Online ISSN: 1314-412XVolume 3, Number 3

September 2011

Version

2011

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Georgi Zhelyazkov (Bulgaria)

2011

Volume 3, Number 3September 2011

Online Version ISSN: 1314-412X

Determination of coloured horses raised in Turkey

1 2O. Yilmaz *, M. Ertugrul

1Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Igdir University, 76100 Igdir, Turkey2Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ankara University, 06100 Ankara, Turkey

Abstract. Even though coloured horses are very rare in Turkey, there is a group of such horses in a small region in the east of the country. This study was undertaken to verify, by analyzing sex, coat colour, and morphological dimensions and comparing these with other Turkish horse breeds, whether this group of coloured horses is a crossbreed or a separate breed. In this study, 42 male and 35 female horses were divided into four age groups (1-3, 4-5, 6-8 and 9-18 years). The frequencies of body coat colour of the sampled horses were predominantly bay on white 55.2%, predominantly gray on white 17.2%, predominantly white on bay 8.6%, predominantly white on buckskin 8.6%, predominantly black on white 6.9%, and predominantly white on black 3.5%. Descriptive statistics gave the following means: withers height 134.5 cm, height at rump 135.3 cm, body length 138.2 cm, heart girth circumference 153.2 cm, chest depth 61.0 cm, chest width 39.4 cm, cannon circumference 17.6 cm, head length 54.6 cm and ear length 13.4 cm.

Keywords: piebald, skewbald, morphologic traits, coat colour

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 3, No 3, pp 203 - 206, 2011

203

the most common coat colours are bay and gray. The rarest horse Introduction colours are pinto, isabelline and buckskin, as seen in Table 1. In addition to the information given in this table, some further remarks The horse is a large odd-toed hooved (ungulate) mammal in the may be made. According to Yarkın (1962), in Turkish Arabian horses family Equidae. Most scientists believe that the Central Asian bay, gray and chestnut coat colours are the most common and are steppes, the original homeland of the Turks, are almost certainly one preferred. Black is seen rarely. Arpacik (1996) reported that, in pure-of centres of origin of the domestic horse (Duzgunes, 1946; Yarkin, breed Arabian horses, between 1940 and 1980 frequencies of the 1962). In Central Asia horses have been used for millennia for chestnut colour increased two fold, gray colour decreased 7-8 fold warfare, personal transport, and agricultural operations as well as to and the bay color was stable. In the Midilli of Ayvacik breed the most provide food for their owners who are nomadic herders (Wilson, common coat colour is bay. The roan colour can be seen, but rarely. 1999). In the 1950s and 1960s working horses were almost However, Batu (1962) reported that the Midilli of Ayvacik are completely replaced by tractors, so that horses lost their importance commonly bay, and Yılmazer (2007), in an MSc thesis on the same to general human life in Europe and to a certain extent also in Turkey breed, reported only a chestnut coat colour for those horses. Aral (Herold, 2001).(1974) has reported that the bay colour is common in Uzunyayla The colours of horses have fascinated human beings horses. Black and gray colours also could be seen, but the chestnut throughout recorded history. Especially nowadays, more and more colour is disliked by owners. Batu (1962) reported that gray, bay, horses are valued for mainly aesthetic rather than utilitarian chestnut and black colours were common in Turkish Native horses, purposes. It is a human idiosyncrasy that most people tend to and buckskin and other colours could be seen. Batu (1962) also choose a horse of a colour that appeal to them, when all other things reported that Malakan horses are commonly black. According to are equal (www.apha.com, 2011; www.horsecolor.com, 2011). Emiroğlu and Yüksel (2002), Uzunyayla and Canik horses generally Horses display a different array of body coat colours and some were of a bay colour. In the Kolu Kisa of Hinis breed, each coat colour distinctive markings. It may be noticed that a horse is generally first could be seen, but bay was the most common.described by its coat colour rather than by value, breed or sex

The Turkish Coloured horse has a mixed colour pattern (en.wikipedia.org, 2011). controlled by a dominant gene. One parent must therefore be a The main Turkish horse breeds are the Anatolian Native, Midilli 'coloured' horse for the pattern to occur. The 'colour' gene produces of Ayvacik, Kula of Camardi, Canik, Cukurova, East Anatolia, Kolu white-haired, pink-skinned patches on a base coat colour. There are Kisa of Hinis, Karacabey, Malakan, Rahvan, Rumeli (Trakya), various terms for this combination in the literature, depending on the Turkish Arab, and Uzunyayla (Batu, 1962; Sonmez, 1973; Arpacik, size, distribution and proportion of the colours as they relate to the 1996; Emiroğlu, 2010; Gulec, 2002; Kirmizibayrak, 2004; Bayram, white areas. For simplicity, the terms 'piebald' and 'skewbald' are 2005). Even though there are a few scientific contributions on horses applied here, and this general type of horse will be described as in Turkish literature, there is none specifically on 'coloured' horses, 'Coloured'. i.e. those that have colours mixed with white, such as in piebald or

