[haflingerfriends] Re: genetic question

I am not sure why you think you need a replacement mare I guess, but regardless, to better answer your question on genes and color, each horse, mare and dam, posses each gene generally. Most stallions, including Arno himself, pass on one gene, then the mare does the same, to know which gene which horse passes on is not a science at this point, especially in the haflinger gene pool. That is why it requires leg work to find out what each stallions "traits" or genes are that he passes on and the same for the mare lines. I know that Arno does not improve color, but does improve many other flaws in mares. So you have to decide wether color is important enough to you that you wouldn't breed a mare soley on this fact! I know that our young stallion DOES pass his color on. I don't have a light foal out of him no matter what mares he was bred to. I do know that some of the same mares have produced light colored foals in the past when bred to other stallions. See what I am getting at here? That is what I mean by certain lines in the haflingers produce certain qualities. I know that Alto, the stallion now owned by Denny in Canada, had tremendous color himself,
but did not always pass it on. So- I either took my chances when
breeding some of the lighter mares, or I searched for mares with good color and producing power of good color. Yes, this is something that was told to the new owners before they purchased him. However, they choose to purchase him and compliment mares to him.
To rephrase, you can predict all you want, you can try to answer these questions, but breeding IS NOT A GUARANTEED SCIENCE! Breeders simply do there best to find mares and stallions to compliment one another. Obviously every generation still could use improvement, some lines more than others. That is what breeding is about- especially in the haflinger breed- we are trying hard to preserve some of the older lines and seriously improve them, instead of letting them go distinct. We have certain lines that are seriously dominent and others that are in need of help. The haflinger gene pool is too small to let one or two lines take over the entire breed. So- that is without a doubt a great part in breeding haflingers, if you are serious about the breed. Sure- I could go buy different mares, the latest, top of the chart, ect., but I would not just quit my breeding program here to own the best by popular demand at this point. Do I want to improve? OF COURSE! Do I buy an occasional mare here and there trying to improve- OF COURSE! Do I own an Arno daughter- ABSOLUTELY! What needs improving on her you ask? her color- do I have the right stallion for the job- YUP! Am I excited about the possabilities....oh ya!! Could it fail? Yup. Did I know when I bought her that color was a poor subject in that line, yup. But I am confident enough about my stallion to have purchased the mare anyway, even after talking with John Dunkel, who so generously told me up front about the color issues at hand. See- breeders are not mean people- we want what is best for the breed, not just ourselves. Are you understanding any of what I am saying here, or should I just quit writing because it makes no difference to you really?!
Many of the genes that we are dealing with for improvement are double recesive genes, that is why there is no way of scientificly knowing. Some, however have a Dominent gene and a recessive gene, but still, it depends on what each horse passes on-
Like I said before- if it were a 100% science that we all knew- we would all have the perfect horse! Thank god it is not!!!
Hoping this helps....
Sincerely,
Dawn

--- In haflingerfriends@yahoogroups.com, "castlerockjacobs" <castlerockjacobs@...> wrote:
>
> Let me rephrase...if I am to get a replacement, how would I know how to answer all those questions I stated before for predicting the get of a certain stallion? Or is there no system? then should you ask the breeder what their goals are for the current generation? And those with stallions...what kind of goals do you have for the mares you breed to, especially outside ones? With most of us stuck inside with the weather I must admit I expected more of a discussion, especially from those known for breeding. Like the long timers on this site asking why we do not discuss genetics more often....then the answer is to just get a replacement? We still need to understand genetics if we are getting a replacement. Or do we only look at fully trained 5 yr. olds?
>

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