ANALYSIS OF REPRODUCTIVE UTILIZATION OF STALLIONS IN THE POLISH BREEDING OF PUREBRED ARABIANS IN THE YEARS 1971-1998

Dorota Sobczuk¹, Krystyna Chmiel^2
1 Department of Animal Breeding and Use, Faculty of Agricultural Science, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland
² Department of Animal Breeding and Use, Institute of Agricultural Science of Zamosc, Agricultural Academy of Lublin, Poland

ABSTRACT

Successes in breeding of all animal species are mostly determined by high reproductive indices. That´s why tested were 127 purebred Arabian stallions used in Polish breeding in the years 1971-1998, siring 5 or more heads of progeny. For every stallion collected were data concerning number of mares bred, born foals, open periods, abortions, stillborn, dead or destroyed foals, as well as mares, who died being in foal to a given stallion. There was found an increase of intensivity of reproductive utilization of leading sires in the tested period, compared with earlier seasons. At the same time observed was, however, a more frequent occurrence of undesirable traits. Currently prolonged sirelines distinguished themselves with higher reproductive indices. There was observed also a higher share of stallions siring 5 or more heads of progeny per stallion and season. On the other hand, reducing representation of sirelines continued in our breeding might cause unwanted changes in the genetic pool of our broodmares´band, prevented by the Program of Purebred Arabian Horse Breeding in Poland.

Key words: fecundity, fertility, open periods, stallions.

INTRODUCTION

Reproduction is one of the most important branches in animal breeding, not only in horses, but also in every species of animals. Breeding successes depend mainly on high level of reproductive indices, which guarantee fast breeding progress, influencing also economical results of studs [5,7,12]. Animal science research work concentrates mainly on specified indices, as fertility, fecundity, open periods and number of weaned foals, referring as well to sires, as to dams [3,5,12]. Among the whole population of colts, as leading sires selected are the best ones, so their genetic potential should be utilized as thoroughly, as possible. Especially in purebred Arabian horses breeding an improper utilization of stallions may lead to extinction of their distinguished sirelines [4,8,9]. The purebred Arabian horses are worldwide renowned for their relatively high reproductive parameters. That´s why we undertook the task of estimation of respective traits in Arabian stallions, in purpose to complement the recently conducted research.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Under estimation came purebred Arabian stallions used for reproduction in Polish breeding in the years 1971-1998, enrolled in Vol. IX-XIII PASB, suppl. I-V to Vol. XIII, suppl. I-II to Vol. XIV [10]. For evaluation selected were 127 stallions, siring 5 or more heads of progeny, including also imported, leased or privately used ones. For each stallion collected were data about numbers of mares covered, born foals, open periods, abortions, stillborn, dead or destroyed foals, as well as mares, who died being in foal to certain stallions. For each trait computed were mean, minimum and maximum values and standard deviations. Given were also names and indexes of use value [1,2] for the best stallions. From an index of use value, consisting of 3 components, as an indice determining use value of Arabian horses, applied was the coefficient of success (Cs):

,

where:
a - quantity of an age group,
Sx - sum of money won by a given horse,
Sa - sum of money won by his age group;

coefficient of persistence (Cp):

,

where:
y - number of starts of a given horse,
- average number of starts for a colt (or filly) in the same age group and criterium of earliness of maturing (Cem) - successive number of a racing season (I or II...), in which the highest value of Cs was achieved. The whole tested population was divided into groups according to ten sirelines. For each group estimated were levels of tested shares in figures and percentage. For every stallion calculated was also the percentage of weaned foals in relation to covered mares, as well as the relation of pregnant mares to covered ones. According to results of the estimation, the tested stallions were divided into groups of poor, average, good and outstanding producers. As the criteria applied were also numbers of weaned foals per head and season.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Mean values of reproductive traits collected for the tested purebred stallions are shown in the Table 1. According to them, the longest breeding careers - 18 and 17 seasons, respectively - belonged to the stallions Palas 1968 (Aswan - Panel) and Partner 1970 (Eleuzis - Parma). Palas left behind the highest number of progeny - 213 heads (98 colts and 115 fillies). On the other hand, the highest number of mares bred to him remained open (54), aborted (11) or delivered foals, who were stillborn, died or were put down shortly after birth (41). He was so widely used, because the aim of his importation from Tiersk in 1974 was reducing of the inbreeding rate and infusion of the strange blood, what was fulfilled. Among the progeny of Palas were 40 contenders of Polish National Arabian Horse Show at Janów Podlaski. From them two fillies became Junior Champions of Poland, four mares got Championships, 3 colts - Reserve Champion Stallion and two Reserve Champion Stallion Titles. The highest numbers of mares covered in one season were bred to Piechur 1979 (Banat - Pierzeja) (56) and Aloes 1973 (Celebes - Algoa) (47). Comparing with results of earlier tests conducted by Budzyński and coll. [4, 5] - prolonged was the reproductive utilization of purebred stallions, from 3.41 to 4.52 seasons. Increased also the average number of covered mares, per stallion (from 26.58 to 43.98 heads) and season (from 6.66 to 9.95), as well as the average number of born foals to (32.20). In the tested period found was a growth of open periods, abortions, stillborn or early dead foals. The conducted research proved, that together with higher intensivity of reproductive utilization of leading sires, grew also the frequency of unwanted traits.

