2016
Population Report for the Arab
Horse Society of South Africa
Dr Helena Theron, Herman Labuschagne
& Fritz Voordewind
SA Stud Book
Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 2
Data ......................................................................................................................................................... 2
Methods .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Age Structure .......................................................................................................................................... 4
Family size ............................................................................................................................................... 5
Generation Interval ................................................................................................................................. 6
Pedigree Completeness .......................................................................................................................... 7
Inbreeding ............................................................................................................................................... 7
Effective Population Size......................................................................................................................... 9
Important animals in the breed ............................................................................................................ 10
Stallions with the most registered foals ........................................................................................... 10
Stallions with the most offspring selected as parents ...................................................................... 11
Mares with the most registered foals ............................................................................................... 13
Mares with the most offspring selected as parents ......................................................................... 16
Influential Arabian Ancestors................................................................................................................ 18
Additive Genetic Relationship (AGR) ................................................................................................ 18
Genetic Contribution (GC) ................................................................................................................ 18
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 21
1
Introduction
Increased selection pressure on many domestic animal species and breeds has led to an increase in
production efficiency at the expense of genetic diversity and the survival of many breeds across the
world. About 8000 breeds of livestock species have been domesticated, of which 631 are classified
as extinct and 1710 are classified as being at risk (FAO, 2011). The concerns with regard to the loss of
genetic diversity are however, not only concerned with the extinction of breeds, but also the loss of
genetic diversity within breeds. Loss of genetic diversity within breeds can negatively affect
production and fitness traits.
There are several factors that are used as key parameters in monitoring genetic diversity in breeds.
These parameters include effective population size, inbreeding levels and average genetic
relationships (Groeneveld et al., 2010). Effective management of animal genetic resources depend
on comprehensive knowledge of breed characteristics. The availability of pedigree data offer a great
opportunity to investigate and assess genetic diversity within a breed. In this study genetic diversity
parameters for the Arab horse population in South Africa were investigated. This will give an
indication if the population is at risk of losing genetic diversity or not.
Data
Pedigree data of South African Arab Horses were
obtained from SA Stud Book’s Logix data base. It
consisted of 29 209 animals, of which 13 159 (45%) were
stallions or geldings and 16 049 (55%) were mares. The
pedigrees of the animals are exceptionally complete and
only 4.13% (1205) and 4.08% (1193) of these horses had
unknown dams and sires respectively. This makes the
population parameters estimated in this study very
accurate.
Figure 1: Slightly more mares than
stallions are registered with SA Stud
Book.
The oldest horse on the data base is a stallion born in 1829
in Germany, named Amurath WEIL 26. The oldest mare is
9 DAHABY, born in Hungary in 1838. These ancestors are
Figure 2: Amurath WEIL 26, born in pedigree entries; it wasn’t until many generations later
1828, is the oldest pedigree entry in the that their progeny were imported into South Africa.
data base. Photo: http://www.sukuposti.net/
hevoset/amurath-de/galleria/724208
2
Figure 3: Although pedigree records go back to the early 1800’s, Arabian numbers have steadily
increased as time went by.
Methods
Data was analysed with the German program PopReport and the Nordic program EVA, which
calculates parameters for monitoring populations for genetic diversity parameters like inbreeding
and effective population size, as well as influential animals currently and in the history of the breed.
Poprep was developed by the Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics of the Institute of Farm
Animal Genetics (FLI). PopRep results are presented in 3 reports, which are also available, and states
in detail the methods and results presented in this report.
EVA was developed by Peer Berg and Anne Præbel of NordGen. NordGen Farm Animals is a service
and knowledge centre for sustainable management of farm animal genetic resources for the Nordic
countries.
References
Berg P., Nielsen J. and Sørensen M.K. 2006. EVA: Realized and predicted optimal genetic
contributions. CD communication 27-09, 2pp. WCGALP, 2006, s.246.
Groeneveld, E., v.d. Westhuizen, B., Maiwashe, A., Voordewind, F., and Ferraz, J. B. S. (2009).
POPREP: A Generic Report for Population Management. Genetics and Molecular Research,
8(3):11581178.
3
Age Structure
Most stallions and mares are 4 to 5 years old when foals are born. The average age for stallions is
however 8.8 years and for mares slightly older at 9.5 years.