The skin underlying the white spots is pink and under the skewbald combinations. In existing contributions, withers height coloured areas it is black. The spots are generally regular and (WH), height at rump (HR), body length (BL), heart girth distinct as ovals or round patterns (en.wikipedia.org, 2011; circumference (HGC), chest depth (CD), chest width (CW), haunch www.vgl.ucdavis.edu, 2011). Usually, all four legs are white below width (HW), limb length (LL), cannon circumference (CC), head the hocks and knees. The pattern is clearly marked and length (HL) and ear length (EL) were measured. In Turkish horses

* e-mail: zileliorhan@gmail.com

characterized by white across the spine that extends downward sex, region, body coat colour, and age group on the response between the ears and tail. The coloration is present from birth and variables of WH, HR, BL, HGC, CD, CW, CC, HL and EL does not change throughout the horse's lifetime. In 1940s an (Anonymous, 2011).Armenian citizen brought a Coloured filly from a village located in Armenia to an adjacent Turkish village. Later this filly was sold to another horse breeder who lived one of villages in Kars Province. Results and discussion When the filly matured, all her offspring were Coloured foals. Those Coloured horses became famous, and were used by other horse

The frequencies of body coat colour were as given in Table 2. breeders. Later in the century, some horse breeders in Ardahan

More than fifty percent of horses had bay in their colouring. One Province had them. Nowadays these horses breed widely in

tenth of the horses were piebald and rest of them were skewbald. As Ardahan and Kars Provinces. Beside their colours and characteristic

seen in Table 3, between male and females horses there was no morphology, they are calm, quite and obedient horses.

significant difference for morphological dimensions except for the The aim of this study is to determine whether Turkish Coloured

leg and ear lengths.horses are a separate breed or only a colour variety.

Descriptive overall means for these horses were as follows: withers height 137.9 cm, height at rump 138.1 cm, body length 143.9

Material and methods

Experimental animalsIn this study a total 77 Coloured horses, 42 males and 35

0 0females, was analyzed in Gole (40 47'N; 42 36'E), Arpacay 0 0 0 0(40 51'N; 43 20'E) and Susuz (40 47'N; 43 08'E) in the Northeast of

Turkey (www.googleearth.com, 2011). The horses were aged from 1 to 26 years, grouped into four age groups of 1-3, 4-5, 6-8 and 9-18 years, respectively.

MeasurementsThe study was carried out from October to December 2010.

Withers height (WH), height at rump (HR), body length (BL), chest depth (CD), and chest width (CW) were measured using a measuring stick. Heart girth circumference (HGC), cannon circumference (CC), head length (HL) and ear length (EL) were measured with a specially graduated metal measuring tape (Sonmez, 1973). Ages were determined from the horse owners. Body coat colours were classified according to whether the white area was bigger than the coloured area or not. For example, for the 'piebald' coat colour, if the white area was bigger than the black area it was classified as 'predominantly white on black', and vice versa is 'predominantly black on white' (Figures 1 and 2). For the bay colour, properly skewbald, if the white was bigger than red area it was classified as 'predominantly white on bay', vice versa was 'predominantly bay on white' (Yarkın, 1962).

Statistical analysisData were analyzed with Minitab 15 statistical software

program. Descriptive statistics for body dimensions were analyzed using ANOVA and Student's t-Test that also determined the impact of Figure 2. Coloured horses

Figure 1. Coloured foal and mare

204

Table 1. Body coat colour distributions of horse breeds

BreedsGray

(%)

Bay

(%)

Chestnut

(%)

Black

(%)

Isabelline

(%)

Buckskin

(%)

Dun

(%)

Piebald/Skewbald

(%)

Anadolu Native12

Malakan13

Uzunyayla13

Turkish Arabian5

Anadolu Native 10

Anadolu Native 7

Anadolu Native 15

44.7

23

12

5.5

41.5

38.4

37.8

14.2

25

19

74.5

12.2

16.2

29.7

2.9

21

0.3

2.4

4.2

5.5

0.9

0.9

0.8

0.9

7.4

1.6

37.3

52

48

19.7

41.5

31.9

27

12 13 5 10 7 15(Said 1940) (Arıtürk 1956) (Arpacik 1996) (Kirmizibayrak 2004) (Bayram 2005) (Alarslan 2009)

Table 2. Distributions of body coat colour of Coloured horses in Turkey.

