Document Type : Original Article
Authors
School of Agricultural Livestock and Environmental Sciences, Bogota, Colombia
Abstract
The aim of these was to look out for their implications on body dimensions. In total, 150 horses of both sexes and ages 3 to 15, were analyzed. Measurements of body length, body height (withers height), and body girth were also performed in accordance with standards. Horses were grouped according to their body color (black, red dun, blue roan, bay, gray) and face type (star and stripe, star and snip, bald face, lip marking, irregular blaze). Statistical analyses were made on independent samples for each of the dependent controls (SPSS Version 25.0); t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient. Results indicated statistically significant sexual dimorphism between males and females in body height (p = 0.009), with males consistently taller (155.62 cm) than females (149.95 cm). No significant differences were shown between sexes for body length and girth. Coat color significantly influenced body length (p < 0.05), with black horses having the longest body length, 161.50 cm, while the shortest body length was most attributed to red dun (143.22 cm); however, coat color did not have a notable effect on body height or girth. There was no significant difference in body height or gender differences between males and females. Face type did not significantly correlate with body dimensions. Limb morphology showed bilateral symmetry and the association between different limb traits was only moderate. All these points point out the influence of genetic and environmental factors on Equine Morphology and have practical implications for breeding and management strategies which are often used to support equine. The study emphasizes the need to take phenotypic traits into account in equine research and suggests future studies must delve further into the likely genetic basis for those associations. Key Words: horses, characterization, morphological
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