Figure 4: Age of parents when foals are born
4000
3500
Number
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
>16
Stallions
2
332 1106 1331 1308 1207 1066 940 772 732 595 551 428 426 349 1951
Mares
3
196 1560 2699 2778 2490 2328 2093 1879 1703 1530 1332 1154 1036 905 3607
Age
The rate of genetic progress in the population depends among other things on the turnover of
breeding stock. In general, under artificial breeding, animals that stay in the population longer tend
to leave more offspring. Thus, the distribution of parity of dams over time may be informative about
the rate of turnover in the population. The distribution of breeding females in different parity groups
in a given year is presented in Figure 5. Dams with parity ≥ 16 are often few in the population and
they are placed together in one group i.e. ≥ 16 group. More than 9000 mares on the data base has
only one parity (birth), while 37 had 16 or more parities on the data base.
Number
Figure 5: Distribution of mares by parity number
10000
9000
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
12
13
14
15
>16
Total 9526 5150 3647 2666 1976 1504 1111 806 561 371 245 151
94
60
34
37
Parity number
4
10
11
Family size
It is also important to know how many progeny did parents have and which parents made an
important contribution in the breed. However, the amount of progeny per parent is not as important
as the number of progeny per parent that were again selected to become parents. Family size refers
to the number of offspring of an individual that become breeding individuals in the next generation
(Falconer & Mackay, 1996).
Number of stallions
Figure 6: Number of registered foals per stallion
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
1
3
5
7
9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 >48
Number of foals per stallion
Most stallions (over 1600) had only one foal (Figure 6). This would however include pedigree
records, where for example if an animal was imported, his parents would be taken onto the data
base with only a single offspring. Progeny per sire ranged between 1 and 290 with an average of 7
(SD 13.7).
Figure 7: Number of foals selected for breeding per stallion
1600
Number of stallions
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 >27
Series1 153 507 295 175 93 87 54 60 31 33 31 28 16 23 17 10 12 12 13 3 10 8
3
2
2
7
3 58
Number of selected foals per stallion
However, an average of 4 (SD 7.8) progeny per sire were selected to become parents themselves,
ranging between 1 and 168. More details on specific important sires will follow later in this report.
5
Figure 8: Number of registered foals per mare
Number of mares
4500
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
1
2
3
Series1 4350 1517 989
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
>14
686
476
396
304
246
189
126
95
58
33
27
34
Mares have on average 3 foals (SD 2.8) ranging between 1 and 24 foals. The high number of mares
with only one offspring includes pedigree entries.
Number of mares
Figure 9: Number of foals selected for breeding per mare
4500
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
Series1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
>8
3940
1178
557
345
187
99
65
53
68
Number of selected foals per mare
On average, 2 foals per dam (SD 1.6) will be selected to become parents, ranging between 1 and 15.
More details on specific successful animals will follow later.
Generation Interval
Generation interval is one of the key factors affecting the rate of genetic progress and therefore the
genetic structure of the population. As a general rule, the shorter the generation interval the more
rapid is the genetic change in the population holding other factors constant. Generation interval can
be defined as the average age of the parents at the birth of their selected offspring (Falconer &
Mackay, 1996). In the evaluation of generation interval, an offspring is considered selected if it has
6
produced at least one foal. The average generation interval for Arab horse population in South Africa
is 9.9 years, with 10.0 for males and 9.9 for females. For 2012, it is 8.2 for stallions and 9.9 years for
mares. This generation interval is in line with other horse breeds (Pjontek et al.,2012. Czech J. Anim.
Sci., 57, 54–64).
Pedigree Completeness
The estimation of inbreeding coefficients is highly dependent on the pedigree completeness of an
animal or breed. The more complete the knowledge of an animal’s pedigree, the more reliable is its
estimate of inbreeding. Groeneveld uses the method of MacCluer et al (1983) to measure pedigree
completeness, which indicates the proportion of known ancestors in each ascending generation. The
Arabian horse population recorded at SA Stud Book has exceptionally complete pedigree recording.
The average pedigree completeness for animals born within the last 10 years is 100% for the first
generation (all parents of animals were recorded) and 99.9% have on average 2 generations
recorded. 99.5%, 99.0%, 98.3% and 97.4% has on average 3, 4, 5 and 6 generations respectively
recorded. This probably stems from the long recording history of South African Arab Horse breeders,
which now reap the benefits, as inbreeding and other population parameters can be very accurately
determined.
Inbreeding
Inbreeding is the mating of related animals. The genetic consequences of inbreeding are that a foal
receives the same genes from both parents because the parents are related, and the genes came
from a common ancestor. Inbreeding in a population is measured by the probability that both
copies of a gene came from a common ancestor. This is called the inbreeding coefficient (F). The
inbreeding coefficient will be higher when the relationship between the parents is higher – it
depends on how closely they are related and how many ancestors they have in common.
