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bob r

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THERE ARE MANY THEORIES BUT WHAT DO YOU THINK?

A. DOES THE BABY'S HEAD SHAPE COME FROM THE SIRE OR DAM?

B. DOES THE BABY'S NECK COME FROM THE SIRE OR DAM?

C. DOES THE BABY'S BODY COME FROM THE SIRE OR DAM?

WE ALL KNOW IT TAKES BOTH TO MAKE THE BABY BUT I'VE HEARD SOME INTERESTING POINTS, WHICH I'LL KEEP TO MYSELF UNTIL WE SEE WHAT YOU ALL THINK?
 
Bob,

It can come EITHER or a combination of BOTH!

MA
 
Interesting question Bob, you obviously have something up your sleeve but I have never heard such a thing.

Sometimes horses have particularly strong genes when it comes to making mini me's but for the most part, I think it is a combination of both.
 
I do agree that it is not a hard and fast rule, as both parents are important to the final outcome,... But I do tend to think that the dam gives more, than some give credit for.... "Not sure that it can be isolated to specific body parts though".
 
Can come from both in my opinion....... We have one mare that has a nice long neck that has had several foals. All of her foals have had nice necks also even when bred to a stallion that had an average neck...... She has a pretty head also but one of her foals had a common head. This foal was sired by an outside stallion that also had a pretty head so someone further back must have had an influence......................We also have a mare that has a nice head & all of her foals have had pretty heads also except two that I would call average. Having owned this mares dam long ago those two foals got their grand dams head.
 
I believe that the sire determines the head the most because you can have a mare with one of the ugliest heads and breed her to a stallion with a gorgeous head and the baby will have a pretty head. But the stallion sould have to have very strong genes for this to happen. For instance our stallion Lucky Four Silvers Rebel Legacy, who is out of Strike me Silver and out of a Sids Rebel daugter, which both have gorgeous heads. It doesn't matter which mare you breed Legacy to the head on the foal is always very dishy and pretty. For the neck I believe that is a combination, but I believe the mare has probable a little more of the cause. Now for the body I also believe that is a combination from the sire and dam which the sire probable has a little more responsibility for how the body turns out though. Either of these things could go either way it just depends on how strong a horses genes are.
 
If you've ever seen several siblings that look very different from each other, and how one or more resemble their mom in many ways, others look just like their dad, and some look like a "good cross" (or "bad cross"), and also the varied heights, then you might understand that genetics is a very complicated thing. There are so many variables, and it just depends on how those genes are put together in the womb, which genes were inherited and which not.

I don't think that a "head", "neck", or anything else is solely from a sire or dam; it's basically a roll of the dice, what a horse is going to get, gene-wise. That said, there ARE some horses that seem to be able to throw certain traits in a predominate way (like Buckeroo for instance).
 
OK Bob, what's the scoop? Now that you have us all on the edge of our seats!!!!
 
Well I think from thinking of our this years foals, most of them take after there dam more.
 
THERE IS NO BIG SECRET HERE, I WAS JUST WANTING YOUR OPINIONS. WE FEEL THAT THE STUD PUTS THE HEAD ON THE BABIES AND THE MARES PUT THE NECK AND BODY (MOST OF THE TIME). MANY PEOPLE THAT VISIT OUR FARM EXCLAIM, NOW I KNOW WHERE YOUR BABIES GET THEIR LONG SLENDER NECKS ETC. IT'S FROM OUR MARES, NOT OUR STALLIONS. WE'RE CURRENTLY TRYING TO IMPROVE THE HEADS ON OUR BABIES, WE FEEL WE HAVE THE NECKS AND BODIES. THANKS FOR ALL YOUR COMMENTS/OPINIONS.
 
Talking of DNA only, there is exactly a 50/50 chance of getting either the sire's or the dam's features.

There seem to be stallions though that really stamp their foals ... one stallion that comes to my mind immediately would be Champion Farms Nighthawk ... I read somewhere recently that a colt was said to have the "typical Nighthawk front-end". Other stallions tend to pass on pretty heads or great movement etc.

It is still my philosophy though that only a quality mare produces a quality foal.
 
Well, my opinion is only partially educated LOL, but I feel the bloodlines have a big part in this. When in-breeding and strong line breeding were used in the Arab world. They were specifically trying to solidify certain features(as well as preserve certai lines). In other words if they loved the head and neck of a stallion and he threw that to his offspring, they would later be mated so those traits were very strong and hard to breed out. If you get the features you are wanting it is a wonderful thing, but if you end up with a fault, it will be hard to breed out of future offspring. So I guess I'm saying, if a certain horse or line had been bred for a certain feature for several generations, then that animal mare or stallion will likely pass on that trait to almost every foal regardless of the cross. But if animals are just randomly crossed because they are two nice animals, then I think it leans more toward the 50/50 .
 

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