Morphological analysis and effect of selection for conformation in the Noriker draught horse population

To evaluate the breeding program in the Austrian Noriker draught horse population, which is mostly based on conformation, 31 body measurements from 497 horses in seven breeding areas of Austria were recorded. In addition, the data of 2376 horses (the current breeding population) from the studbook, containing 10 scored conformation traits and 4 body measurements per individual, were analysed. We assumed breeding regions, coat colour strains and breeding classes assigned according to conformation evaluation to be the main factors in phenotypic diversity of this Austrian draught horse breed. Significant differences and distances were found for all of these factors. Whereas differences between breeding areas mostly are due to housing conditions and feeding strategies, the breeding classes provide a very distinct picture of the current trends in Noriker breeding. Breeding organisations favour a long and high Noriker draught horse, a tendency that is the same for all departments. Heritability estimates for morphological traits vary from 0 to 0.67, and from 0.08 to 0.37 for linear type traits.