Piebald Piebald

Predominantly

black on white

Predominantly

white on black

Predominantly

bay on white

Predominantly

grey on white

Predominantly

white on bay

Predominantly

white on buckskin

n

%

4

6.9

2

3.5

32

55.2

10

17.2

5

8.6

5

8.6

Table 3. Descriptive statistics and comparison results of the phenotypic traits overall and in different sexes in Coloured

horses (cm).

Groups

Overall (n=58)

Female(n=24)

Male(n=34)

a, b: P<0.05.* There were no significant differences between means showed in same letters of alphabet in same column and factor group

b14.0 ±0.23

a13.3 ±0.19

EL

40.7±0.39

b41.8 ±0.68

a39.9 ±0.43

CW

63.5±0.48

a64.0 ±0.85

a63.2 ±0.57

CD

158.9±0.92

b161.4 ±1.56

a157.2 ±1.03

HGC

143.9±0.96

b146.6 ±1.41

a141.9 ±1.21

BL

138.1±0.45

a138.2 ±0.77

a138.1 ±0.55

HR

13.6±0.15137.9±0.55

a137.5 *±1.05

a138.3 *±0.59

WH

18.2±0.14

a18.0 ±0.22

a18.4 ±0.17

CC

55.9±0.34

a56.1 ±0.52

a55.7 ±0.46

HL

205

cm, heart girth circumference 158.9 cm, chest depth 63.5 cm, chest (www.pinto.org, 2011). Coloured horses are accepted as a separate width 40.7 cm, cannon circumference 18.2 cm, head length 55.9 cm breed by both associations. In order to decide whether the Turkish and ear length 13.6 cm. As seen when compared with Table 1, the Coloured horses are a new breed or crossbreed, there should be results from this study did not agree with any of the reported results DNA analysis carried out on these horses.from other researchers. So these results suggest that Turkish Coloured horses in almost all body dimensions are smaller than Karacabey Yarimkan (Batu, 1931), Arabian (Duzgunes, 1953), and Acknowledgements Uzunyayla (Arıtürk, 1956), but larger than Turkish Native (Said, 1940), Turkish Arabian (Said, 1940), Cukurova (Said, 1940), Canik The authors gratefully thank Prof. Dr. Fırat Cengiz (Yil (Yarkın, 1962), Central Anatolian Turkish Native (Sığındere, 1977, University, Van-Turkey), Prof. Dr. Ensar Baspinar (Sinop University, Kırmızıbayrak, 2004; Alarslan, 2009), Rahvan (İnal, 2004), Ayvacik Sinop-Turkey), Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Zafer Arik (Akdeniz University, Midillisi (Yılmazer, 2007). Arabian is a race breed, and normally it is Antalya-Turkey), Prof. Dr. Gursel Dellal (Ankara University, Ankara-larger than the Turkish native horse breeds (Yarkın, 1962). On the Turkey), Prof. Dr. Saim Boztepe (Ankara University, Ankara-Turkey), other hand, Ayvacik Midillisi is actually a miniature horse breed in Assoc. Prof. Dr. Askin Kor (Yil University, Van-Turkey), and Dr. Peta Turkey (Yılmazer, 2007), so their dimensions could be expected to A. Jones (Donkey Power-South Africa) for their constructive be smaller than those for Coloured horses. From the results comments, careful scientific revision and English edit.obtained, Coloured horses were larger on some traits and smaller on other traits compared with the Malakan and East Anatolian horses. The Malakan horse is the only draught horse breed of Turkey, and it Referencesis anyway generally larger in size than other Turkish horse breeds (Arıtürk, 1956).