10
Figure 10: Comparison between the average % inbreeding
and the number of animals per year
1200
9
6
800
Animals
5
600
4
400
3
2
200
1
0
0
1829
1853
1871
1877
1887
1893
1899
1905
1911
1917
1923
1929
1935
1941
1947
1953
1959
1965
1971
1977
1983
1989
1995
2001
2007
2013
% Inbreeding
7
1000
Inbreeding %
Year
7
Number of animals
8
The danger of inbreeding lies there in that it can gradually decrease productivity, fertility and
survivability – a phenomenon known as inbreeding depression. Inbreeding does not affect all traits
at the same intensity. Traits associated with fitness (lowly heritable) are affected most, such as
survivability, mothering ability, growth and reproduction. It can therefore lead to lower conception
rates, more abortions, more stillborn and weak foals and a higher susceptibility to diseases.
Generally, the effects of inbreeding can become noticeable at an F value of 6.25%, therefore it is
generally recommended that individuals should have inbreeding coefficients of less than 6.25%.
However, not all inbred animals show signs of inbreeding depression.
Inbreeding that occurs over many generations slowly decreases the number of ancestors
represented in the population and genetic diversity therefore decreases. Some valuable genes can
be lost during this process. To maintain sufficient genetic diversity in a population, it is
recommended that long-term inbreeding should not be more than 0.5 – 1% per generation.
As can be seen from the graph, inbreeding in the Arabian horse population has decreased
significantly from 9% to just less than 6%. The decrease in inbreeding is exceptional and could have
been managed by the use of unrelated breeding animals. However, this downward trend in
inbreeding creates problems in the estimation of many of the other parameters for genetic diversity,
as they are all related to inbreeding in one or the other way. The rate of change in the average
inbreeding coefficients based on the slope of the regression between 1849 and 2015 for example
was -0.96375, which represents inbreeding per generation of -0.1368, which is well within the safe
norms of 0.5 – 1% per generation. Note however that the average inbreeding in the population is
still just under 6%, which is close to the range where the effects of inbreeding depression may
become noticeable.
Figure 11: Distribution of foals born in 2014/2015 and
inbreeding levels
(Classes 1=0-5%, 2=6-10%, 3=11-15%, 4=16-20%, 5=21-25%, 6=26-30%, 7=3135%, 8=36-40%,9=41-45%, 10=46-50% and 11=>50%)
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
2014/2015 foals
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
538
189
44
28
8
10
2
1
0
0
0
Most of the foals born in 2014 and 2015 have acceptable levels of inbreeding (below 6.25%)
although high inbreeding levels of>25% occurred in 13 foals.
8
Figure 12: The ‘Five generation pedigree’ report of Logix shows the pedigree of Thee Cyclone, which is
highly inbred at 24%. Thee Cyclone as well as his dam are the result of half brother-sister matings.
Indications are thus that the South African Arab Horse population is not at risk and that genetic
diversity has increased in recent generations. However, although the inbreeding has come down
substantially, levels are still on average at 6%, which is high.
Inbreeding can be avoided by increasing the number of individuals contributing to the next
generation. The easiest way to do this is to increase the number of unrelated stallions used as sires.
Closely related animals should also not be mated. It is recommended that matings where the stallion
and mare share more than one common grandparent should be avoided, as the inbreeding
coefficient would then be more than 6.25%. This will minimize inbreeding in the short term, but will
have no effect if the of animals available as parents, is either too little or too related. In general,
limitations should be placed on the level of inbreeding caused by stallions selected into the mating
programme.
Effective Population Size
The effective population size is defined as the size of an idealized population which would give rise
to the rate of inbreeding in the population under consideration (Wright, 1923). The rate of loss of
genetic diversity over time depends on the effective population size which is linked to age structure
and mean generation interval of the breeding animals (Engen et al, 2005).
In animal breeding, it is recommended to maintain an effective populations size (Ne) of at least 50
(short-term fitness) to 100 (long-term fitness) that corresponds to a rate of inbreeding of 0.5 to 1%
per generation (FAO, 1998, Bijma, 2000). There are various methods to estimate effective
population size, but as the average inbreeding is decreasing in the Arabian population since 1978,
not all methods are suitable. The proposed effective population size is 75 when calculated by the NeEcg method (Groeneveld).
9
Important animals in the breed
It is also important to identify animals that have made major genetic contributions to the breed.
They are identified by the animals with the most offspring in the breed, the most selected offspring
in the breed, and the highest Additive Genetic Relationship (AGR) and Genetic Contribution (GC).
Stallions with the most registered foals
The stallions with the most registered foals on the Logix data base are presented in Figure 13 and
Table 1. The stallion with the most registered foals (290), and also the most foals selected to be
parents (169) is the imported stallion Maistro. He was born in 1990 and bred by Sirgard in Texas. His
strain is recorded as Dahman Shahwan. An additional 4 stallions have more than 150 registered foals
each.