Table 1. Average values of indices of reproductive utilization for examined stallions

Feature		s	Mn	Mx	Names and indexes of the best stallions
The length of reproductive utilization	4.52	3.19	1	18	Palas, Partner unraced
Number of mares bred per head	43.98	49.50	5	319	Palas unraced, Eukaliptus 1.02-1.1-II
- per season	9.95	8.14	1	56	Aloes 1.24-1.2-I, Piechur 7.92-1.0-I
Number of foals born per head	32.20	35.78	5	213	Palas unraced, Eukaliptus 1.02-1.1-II
- colts	15.54	17.13	1	98	Palas, Probat unraced
- fillies	16.67	18.97	1	115	Palas unraced, Eukaliptus 1.02-1.1-II
- per season	7.40	6.34	1	48	Aloes 1.24-1.2-I, Piechur 7.92-1.0-I
Number of open mares per head	7.80	8.35	1	54	Palas unraced, Eukaliptus 1.02-1.1-II
Number of slipping mares per head	3.03	2.32	1	11	Palas unraced, Pepton 8.67-1.1-II, Banat 1.02-1.2-II
Number of stillborn, dead or destroyed foals per head	3.16	4.75	0	41	Palas, unraced Europejczyk 8.97-0.8-I

The reproductive indices of stallions were classified according to the sirelines (Table 2). The highest percent of fertility and fecundity was obtained by stallions from the sirelines of Latif DB (93.33 and 80%, respectively), then Kuhailan Afas DB (86.72 and 77.73% respectively) and Krzyżyk DB (85.19 and 75.66%). Such results were obtained, because the sireline of Latif was solely represented only by one stallion, Pesennik 1979 (Kumir - Pesnia), who possessed in the investigated period 12 foals and distinguished himself with very high indices. From the sireline of Kuhailan Afas the highest numbers of progeny descended by Probat, bay, 1975 (Pohaniec - Borexia) - 154, Pamir, grey, 1984 (Probat - Parma) - 83 and Alegro, bay, 1983 (Probat - Algeria). From the sireline of Krzyżyk, the most intensively used were Banat, bay, 1967 (El Azrak - Bandola) - 99 and Arbil, bay, 1981 (Banat - Arba) - 81. Compared with similar traits estimated for the Polish population of partbred Anglo-Arabian horses [6], where obtained were the highest values on the level 78.50 and 72.20% respectively - the indices obtained for Arabian horses in present paper were significantly higher (84.49 and 73.23%), also compared with those obtained for Arabian horses in earlier research [5].

Table 2. Indices of reproduction for stallions used in Polish breeding in the years 1971-1998

Sireline	Number of stallions		Number of fillies born		Number of colts born		Fertility		Fecundity		Number of open mares		Number of slipping mares		Number of stilborn, dead or destroyed foals		Number of dead mares in foal
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Bairactar or. ar. imp. 1817 to Weil	13	10.24	214	10.11	173	8.77	453	81.92	387	69.98	100	18.08	23	10.85	42	10.47	1	6.25
Ibrahim or. ar. imp. 1907 to Antonin	20	15.75	386	18.23	373	18.91	869	84.21	759	73.55	163	15.79	43	20.28	63	15.71	4	25.00
Ilderim or. ar. imp. 1900 to Sławuty	16	12.60	219	10.34	203	10.29	487	84.99	422	73.65	86	15.01	23	10.85	41	10.22	1	6.25
Koheilan Adjuze or. ar. imp. 1885 to Babolna	2	1.57	5	0.24	9	0.46	19	79.17	14	58.33	5	20.83	0	0.00	5	1.25	0	0.00
Krzyżyk or. ar. imp. 1876 to Jarczowiec	14	11.02	223	10.53	206	10.44	483	85.19	429	75.66	84	14.81	23	10.85	29	7.23	2	12.50
Kuhailan Afas or. ar. imp. 1931 to Gumnisk	21	16.54	392	18.52	369	18.70	849	86.72	761	77.73	130	13.28	27	12.74	58	14.46	3	18.75
Kuhailan Haifi or. ar. imp. 1931 to Gumnisk	26	20.47	441	20.83	400	20.27	982	84.87	841	72.69	175	15.13	45	21.23	92	22.94	4	25.00
Kuhailan Zaid or. ar. imp. 1931 to Babolna	2	1.57	9	0.43	13	0.66	25	75.76	22	66.67	8	24.24	0	0.00	3	0.75	0	0.00
Latif or. ar. 1903	1	0.79	7	0.33	5	0.25	14	93.33	12	80.00	1	6.67	0	0.00	2	0.50	0	0.00
Saklavi I or. ar. 1886, Egipt	12	9.45	221	10.44	222	11.25	538	82.52	443	67.94	114	17.48	28	13.21	66	16.46	1	6.25

