Phenotypic diversity between pacing horses in Turkey

Abstract

This study was aimed to determine some morphological characteristics of pacing horses from 7 geographical regions of Turkey. Data were collected from a total of 442 pacing horses, different origin's including Turkish Native (n=324), Iranian (n=67), Afghan (n=32), and Bulgarian (n=19), 4 years old and older. The mean values of Turkish Native, Iranian, Afghan and Bulgarian pacing horses were found as 52.52, 53.46, 53.21 and 57.28 cm for head length, 138.92, 143.68, 142.78 and 156.37 cm for wither height, 139.67, 144.28, 142.55 and 157.53 cm for rump height, 145.51, 150.39, 148.63 and 165.95 cm for body length, 61.91, 63.89, 63.75 and 70.63 cm for chest depth, 156.45, 159.18, 157.59 and 179.32 cm for chest circumference, 17.06, 17.64, 17.58 and 19.26 cm for cannon bone circumference, respectively. Wither and rump height were detected the lowest in East and South-East region's horses, however the highest in Central Anatolia and Mediterranean region's horses (P<0.01). Significant differences (P<0.001) were found among the genotypes for withers height, rump height, body length and cannon bone circumference. The body measurements of horses were the highest in Bulgarian origin's, and followed by Iranian and Afghan, and the lowest in Turkish Native horses. As a result, it was revealed that pacing horses of different origin's had different body comformation.