on private experience, theories or models. They are steps to understanding, perhaps, but they are not necessarily the whole or real picture. Rosalie Marley __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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