Strengthening the competitive edge for the three Norwegian horse breeds through sports and breeding, Postdoc

The Norwegian horse breeds have changed rapidly the last decades from working horses to horses used mainly in sports- and leisure, with strong competition in the market from imported, specialized breeds. The demand for Norwegian breeds has decreased, and the population sizes are small, making them vulnerable for accumulation of inbreeding. The fundamental idea of this project is to develop a closer integration between sports and breeding, with invention of a sport activity for each breed. The sport activi ty will strengthen the competitive edge of the Norwegian horse breeds, increase the number of horses (increased demand) and as such contribute to the conservation of the breeds. The project will have four goals: 1) To revitalize the traditional horse show s by developing a sports event, adjusted to the natural advantage of each breed, with recording of traits to be improved through selective breeding. The horses' temperament will be considered as the performance trait in the project and recorded through th e sports event at horse shows (1 to 3 years olds), based on testing. Also, a questionnaire will be developed to gather information on horses < 1 year old, mainly on temperament. These data can contribute to progeny testing of males. 2) To implement the pr oposed recording and collect data from two year classes in all three breeds, and also to validate the information in the questionnaire for temperament. 3) To implement optimal contribution in small horse populations, utilising historical data, to balance selection towards the rate of inbreeding. 4) To calculate genetic parameters of the temperament variables and update the calculations of optimal contributions utilising breeding values for temperament.