Having read this article https://www.racingpost.com/bloodstock/n ... AF5N9jDbE/ following the death of Indian Haven ( https://www.racingpost.com/bloodstock/n ... Ua0v5N5Az/ ) it made me wonder;
Are we actually losing the influence of The Byerley Turk overall or ‘just’ as tail male (sire line) ancestor? And how much does ‘tail male’ matter?
I come from an Arabian horse background - where mare line (strain) is absolutely paramount and with things like mitochondrial DNA I can see an argument for a disproportionate influence by tail female ancestry. But how much influence can and does the ‘tail male’ have? Are there similar mechanisms in play and / or anecdotally /with hands on experience, do breeders see significant differences in practice?
I wholly appreciate that losing genetic diversity more generally is a big issue, and we’re seeing particular sire lines dominate, but what are people’s thoughts on this?
This isn’t meant to dismiss the concern by any means! Coming from an Arabian horse background, and seeing the changes to the Polish Arabian breeding programme in very recent years, I think functional genetic diversity and sire lines seem to matter more in practice than my amateur knowledge of genetics understands why!
I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts and I intend to read Suzi Pritchard-Jones’s book Byerley which I understand is about this issue.
The Byerley Turk line: how much does ‘tail male’ matter?
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BaroqueAgain1
- Posts: 15253
- Joined: Sat Sep 14, 2013 6:16 pm
I know Zenyatta matured into a kind and tolerant mare, but she didn't exactly start that way. John Sherriff's longtime exercise rider, the wonderful late Steve Willard, said she dumped him a LOT when she was young. He called her a "HUSSY." 
I don't think she was ever mean, but she sure had strong opinions.
I don't think she was ever mean, but she sure had strong opinions.
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Flanders
- Posts: 9958
- Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2013 7:01 pm
I've typed things out multiple times and it was way to long. I'm having a hard time conveying what I want to say.
I don't know the answer to the question but to me, losing any tail male line has to be bad. The genetics are and always will be out there, as long as the Thoroughbred bred exisits. There will be some that are lost, that are specific to the Y chromosome but not many genetics are Y chromosome specific.
Here is a great article that explains everything, way better than I could even try to.
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing ... -stallions
I don't know the answer to the question but to me, losing any tail male line has to be bad. The genetics are and always will be out there, as long as the Thoroughbred bred exisits. There will be some that are lost, that are specific to the Y chromosome but not many genetics are Y chromosome specific.
Here is a great article that explains everything, way better than I could even try to.
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing ... -stallions