This message is from: Janet McNally <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Deb asked:
>If a Fjord stallion was bred to another breed that Fjord stallion doesn't >upset the applecart as far as "pure-bred" Fjords are concerned. >However is a Fjord mare is bred to another breed she is now violated, so to >speak, and has ruined her "pure-bred" line? Hi Deb, Breeding a purebred mare or purebred stallion to another breed, will produce a crossbred from that mating, but has no impact on the future offspring what so ever. Each pregnancy is a separate event, and genetically has no bearing on the future foals. So a mare can produce a crossbred foal one year, and as long as she is bred back to a purebred stallion the next year, her offspring will be as purebred as any other. The reason stallions are favored in outcrossing programs is because generally, they are underemployed, and using them thus does not detract from the number of purebred foals produced which is important with a breed that has limited numbers. OTOH you would not wish to use your best purebred mares (of a rare breed) to produce crossbred offspring, they should be busy raising purebred foals. The only way crossbreeding presents a threat to the purity of the Fjord horse breed, is if someone tries to register a crossbred foal as a purebred. It is not the existance of the crossbred that is the threat, it is the potential someone might try to decieve another person, and pass the crossbred off as a purebred. That can happen no matter what the rules are. Only DNA can tell the truth. Janet W McNally
