Optimization of the performance test length for the Sella Italiano stallion

Abstract

The Sella Italiano stallions are selected by 100-day perfomance test, but many breeders organisations use station test of shorter length. In twelve editions, 17,394 ten-point scores both for character and gaits, and 6291 scores for jumping were assigned to 314 candidate stallions. By means of the comparison of univariate EBVs, calculated from the complete dataset or from the reduced subsets, a dataset lasting only from 33rd day to 78th day of the training period was selected: it included less than 70% of the original data. The subset was validated by 3-trait AM BLUP: there were no evident effects on the estimates of variance component or ratio, and the aggregated selection index for the three traits showed a 99% rank correlation with the official index. These findings demonstrate that the training period could be reduced without affecting the genetic progress in the Sella Italiano breed. © C. Pieramati et al., 2013.