Inbreeding (long)

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Kim Johnson belesemo@micron.net
Fascinating topic.  I rarely get the opportunity to respond to Ridecamp posts but this one is near and dear to my heart.
As a now and then lurker I can't resist the opportunity to throw this out as food for thought.  Early in our breeding
program while trying to determine the good, as well as the bad and the ugly genetically in our bloodlines, we felt we needed
to do some inbreeding and linebreeding.  Our stallion Trad had very few similar lines in the first 5 generations of his
pedigree.  He was bred along a similar breeding group line (CMK and Davenport), but his pedigree consisted of different
 individuals within those lines - so he was not what one would consider linebred or inbred.
We chose to breed him to a handful of his half-sisters and a full sister to find out what the worst as well as the best was
 that we could possibly expect from his bloodlines.
The filly that resulted from the full blood sibling mating could never have qualified for the best conformed, most
 beautiful individual.  She could never have won a breeding class, and in fact could have been considered downright
homely.  However, she did go on to become an AERC National Mileage Champion, AERC Husband/Wife Team Champion,
multiple Best Condition wins, Wendell Robie Award winners and numerous other awards.  She had close to 4,000 miles
when she was retired for breeding.
One of the colts resulting from the half-sibling mating was a Class A Futurity Champion Stallion, multiple halter winner,
including State Hi-Pt. stallion.  He went on to have a great career in performance also, although not on the endurance
trail where I believe he could also have excelled.  He was considered very beautiful and correct.
The three other half-sibling matings also went on to have successful careers both in the breeding classes and out on the
trail.  None of the horses to our knowledge had temperament problems.  Their successes are all tributes to their owners,
much more than their breeder.
We also did a mother/son mating which we felt successful except that the resultant filly broke her leg at three
months.  However, when outcrossed,  she went on to produce some great offspring that are just now getting out on the trail.
     Did we feel the inbreeding and linebreeding successful?  Yes, indeed.  More than anything it revealed to us the
strengths as well as the weaknesses inherent in our bloodlines.  We have now gone to outcross blood still within the
same breeding group (CMK/Davenport) but different bloodlines for our next generation.  The resultant fourth
generation we will once again bring back in for cousin breedings along the Trad lines, a generation removed.
     However, I would add that I don't think we would have tried this intense breeding regime had Trad
himself already been an inbred or closely linebred individual. Other breeding programs have though, with
 excellent results.  My nature just tends to be more cautious in experimentation.  Also interesting though, is the fact
 that Trad was extremely dominant in reproducing his own likeness and traits on a variety of mares, not just those
similarly bred, although he had a so-called outcross pedigree.
    Sorry to have rambled on here.  I realize I'm probably off topic but just some observations to contribute
gained over the last few years.