Figure 13: Stallions with most registered foals
0
50
100
150
MAISTRO
SILVERN GLEAM
THEE CYCLONE
MAGIC DREAM CAHR
BHF STING
NIYASHIN EL SHAKLAN
CHARISMATIC BVA
SAF FIRSTAAR
AL SHAKEL
HAMASA EL FAGR
LADDINN
PGN PRIZIM
MAGICAL CAF
SHAH JAHAN
BARABAZ
SIMEON SEGEV
SHAHEER PRINCE CYCLONE
ANCHOR HILL OMAR
RAAFEEK
MH AHSOM
AHIR
SIMPLY RED SC
BANGHOR MIKALO
WD MAJESTY
BELVEDERE PSY
JAMANI GRANDEE
ANSATA ALY SHERIF
BEY EL JAMAAL
BASK
OMAR EL SHAKER
10
200
250
300
350
Table 1: The 30 stallions with the most registered foals
Registration no
10065696
9961046
9963885
12654430
11000874
9862632
12564209
9870171
12542692
9862608
9985755
9986019
11319233
9862525
9869546
12081527
9862483
11586351
9874801
12779336
9870130
12586715
9850587
9985771
12527024
9788514
12481354
12199782
9870197
11351780
Name
MAISTRO
SILVERN GLEAM
THEE CYCLONE
MAGIC DREAM CAHR
BHF STING
NIYASHIN EL SHAKLAN
CHARISMATIC BVA
SAF FIRSTAAR
AL SHAKEL
HAMASA EL FAGR
LADDINN
PGN PRIZIM
MAGICAL CAF
SHAH JAHAN
BARABAZ
SIMEON SEGEV
ANCHOR HILL OMAR
SHAHEER PRINCE CYCLONE
RAAFEEK
MH AHSOM
AHIR
SIMPLY RED SC
BANGHOR MIKALO
WD MAJESTY
BELVEDERE PSY
JAMANI GRANDEE
ANSATA ALY SHERIF
BEY EL JAMAAL
OMAR EL SHAKER
BASK
Birth Year
1990
1989
1994
1992
1994
1982
2005
1975
2004
1981
1986
1993
1997
1977
1970
2000
1969
1999
1979
2006
1973
2003
1985
1986
2003
1966
2002
1996
1975
1956
% Inbreeding No of foals
11.59
290
12.60
189
24.01
179
0.60
174
1.13
151
4.64
138
7.35
136
0.27
130
16.34
123
10.60
123
4.98
120
3.29
117
1.77
116
0.00
116
0.00
111
0.00
106
7.99
105
11.50
105
21.79
95
4.17
90
9.69
89
3.20
88
0.00
88
5.95
87
0.41
83
7.68
83
13.26
82
0.00
78
12.32
77
0.00
77
Stallions with the most offspring selected as parents
Even though a stallion may have many registered foals, it does not necessarily mean that he has the
largest genetic contribution in the breed, as the number of offspring selected as parents will have a
greater influence. The stallions with the most offspring that became parents are listed in Figure 14
and Table 2. Only two stallions, Maistro and Thee Cyclone, have more than 100 foals selected as
breeding stock.
11
Figure 14: The Logix pedigree report of the stallion Maistro which is 11.6% inbred to Morafic.
Figure 15: Stallions with the most offspring selected as
parents
0
20
40
60
MAISTRO
THEE CYCLONE
HAMASA EL FAGR
SAF FIRSTAAR
BHF STING
BASK
SILVERN GLEAM
SHAH JAHAN
NIYASHIN EL SHAKLAN
ANCHOR HILL OMAR
DARIUS
RAAFEEK
AHIR
LADDINN
BARABAZ
PGN PRIZIM
WD MAJESTY
BEY SHAH
OMAR EL SHAKER
JAMANI GRANDEE
MORAFIC
NAZEER
GRANTCHESTER
SIMEON SEGEV
CHEZ NOUS SHAH RUKH
BANGHOR MIKALO
MAGICAL CAF
JAMANI SHABANI
ANSATA IBN HALIMA
SAHIBY GAMAAL EL ARAB
12
80
100
120
140
160
180
Table 2: Stallions with the most offspring selected as parents.
