This message is from: Gail Russell <g...@zeliga.com>
Ah, yes. I assume there is the same problem with Pembroke Welsh Corgis as they begin to select carrier and DM gene free dogs. (Degenerative Myopathy, I think). Ruthie, how do we follow the path you are talking about having huge numbers of horses that are physical or temperament disasters? Seems like the best idea would be to bring back the sausage factory down the street, as they have in Norway ? I do not think our economy will ever again allow massive numbers of horses to be bred and live long lives, no matter their quality. It does seem like a culling system is in order. Ruthie, do you think the old Norwegian culling system would have worked...with maybe more emphasis on temperament and working ability, and less on good looks and perfect conformation. (The other thing to think about is that horses are living a long time, and a conformational defect is now living on for 15 to 20 years in an Adequan-laced pasture pet ...instead of being euthanized. Ask me how I know....with the $50 a month maintenance dosed 25 year old QH in the backyard who has always had bad hocks due to being post legged, plus an early roping history. By the way, my vet says that the dirty little secret about injectable Adequan is that, in many horses, it does not last a month.) I have an interesting story about genetic selection in horses. Ever heard the phrase "crazy Paint Horse?" A friend was telling me about her aunt who allowed her horses to run free on BLM (or possibly, Forestry) land. The woman raised Paint horses and sold the foals for good money. She would just go out and collect the foals in the early winter and raise them up a year or two more and sell them. Well, BLM/Forestry was having problems with protected mountain lions in California getting into trouble. They would trap the troublemakers, and then turn them loose on the woman's grazing ground. Pretty soon, she started losing foals....but not all of them. The nutty ones with the short flight distances were surviving because they bolted when they saw something moving in the bushes. Pretty soon, all of her stock was trending toward nutty Am trying this WITHOUT hitting the 3 little dots. My "dot section" at the bottom of the e-mail indicates that what is behind it is "trimmed content." I think this means that I do not need to trim that unless I want to add some of the old content to my reply. We will see. Gail On Thu, Jan 22, 2015 at 10:06 AM, ruth bushnell <fjo...@frontiernet.net> wrote: > This message is from: "ruth bushnell" <fjo...@frontiernet.net> > > > This message is from: "Mary Ofjord" <ma...@boreal.org> > ....The article stresses > 'Quality is better' and you can do so much with two or three good quality > mares, bred to the best studs. This article was written by Lynn Weishaar, > who is a rancher and auctioneer. ... Mary Ofjord > > > The downside of that (quality) mindset is that directional selection is > based on line-breeding.. > which is just plain old fashioned in-breeding.. which long-term results in > health anomalies; > reproduction issues and compromised immunity. (to name a few) > > Who would be the best judge of "quality" offspring.. ? > > Why, a genetic diversity professional of course. > > Yes, it's the same old song from this corner.. I am more convinced than > ever that our > priorities have been skewed by the horse world--the Horse Fancy, the show > world; > those policies and entities which are espousing an archaic ideology of > eugenics. > > The more common FJ stud might very well be of more value in genetic vigor > than the > over priced stud which has been created through line-breeding. (don't > forget it is the > matador stud which has ruined some breeds) > > The science is there for anyone to see, that smaller breeds are "hell > bent" on self-destruction, > be it dogs or horses, through selectively reducing their gene pool in the > name of "quality." > > Ruth Bushnell > NW MT US > > > Important FjordHorse List Links: > Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e > FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw > FH_L Shirts: http://tinyurl.com/8yky94l Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw FH_L Shirts: http://tinyurl.com/8yky94l
