This message is from: "Ruth Bushnell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> It seems to me that if you believe in the purpose and intent of the Evaluation process, then you must agree that a Red Ribbon evaluated horse is not as good as a Blue Ribbon evaluated horse. --- Carol --------------------------------------------
"You must agree?" I DON'T AGREE. The Red Ribbon horse could in truth be better than the Blue Ribbon horse! Good for what? Better for what? The merit and sum worth of an individual horse is based on relativity; If Red has a better inherent genetic formula for breeding, why does Blue receive the ribbon? Blue might have a higher inbreeding coefficient and his heirs set on a path of genetic drift, thus his net worth as a breeding candidate is much lower than Red's. It is unequivocally more important to maintain a broad genetic mix within the overall Fjord breeding population than to strive for eye appeal, because genetic vigor is an integral part of the future of the Fjord horse. Whereas Blue Ribbons may lead to the promotion of the over-selection of particular genes, Blue specimens being more repeatedly used,other rare allele formulas more valuable to the breed's overall genetic pool are being permanently lost! I do see evidence of this ribbon push in advertising ..."short term gratification versus long term security!" To focus on the marketing present, may not benefit the long range preservation of the breed entirety. Which brings up the issue of ribbon perception. Some other breed's admonish, in their breeding guidelines, AGAINST the selection of breeding candidates by championship ribbons ...because they realize that narrow breeding schemes can steer the future of a breed into genetic drift and they foresee the necessity of maintaining a broad genetic mix within the population. This is why some breeds have time limit permits on a stallion's breeding career, to not produce too many similar genetic combinations with repeated and overlapping alleles. Evaluations deal largely with Phenotype (the visible external) and fail to consider Genotype (innate offspring information). While it could be said, and no doubt will be, they are the "chicken and the egg" --(one follows the other) the real significance is that always choosing a specific horse type will eventually diminish the breeding population. Here are a couple of sites that illustrate that principle well, albeit they are dog sites-- they do portray how genetic selection impacts a diminishing breeding population, which decreases breed vigor in the longrun. http://www.canine-genetics.com/cake.htm http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/breeding/geneticfreq.htm A horse, judged in a show, is a FAST process of elimination by one or two people--picking the best looking. A horse, judged in an evaluation, is a SLOW yet similar process of piecemeal elimination by one or two people--picking the best looking. (... the ribbons signify promote or demote, same as a show only it costs a lot more.) Which is not to say that an Evaluation does not have some merit, I would not say that, but I do think we need to periodically challenge our popular and traditional thinking, examine our priorities and question where we're headed ..how we arrive at our status ratings. I'm sure some Blues are better than Reds, but some Reds are better than Blues. Every judge has an inner preconceived template by which they process their conclusions (they can't help it-- just look in their barn, their background, their training) and their fallible choices are based largely upon the superficial, according to their expertise. While no mortal can make an accurate measure of a horse in terms of genetic fabric value, temperamental constancy, sound immune systems, stamina, steadfastness, social interaction, offspring nurturing ..(the list of innate non-ribbon values go on) ..we must acknowledge them. Aside from vanity, ribbons don't mean an awfully lot. Ruthie, nw mt