Animal
10065696
9963885
9862608
9870171
11000874
11351780
9961046
9862525
9862632
9862483
9868829
9874801
9870130
9985755
9869546
9986019
11318755
9985771
9870197
9788514
12223491
12121562
12081527
9868738
9787672
9850587
11319233
9788415
12064721
9817883
Name
MAISTRO
THEE CYCLONE
HAMASA EL FAGR
SAF FIRSTAAR
BHF STING
BASK
SILVERN GLEAM
SHAH JAHAN
NIYASHIN EL SHAKLAN
ANCHOR HILL OMAR
DARIUS
RAAFEEK
AHIR
LADDINN
BARABAZ
PGN PRIZIM
BEY SHAH
WD MAJESTY
OMAR EL SHAKER
JAMANI GRANDEE
MORAFIC
NAZEER
SIMEON SEGEV
GRANTCHESTER
CHEZ NOUS SHAH RUKH
BANGHOR MIKALO
MAGICAL CAF
JAMANI SHABANI
ANSATA IBN HALIMA
SAHIBY GAMAAL EL ARAB
Birth Year
% Inbreeding
No of foals
1990
1994
1981
1975
1994
1956
1989
1977
1982
1969
1967
1979
1973
1986
1970
1993
1976
1986
1975
1966
1956
1934
2000
1952
1953
1985
1997
1965
1958
1984
11.59
24.01
10.60
0.27
1.13
0.00
12.60
0.00
4.64
7.99
0.00
21.79
9.69
4.98
0.00
3.29
0.94
5.95
12.32
7.68
3.32
0.00
0.00
4.89
5.99
0.00
1.77
6.79
10.55
19.00
169
115
85
79
78
75
71
69
67
66
65
64
62
61
57
55
54
54
47
46
46
45
43
43
42
41
40
39
38
37
Mares with the most registered foals
The two mares with the most registered foals, Dana Sashay and Ricochet V, are both imported and
registered as ova donors. They are both relatively young (born in 2002 and 2003) in comparison with
the other mares on the list.
13
Figure 16: Mares with the most registered foals
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
24
DANA SASHAY
RICOCHET V
TIMARIE BLUE PRIDE
SANNIESGUNS FARRAH
NOURMAHAL KHETA
CLIGNETTE NAOMI
CLIGNETTE NANA
JAMANI GENEREZE
TIMARIE BLUE BELLE
VLINKFONTEIN SAMHA
EIBNA SANDRA
QUIMRAN LIZELLE
EIBNA REBINA
NOURMAHAL QUANSA
METRA KEMADA
VIDIKO NATALIE
SAHIBY AHIRA
BINT FOZE
PATIENCE V
TIMARIE BLUE SALA
QUIMRAN MOOI MEISIE
VLINKFONTEIN GALLI GIRL
GÜLILAH GULMEK
NOURMAHAL VANESSA
VIDIKO CALLISTA
NOURMAHAL HANNAH
JOHRHEMAR MALIKA
ZABUBEGA SAFARI
RIDASA SULET
SAHIBI KARIBA
Figure 17: The two imported mares Dana Sashay and Ricochet V have the most registered foals on
the Logix data base. They are both approved ova donors. Photos: http://www.strydomstud.co.za
14
Table 3: Mares with the most registered foals.
Mare Reg.nr
12623260
12625026
9860701
9919200
9861972
9912254
9923087
9860750
9860958
9861311
9861550
9861782
9861949
9862129
9871617
9899782
9900325
9959875
12625042
9860669
9860974
9861006
9871609
9871666
9876129
9900242
9905878
9914516
9923624
9934068
Name
DANA SASHAY
RICOCHET V
TIMARIE BLUE PRIDE
SANNIESGUNS FARRAH
NOURMAHAL KHETA
CLIGNETTE NAOMI
CLIGNETTE NANA
JAMANI GENEREZE
TIMARIE BLUE BELLE
VLINKFONTEIN SAMHA
EIBNA SANDRA
QUIMRAN LIZELLE
EIBNA REBINA
NOURMAHAL QUANSA
METRA KEMADA
VIDIKO NATALIE
SAHIBY AHIRA
BINT FOZE
PATIENCE V
TIMARIE BLUE SALA
QUIMRAN MOOI MEISIE
VLINKFONTEIN GALLI GIRL
GÜLILAH GULMEK
NOURMAHAL VANESSA
VIDIKO CALLISTA
NOURMAHAL HANNAH
JOHRHEMAR MALIKA
ZABUBEGA SAFARI
RIDASA SULET
SAHIBI KARIBA
BirthYear
2002
2003
1955
1988
1966
1985
1990
1956
1959
1962
1964
1965
1966
1967
1973
1974
1976
1974
2002
1953
1959
1960
1973
1973
1975
1975
1983
1986
1990
1993
15
% Inbreeding
0.76
2.25
0.36
9.24
13.28
0.92
16.41
10.39
7.64
14.96
11.84
13.48
6.84
13.49
2.39
30.18
