INBREEDING RAMPANT IN THOROUGHBRED LINES

HORSE RACING INDUSTRY “RACING POST” PUBLISHES STUDY RESULTS

We recently tweeted:

One of the responses was a tweet from Sandy Bayley whose profile states: Fair horse racing advocate. Anti desperadoes who hurt horses with drugs.

Meet Our Horse Meat writes: Recently pro-horse racing advocates within Australia have taken to stating “Fact-checked & peer-reviewed”.

Well, we sometimes have to laugh, because advocating for the safety and well-being of horses against those who are pro-racing and seeing nothing wrong with what is currently happening doesn’t even feel like a fair fight.

One of our followers – replied with this Tweet…

We’ve been told that the article referenced is from one of the most respected and best-known newspapers in Canada, The Toronto Star.

BUT IT GETS BETTER!

TALK ABOUT FACT CHECK AND PEER REVIEWED…

AS REPORTED ON HORSE RACING’S OWN RACING POST…

Issue of increased inbreeding ‘akin to global warming’ claims new research. Study says the problem could weaken overall population fertility and health.

Professor Emmeline Hill, who has spearheaded major new research into the subject conducted by University College Dublin and equine science company Plusvital.

The article goes on to state…

“The resultant paper, published last week in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports, analysed the DNA of more than 10,000 thoroughbreds, the largest set of horses examined to date, and established that there has been a highly significant rise in inbreeding over the last 45 years.

… 97 per cent of horses in the study tracing to Northern Dancer, 35 per cent of European horses having Sadler’s Wells in their pedigree and 55 per cent of Australian horses having Danehill in their pedigree.

Professor Hill said: “Inbreeding has always been high in thoroughbreds, but it is getting higher. It’s likely that, unchecked, inbreeding in the thoroughbred will continue to increase in a market where there is high demand for particular sire lines.

“The problem with inbreeding is that it can compromise overall population fertility and health.”

“This is a highly significant issue akin to global warming, where inbreeding is accumulating in the population, and it must be addressed at an industry-wide level.” Inbreeding can increase the chances of offspring inheriting recessive traits, which if unchecked can weaken the biological fitness of the population and hinder its ability to survive and reproduce – a circumstance known as inbreeding depression.

Unlike most managed animal production systems, there is no systematic, industry-mediated genomic selection or population management for the thoroughbred.

You can read what horse racing’s own Racing Post had to say here.

AND what Scientific American reported here.

Meet Our Horse Meat would like to know if you think that continued and ever-increasing inbreeding of thoroughbred horses is contributing to health challenges such as thoroughbred foals needing surgery for angular limb deformity AND or anything to do with 7 horse deaths in 8 Melbourne Cups.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION ON FACEBOOK HERE

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