According to the number of progeny sired by one stallion in one reproductive season, the following classes could be specified: poor (less than 3 foals per season), average (3-4,9 heads), good (5-7 heads) and outstanding producers (more than 7 heads of progeny per season).The respective shares of stallions are shown in the Table 3. Budzyński and coll. [4] found much more stallions with low levels of the tested indices, whereas our results showed just the opposite tendency. We classified the highest shares of outstanding (47 ones) and good producers - 34 ones. There was observed the highest share of stallions siring 5-6 heads of progeny per season, whereas found were much less stallions siring more numerous progeny (Fig. 1). With regard to relation between numbers of weaned foals and covered mares, specified were three classes: under 60.00, 60.01-75.00 and over 75.00% (Table 4). Relation between shares of those classes are shown in Fig. 2. The value of separate indices in classes are differentiated, but observed were the highest shares of stallions with results belonging to the classes 2 and 3. It means, that the majority of tested stallions gave high percentages of weaned foals. A similar tendency was observed with regard to the relation between numbers of pregnant and covered mares (Table 5). Found were 16 stallions, who fertilized 100% of mares bred. They were, however, mostly used for no longer than one or two seasons, so we couldn´t be sure, if such good results persisted.

Table 3. Subdivision of stallions with respect to the number of offspring per stallion and per season

Class	n	%	The most frequently represented sirelines
Poor (< 3 heads)	19	14.96	Krzyżyk, Kuhailan Afas, Kuhailan Haifi
Average (3-4.9 heads)	27	21.26	Bairactar, Kuhailan Afas, Kuhailan Haifi
Good (5-7 heads)	34	26.77	Ibrahim, Ilderim, Saklavi I
Outstanding (> 7 heads)	47	37.01	Ibrahim, Kuhailan Afas, Kuhailan Haifi

Table 4. Subdivision of stallions with respect to the relation between the number of weaned foals and the number of mated mares in analysed period

Class (%)	n	%	The most frequently represented sirelines
< 60.00	11	8.66	Bairactar, Ibrahim, Krzyżyk, Kuhailan Afas
60.01-75.00	59	46.46	Ibrahim, Ilderim, Kuhailan Haifi
> 75.00	57	44.88	Krzyżyk, Kuhailan Afas, Kuhailan Haifi

Table 5. Subdivision of stallions with respect to the relation between the pregnant mares and the number of mated mares in analysed period

Class (%)	n	%	The most frequently represented sirelines
< 60.00	2	1.57	Kuhailan Afas, Kuhailan Haifi
60.01-75.00	16	12.60	Ibrahim, Ilderim, Kuhailan Haifi
> 75.00	109	85.83	Ibrahim, Ilderim, Krzyżyk

Fig. 1. Number of stallions with respect to the number of offspring per stallion and per season

Fig. 2. Number of stallions with respect to the relation between the number of weaned stallions and the number of mated mares

In all classes concerning reproductive utilization, the most frequently represented were stallions from the most popular sirelines in Polish breeding. Those sirelines were represented by 12 to 26 stallions, whereas the sirelines on the verge of extinction had only one or two representatives [8]. They were mated with limited numbers of mares and, sooner or later, were withdrawn from breeding.

CONCLUSIONS

1. There was found an increase of intensivity of reproductive utilization of leading sires in Polish breeding of purebred Arabian horses in the years 1971-1998, compared with the research conducted earlier. It occurred together with an increase of frequency of unwanted reproductive traits.

2. The sirelines currently continued in Polish breeding of purebred Arabian horses, compared with results obtained earlier, distinguish themselves with better reproductive indices.

3. Observed was a high share of leading sires with 5 or more heads of progeny per stallion and season.

4. Further reducing representation of sirelines used in breeding may cause malfunctions in genetic pool of purebred Arabian broodmares´band in Poland. Such unwanted processes are prevented by the Program of Arabian Horse Breeding [11].