1.82
0.05
1.17
3.50
8.94
2.35
5.02
21.04
2.59
18.92
12.78
4.46
7.01
16.35
Nr of foals
24
19
18
18
17
17
17
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
16
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
15
Mares with the most offspring selected as parents
Figure 18: Mares with the most offspring selected as parents
0
2
4
Number of selected foals
6
8
10
12
14
SAHIBY JULEEMAH
TIMARIE BLUE PRIDE
METRA KEMADA
CORREZE
NOURMAHAL VANESSA
SHAREEF SMAYHA
SULEENA
VIDIKO NAZIMA
JAMANI LIKWEZI
LAR MALIKA
TIMARIE BLUE SALA
EIBNA SANDRA
QUIMRAN MOOI MEISIE
ENDORA
BINT FOZE
BANGHOR FAB FARAH
VLINKFONTEIN GALLI GIRL
MET-LUS BARALAY
SAHIBI BINT AHIR
JAMANI GIANETTA
CHARMANTE NADIYA
SAHIBY AMEERA
EIBNA REBINA
WADI MUNA
NABILAH BINT SAKLABILAH
SHAHEER OHIO
RINESSA
SHAHEER TAMARISKA
SANNIESGUNS FARRAH
MET-LUS BANDY
The Logix report (Animal information -> Progeny) of Sahiby Juleemah’s 15 foals.
16
16
Sahiby Juleemah was bred by Dr Valerie Noli-Marais of Sahibi stud from a sire-daughter cross,
resulting in an inbreeding coefficient of 28%. Her fertility and performance is the best in the breed:
she had 15 foals in 15 years, of which all was selected as parents.
Table 4: Mares with the most selected offspring.
Animal
9904640
9860701
9870395
9871617
9871666
9860669
9861030
9861550
9861865
9870478
9871484
9959974
9860974
9861006
9870429
9877465
9877556
9959875
9861949
9861964
9862103
9870502
9870866
9871310
9876087
9901703
9913492
9916008
9919200
9923046
Name
SAHIBY JULEEMAH
TIMARIE BLUE PRIDE
CORREZE
METRA KEMADA
NOURMAHAL VANESSA
TIMARIE BLUE SALA
JAMANI LIKWEZI
EIBNA SANDRA
VIDIKO NAZIMA
SULEENA
SHAREEF SMAYHA
LAR MALIKA
QUIMRAN MOOI MEISIE
VLINKFONTEIN GALLI GIRL
ENDORA
BANGHOR FAB FARAH
MET-LUS BARALAY
BINT FOZE
EIBNA REBINA
JAMANI GIANETTA
SAHIBY AMEERA
RINESSA
MET-LUS BANDY
WADI MUNA
CHARMANTE NADIYA
NABILAH BINT SAKLABILAH
SHAHEER OHIO
SAHIBI BINT AHIR
SANNIESGUNS FARRAH
SHAHEER TAMARISKA
Birth Year
1982
1955
1950
1973
1973
1953
1960
1964
1966
1951
1973
1980
1959
1960
1950
1977
1977
1974
1966
1966
1966
1952
1972
1972
1974
1979
1986
1987
1988
1990
17
% Inbreeding
27.99
0.36
9.07
2.39
21.04
3.50
7.68
11.84
7.37
1.65
0.68
7.19
8.94
2.35
10.04
8.72
2.43
0.05
6.84
19.24
0.07
10.42
10.18
0.10
2.07
3.48
0.55
19.00
9.24
0.43
No of foals
15
14
13
13
13
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
11
11
11
11
11
11
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
Influential Arabian Ancestors
Figure 19: Nazeer was a grey Arabian stallion born in
1934 in Egypt. He has sired many offspring and is the
sire of Morafic. (Wikipedia, Photo:http://www.arabsiowa.com/Nazeer.jpg. He is the stallion with the
highest GC in South Africa.
Figure 20: Morafic was a grey Arabian stallion foaled in
1956 in Egypt and later imported to the United States by
Gleannloch Farms (Wikipedia). He is the stallion with the
highest AGR in South Africa.
The most influential Arab Horse ancestors are determined by the Additive Genetic Relationsip (AGR)
and the Genetic Contribution (GC). Both these scores are related to one another and to the
inbreeding of the animal. The official definitions are listed below.
