Estimates of parameters and genetic values of the characteristics cow sense and monetary profitability in horses of the breed Quarter Horse athletes of the cutting modality in Brazil

• Grant number: 21/02082-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2021
• End date: January 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Genetics and Improvement of Domestic Animals
• Principal Investigator: Josineudson Augusto Ii de Vasconcelos Silva
• Grantee: Larissa Yahagi Rodrigues
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of the project is to analyze the estimates of the parameters and genetic values of the characteristics cow sense (CS) and monetary profitability (RM) in athletes practicing the cutting modality in Brazil, in order to provide technical information for use in the design of mating in animal breeding programs of the Quarter Horse breed. The characteristic CS is defined as the innate ability of the horse to work in the cutting, in order to facilitate the management with the animals, therefore, determinant in the evaluation of the performance of the horse in competitions. The RM characteristic represents in the present study the sum of the monetary awards obtained during the sports life of a given animal or until the moment of its evaluation. The horses evaluated in the project will be athletes animals of the Quarter Horse breed, competitors in the cutting modality (events). The database referring to characteristic CS (points) will be obtained on the website of the Brazilian Association of Quarter Horse Breeders (ABQM), while the information of the RM characteristic will be collected on the website of the National Association of the Cutting Horse (ANCA). The animals evaluated were born between 1970 and 2017, participants of cutting competitions between 1981 and 2020. The first phase of the project will consist of the elaboration of the database of the characteristics to be evaluated, consistency, descriptive analysis, and study of environmental effects. Estimates of variance components will be obtained under Bayesian inference, using a uni characteristic animal model. The model used for the CS characteristic (repeated measures) will include the systematic effects of sex and age, and the random effects of animals, the permanent environment of the animal, and the residue. The RM characteristic (single measure) will include the fixed effects of year of birth and sex, and the covariate number of competitions, in addition to the additive and residual genetic effect. The effects considered in the model will be verified after analysis of minimum squares (p<0.01) and passive changes of the variables indicated. In the implementation of Gibbs sampling, it will be considered a single chain with a length of 1,100,000 cycles and with disposal period and sampling interval established after visualization of the chain graph. Results are expected to identify the variability of characteristics and provide important information for breeders and owners of athlete animals in the partition modality in Brazil. This information has not yet been published in the literature. (AU)