REFERENCES

1. Budzyński M., Chmiel K., 1990, 1991. The Register of Use Value of Polish Purebred Arabian Horses. T. I sponsorowany przez R.E.R. Arabians, USA.

2. Budzyński M., Chmiel K., 1994. Rejestr wartości użytkowej polskich koni czystej krwi arabskiej [The Register of Use Value of Polish Purebred Arabian Horses]. Tom II. AR, Lublin [in Polish].

3. Budzyński M., Chmiel K., Soborski P. 1988. Wyniki rozrodu koni czystej krwi arabskiej w Stadninie Koni Janów Podlaski w latach 1975-1985 [Reproductive results of purebred Arabian horses from the Janów Podlaski Stud in the years 1975-1985]. Ann. Univ. Mariae Curie-Skłodowska. Sect. EE, 6(9), 71-76 [in Polish].

4. Budzyński M., Lewik-Chmiel K., 1987. Ocena wykorzystania rozpłodowego ogierów w polskiej hodowli koni czystej krwi arabskiej w latach 1966-1984 [Reproductive utilization of stallions in the Polish breeding of purebred Arabian horses in the years 1966-1984]. Ann. Univ. Mariae Curie-Skłodowska. Sect. EE, 5(16), 115-123 [in Polish].

5. Budzyński M., Sołtys L., Słomka Z., 1989. Charakterystyka wskaźników reprodukcyjnych ogierów czołowych w stadninach Janów Podlaski i Walewice [Characteristic of reproductive indices for head stallions in the National Studs of Janów Podlaski and Walewice]. Ann. Univ. Mariae Curie-Skłodowska. Sect. EE, 7(11), 89-102 [in Polish].

6. Budzyński M., Sołtys L., Słomka Z., 1990. Wskaźniki użytkowości rozpłodowej małopolskich klaczy stadnych [Procreation utility indices of małopolski stud mares]. Ann. Univ. Mariae Curie-Skłodowska. Sect. EE, 8(19), 157-163 [in Polish].

7. Chmiel K., Sobczuk D., 1998. Characteristics of purebred Arabian broodmares´band in Polish State Studs with regard to specified reproductive features. The 49th Annual Meeting of The European Association for Animal Production, Warsaw, Poland.

8. Pankiewicz R., 1986. Wygasłe rody męskie w polskiej hodowli koni arabskich [The extinct sirelines in Polish breeding of purebred Arabian horses]. Koń Pol. 5, 15-20 [in Polish].

9. Pankiewicz R., 1999. Rejestr polskich ogierów czystej krwi arabskiej użytych do hodowli w latach 1944-1993 [The Register of Polish Purebred Arabian Stallions Used for Breeding in the Years 1944-1993] . Tom I. Published by "Polgres", Szczecin [in Polish].

10. Polska Księga Stadna Koni Arabskich Czystej Krwi. 1975-1999. T. IX-XIII, dod. I-V do T. XIII, dod. I- II do T. XIV [Polish Arabian Stud Book]. Vol. IX-XIII, Suppl. I-V to Vol. XIII, Suppl. I- II to Vol. XIV. TWK, Warszawa [in Polish].

11. Program Hodowli Koni Rasy Czystej Krwi Arabskiej. 2001. Opracowany przez zespół ds. Hodowli Polskiego Związku Hodowców Koni Arabskich, w składzie I. Pawelec-Zawadzka, M. Budzyński, K. Chmiel [Program of Purebred Arabian Horse Breeding in Poland, elaborated by I. Pawelec-Zawadzka, M. Budzyński, K. Chmiel] (maszynopis na zlecenie Ministerstwa Rolnictwa), Warszawa [in Polish].

12. Sobczuk D., 2001. Stabilność cyklu płciowego u klaczy czystej krwi arabskiej w powiązaniu z ich wartością użytkową. II. Współzależność cyklu płciowego i innych cech użytkowości hodowlanej [Stability of the reproductive cycle in purebred Arabian mares connected with their performance value. II. Interdependence of reproductive cycles and other breeding utilization traits]. Ann. Univ. Mariae Curie-Skłodowska. Sect. EE, 19(28), 225-231 [in Polish].

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Dorota Sobczuk
Department of Animal Breeding and Use,
Faculty of Agricultural Science,
University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland
Szczebrzeska 102, 22-400 Zamość, Poland
Phone: (+48 084) 677 27 73
email: dorotasobczuk@wnr.edu.pl

Krystyna Chmiel
Department of Animal Breeding and Use,
Institute of Agricultural Science of Zamosc,
Agricultural Academy of Lublin, Poland
Szczebrzeska 102, 22-400 Zamosc, Poland
Phone: 084 67 72 771
email: kchmiel@wnr.edu.pl

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