Additive Genetic Relationship (AGR)
The additive genetic relationship reflects what proportion of their DNA (alleles) animals share
because they have common ancestor(s). Additive genetic relationships are calculated from the
pedigree. The additive genetic relationship between individuals depends on the number of common
ancestors and on the number of generations to each common ancestor. In this report, the AGR was
estimated relative to the foals born in 2015. The additive genetic relationship is an estimate of the
proportion of alleles that the foals born in 2015 have in common because of one or more common
ancestor(s). https://wiki.groenkennisnet.nl/
Genetic Contribution (GC)
The proportion of the genes of the foals born in a specific year (2015) that are expected to derive by
descent from a specific ancestor is known as the genetic contribution of the specific ancestor. It
relates to the development of the pedigree over generations and gives an indication of how the
ancestor may influence the population. (J. A. Woolliams, P. Bijma, B. Villanueva, 1999. Expected
Genetic Contributions and Their Impact on Gene Flow and Genetic Gain. GENETICS 153 (2) 10091020).
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Animals have common ancestors when
their common ancestor was popular
enough to have multiple offspring,
which, possibly after some generations,
resulted in the birth of both parents.
The more popular a breeding animal
was in the past, the larger the chance
that two potential parents have this
ancestor in common. The more animals
share that common ancestor, the larger
the chance that mating two animals will
result in an inbred offspring. In other
words, there is a relation between the
long term genetic contribution of an
animal to the population and the rate of
inbreeding in the population. The
genetic contribution is a measure of the
level of relatedness between animals in
a population because of a shared
common ancestor.
Although all the horses in the following
table are related to one another, the
difference between AGR and GC can be
illustrated with the first 6 stallions,
which are related to one another as in
Figure 21.
Nazeer
•AGR: 12.66; GC: 10.54
Morafic
•AGR: 14.18; GC: 7.41
Shaikh Al Badi
•AGR: 12.98; GC: 2.23
Ruminaja Ali
•AGR: 12.73; GC: 3.72
The Minstril
•AGR: 11.22; GC: 3.31
Maistro
•AGR: 12.15; GC: 2.19
Figure 21: The 6 Arabian sires with the highest AGR
(Additive Genetic Relationship) with the foals born
in 2015, are related to one another as sires and
sons. Photographs: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/
Their AGR are high, because they are related to one another, e.g. Nazeer is the sire of
Morafic. In addition, other sons of these stallions have also formed lines, increasing their influence
on the South African population. However, their GC score measures their direct genetic contribution
to the registered foals born in 2015, without taking into account different lines that has formed.
Table 5: The 6 sires with the highest AGR (Additive genetic relationship) with foals born in 2015.
Name
MORAFIC
SHAIKH AL BADI
RUMINAJA ALI
NAZEER
MAISTRO
THE MINSTRIL
Sex
M
M
M
M
M
M
Year
1956
1969
1976
1934
1990
1984
Sire
NAZEER
MORAFIC
SHAIKH AL BADI
MANSOUR
THE MINSTRIL
RUMINAJA ALI
Dam
MABROUKA
BINT MAISA EL SAGHIRA
BINT MAGIDAA
BINT SAMIHA
AMIRI SANAA
BAHILA
19
Inbr %
3.32
16.58
14.35
0.00
11.59
7.27
AGR
14.18
12.98
12.73
12.66
12.15
11.12
GC
7.41
2.23
3.72
10.5
2.19
3.31
Table 6: Arabian Horses that has the highest GC score (Genetic Contribution scores) with registered
foals born in 2015. Inbreeding coefficients as well as AGR scores are also shown.
