Brooks Equine Genetics Research Lab
Gait Study
Description
In order to discover which genes are responsible for gait in horses, we need gaited horses! The goal of this study is to identify which genes predispose horses to trot, pace, running walk, rack, fox trot, tolt, paso, etc. We need horses from all of the gaited breeds and any crosses with gaited breeds. And we need hundreds and hundreds of horses; the more horses that participate, the more successful our study will be.
- For the gait study, from each horse we are collecting:
- Short video of the horse walking and gaiting
- Pulled tail or mane hair (blood if possible)
- Copy of the pedigree
- Full body conformation picture and profile head picture
34 different body measurements - Information on the shoes and uses of the horse
Information on the horse’s behavior and temperament - Horses need to be at least one year old. Horses do not need to be registered, but we do need the names of the sire, the dam, the grand sires, and the grand dams.
Measurements and pictures
The 34 body measurements cover lengths and circumferences of the horse’s head, neck, body and legs. The measurements are used to capture the conformation and bone size of your horse. Conformation plays an important role in determining gait; therefore we want to use the measurements to find any correlations between gait and conformation. For detailed instructions on how the measurements are taken, please click view the video below:
The conformation pictures allow us to calculate the hip and shoulder angle, and determine whether your horse has a dishy, flat, or roman nose. The pictures should be of the horse standing square and in profile. Please do not send only pictures of the horse looking at the camera; while those are more attractive pictures, the pose makes our calculations more difficult to compute.
Below are examples of what we are looking for in the conformation pictures.
Hair and blood
Hair and blood samples are used to obtain your horse’s DNA. Using different protocols, DNA can be extracted from the blood and the hair bulb. Blood yields more DNA with a higher purity than hair, but DNA survives longer in hair stored in manila envelopes than blood stored in the freezer. Once the DNA is extracted, the unique genome of your horse is available to be tested to help find the genes involved with gait.
Note: Blood typing and DNA markers for breed registries also use your horse’s DNA to identify your unique horse, but the DNA markers are not genes. The markers are repeats in the DNA sequence at specific points, essentially mile markers, which confirm parentage and when the markers are combined create a fingerprint unique to your horse.
Please pull hair from the tail or mane. Do not send hair from a brush as these hairs may be damaged or contaminated from another horse.
Video
The video of your horse walking and gaiting does not need to be very long and can be taken with a digital camera in movie mode. The horse can be either led or ridden or both. The most important factors of the video are being able to see all four feet, for footfall timing, and the head for the presence of a nod.
For the walk, and each intermediate gait the horse can perform, we just need 10 seconds or at least 5 strides of the following views:
- Profile – the horse is traveling parallel to the camera
- Front – the horse is traveling directly towards the camera
- Rear – the horse is traveling directly away from the camera
Under Saddle examples:
In Hand examples:
Behavior
During our research into gait, we have observed a difference between and in gaited vs. non-gaited horses that we believe is due to temperament. For example, genetic tendencies may contribute to the suitability of a horse for trail-work rather than performance classes, or may alter how the horse responds to a training program.