6. Genetic Evaluation of Show Jumping Horses in the Slovak Republic

The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters and breeding values (BVs) of show jumping horses in the Slovak Republic. The data from show jumping competitions performed in 2004-2013 (The Slovak Equestrian Federation) and data from the Breeding Information Register (The National Stud Farm in Topo’čianky) were used in our work. There were 831 horses (4-21 years old) included in the analysis. The level of competitions ranged from LS (125 cm) to TT (160 cm). Profit of penalty points (PP) and ranking in the competition (R) were analyzed as the measures describing horse performance. The average profit of PP was 5.90±6.28, and mean R was 20.20±16.88. The software package CFC 1.0 was used for computation of inbreeding coefficient (F) in given population. The ratio of inbred animals was 74.49% from 831 investigated animals. The average F value was 0.0068 within inbred population. Input data (profit of PP and R) were not normally distributed, therefore the transformation by Blom formula was made. The height of obstacles was taken into account. The ranking in competition has been nearest to the normal distribution even though the tests of normality have not confirmed it significantly. The heritability coefficient was 0.17 in PP and 0.10 in R. The BVs were estimated for PP and R (BV_PP, BV_R). The BVs for R were modified to the form of relative breeding values (RBV_R). The increase of genetic level of R within population of show jumping horses has been observed in recent years.