Name
NAZEER
Sex Year Sire
M 1934 MANSOUR
Dam
BINT SAMIHA
Inbr %
0.00
AGR
12.66
GC
10.5
MORAFIC
M 1956 NAZEER
MABROUKA
3.32
14.18
7.41
MESAOUD
M 1887 AZIZ
YAMAMA III
0.00
7.51
7.13
MANSOUR
M 1921 GAMIL MANIAL
NAFAA EL SAGHIRA
0.00
7.37
6.41
BINT SAMIHA
F
SAMIHA*
0.00
7.42
5.51
KAZMEEN
M 1916 SOTAMM
KASIMA
0.00
6.39
4.56
IBN RABDAN
M 1917 RABDAN EL AZRAK
BINT GAMILA*
0.00
5.13
4.56
AZIZ
M 1881 HARKAN
AZIZA
0.00
4.33
4.31
BEY SHAH
M 1976 BAY EL BEY
STAR OF OFIR
0.94
6.37
4.12
PADRONS PSYCHE
M 1988 PADRON
KILIKA
2.56
8.18
4.08
SKOWRONEK
M 1909 Unknown
JASKOLKA
0.00
3.98
3.98
MABROUKA
F
MONIET EL NEFOUS
4.79
8.46
3.94
SHAHLOUL
M 1931 IBN RABDAN
BINT RADIA
0.00
6.31
3.79
NAFAA EL SAGHIRA
F
NAFAA EL KEBIRA
0.00
3.75
3.75
RUMINAJA ALI
M 1976 SHAIKH AL BADI
BINT MAGIDAA
14.35
12.73
3.72
ASTRALED
M 1899 MESAOUD
QUEEN OF SHEBA
0.00
6.77
3.63
GAMIL MANIAL
M 1912 SAKLAWI II
DALAL
0.00
4.57
3.44
BASK
M 1956 WITRAZ
BALALAJKA
0.00
4.48
3.44
NASEEM
M 1922 SKOWRONEK
NASRA
0.00
6.64
3.42
SID ABOUHOM
M 1936 EL DERE
LAYLA
0.00
5.81
3.40
RAZINA
F
RIYALA
9.38
7.89
3.37
XA FAMES VENTURE
M 2006 GH VENTURE
AFTER ALL VF
8.20
6.99
3.35
RAKTHA (GB)
M 1934 NASEEM
RAZINA
1.95
8.86
3.35
THE MINSTRIL
M 1984 RUMINAJA ALI
BAHILA
7.27
11.12
3.31
RABDAN EL AZRAK
M 1897 DAHMAN AL AZRAK
RABDA
0.00
3.29
3.27
RIDAA
F
1892 MERZUK
ROSE OF SHARON
0.00
4.12
3.22
MONIET EL NEFOUS
F
1946 SHAHLOUL
WANISA
0.78
7.18
3.18
RISALA
F
1899 MESAOUD
RIDAA
0.00
7.31
2.99
ROSE OF SHARON
F
1885 HADBAN
RODANIA
0.00
3.08
2.89
NEFISA
F
1885 PROXIMO
DAJANIA
0.00
2.98
2.80
SAMIHA*
F
1918 SAMHAN
BINT HADBA EL SAGHIRA
0.00
2.93
2.76
BAY EL BEY
M 1969 BAY-ABI
NAGANKA
0.00
3.66
2.75
SOTAMM
M 1910 ASTRALED
SELMA
6.25
6.09
2.71
NASRA
F
NEFISA
0.00
5.87
2.67
MAGNUM PSYCHE
M 1995 PADRONS PSYCHE
A FANCY MIRACLE
0.00
6.28
2.66
BINT RADIA
F
1920 MABROUK MANIAL
RADIA
0.00
3.70
2.58
BINT SABAH
F
1925 KAZMEEN
SABAH
0.00
5.05
2.47
BINT GAMILA*
F
1911 IBN NADRA
Unknown
0.00
2.42
2.42
SIDI SCORPIO (AI)
M 2010 MAGNUM CHALL HVP
SIDI MOONLIGHTING
3.30
6.88
2.41
QUEEN OF SHEBA
F
SHEBA
0.00
2.40
2.40
RASIM
M 1906 FEYSUL
RISALA
0.00
6.01
2.38
1925 KAZMEEN
1951 SID ABOUHOM
1910 MEANAGI SEBELI
1922 RASIM
1908 DAOUD
1875 YARAL
20
FEYSUL
M 1894 IBN NURA
EL ARGAA
0.00
2.33
2.33
PADRON
M 1977 PATRON
ODESSA
1.51
7.89
2.32
SHEIKH EL ARAB
M 1933 MANSOUR
BINT SABAH
0.00
7.34
2.28
KASIMA
F
KASIDA
0.00
2.28
2.28
SHAIKH AL BADI
M 1969 MORAFIC
BINT MAISA EL SAGHIRA
16.58
12.98
2.23
MAISTRO
M 1990 THE MINSTRIL
AMIRI SANAA
11.59
12.15
2.19
1905 NARKISE
The two stallions Nazeer and his son Morafic has the highest Genetic Contribution to the South
African Arab population with 10.5% and 7.41% respectively.
Conclusion
The South African Arab Horse population is probably not at risk of losing genetic diversity. Due to
complete recording of pedigrees, inbreeding coefficients can be determined very accurately.
Although some of the important ancestors have very high levels of inbreeding, they have been
successful. Inbreeding levels in the population were lowered from 9% to 6%, which makes it difficult
to estimate most of the effective population size estimates. However, the population does not seem
to be at risk due to a small effective population size. This is probably due to the importation of
horses. The most important ancestors is Nazeer and his son Morafic. Locally bred animals are also
used extensively, although imported animals remain important. Breeders should continue to avoid
inbreeding as much as possible and to use unrelated sires in breeding programmes.
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