Alarslan E, 2009. Van İli Erçiş İlçesi Ulupamir Köyündeki Table 2 gives the results obtained from a related study which

Geleneksel At Yetiştiriciliğinin Yapısal Özellikleri (unpublished MSc provided additional information on the coat patterns of the Coloured

Thesis). Y.Y.Ü. Ziraat Fakültesi. Van pp.28.horse. The present data demonstrate that Turkish Coloured horse is

Anonymous, 2011. Minitab 15 Computer Program14. Aral N, 1974. smaller in body size than most of the Turkish native horse breeds. On

Türkiye'de Yetiştirilen Hayvan Türleri, Yetiştiricilik Tarihi ve the behavioural side, these horses are also different to other Turkish

Teknolojisi. Türkiye Jokey Kulübü Yayınları, Ankara.Native horses. Turkish Native horses are cautious, suspicious and

Arıtürk E, 1956. Türkiye Atçılığının Bugünkü Durumu, Meseleleri alert to the presence of strangers, whereas Coloured horses are

ve Yerli Atlarımızın Morfolojik Vasıfları Üstünde Araştırmalar. A. Ü. more placid. One point should not be ignored: the female ancestor of

Veteriner Fakültesi Yayınları. Ankara, 86,33-85.these horses was from Armenia, implying they could be seen as a

Arpacik R, 1996. At Yetiştiriciliği. Şahin Matbaası, Ankara.separate breed. In the USA there are two coloured horse

Batu S, 1931. Karacabey Yarımkan Araplarının Beden Ölçüleri associations, the American Paint Horse Association (APHA)Üzerinde Araştırmalar. Yüksek Ziraat Enstitüsü Çalışmalarından,

(www.apha.com, 2011) and the Pinto Horse Association (PtHA)

Mean ± SEM

206

91, Ankara. Recep Ulusoğlu Basımevi, Ankara, pp.14Batu S, 1962. Türk Atları ve At Yetiştirme Bilgisi. A. Ü. Veteriner Sığındere V, 1977. Orta Anadolu Bölgesinde Yetiştirilen Atların Fakültesi Yayınları, Ankara, 13, pp. 93. Menşei ve Beden Yapıları ile Bunların En Önemli Problemleri Bayram D, 2005. Van Yöresinde Yetiştirilen Atlarda Fenotipik Üzerinde Araştırma.. Lalahan Zootekni Araştırma Enstitüsü Yayın, Özellikler. Y. Y. Ü. Veteriner Fakültesi Dergisi, 16, 1, 85-88. Ankara, 50, 50-64.Düzgüneş O, 1946. Atçılık (Üretme, Bakım ve Yemleme Usulleri). Sönmez R, 1973. At Yetiştirme (Özel Zootekni). E. Ü. Ziraat Ali Rıza İncealemdaroğlu Matbaası, Zonguldak. Fakültesi Yayınları, 141, E. Ü. Basımevi, İzmir.Düzgüneş O, 1953. Türkiye Hayvan Yetiştirme Müesselerinde Saf Wilson RT, 1999. Horses in Kyrgyz Republic. Draught Animal News, ve Yarımkan Arap Yetiştirme, Vücut Yapılışı ve Verimleri ile Bunların University of Edinburgh, UK, 30, 2-6.Birbirleri ile Mukayesesi. Yarkın İ, 1962. Atçılık. A. Ü. Ziraat Fakültesi Yayınları:40, pp. 80-94 Emiroğlu K and Yüksel A, 2002. Yoldaşımız At. pp. 29-33. Yapı Ders Kitabı,20, A. Ü. Basımevi, Ankara.Kredi Yayınları, 1744. Istanbul. Yılmazer A, 2007. Ayvacık Midillisi (unpublished MSc Thesis), Güleç E, 2002. Türk At Irkları. (Elde basım), Ankara. pp.12, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Ü. Ziraat Fakültesi. Herold P and Hess J, 2001. Draught Animal Power in Organic en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Equine_coat_color, (accessed on Farming in Germany. A comparison of horse-drawn and tractor- 26.02.2011)drawn mowers. Draught Animal News, University of Edinburgh, UK, www.apha.com/breed/index, (accessed on 26.02.2011)35, 21-23. www.horsecolor.com, (accessed on 26.02.2011)İnal Ş, 2004. The Determination for Situation and Breed www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Horse, (accessed on Characteristics of Turkish Rahvan Horse. II. Ulusal Atçılık 26.02.2011)Sempozyumu, Bursa, pp.93. www.pinto.org/about_pinto, (accessed on 26.02.2011)Kırmızıbayrak T, Aksoy AR, Tilki M and Saatçi M, 2004. Kars www.whitehorseproductions.com, (accessed on 26.02.2011)Yöresi Türk Yerli Atlarının Morfolojik Özelliklerinin İncelenmesi. www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/coatcolorhorse, (accessed on Kafkas Ü., Veteriner Fakültesi Dergisi, 17, 1, 69-72. 26.02.2011)Said Z, 1940. Türkiye'de Atçılığın Ehemmiyeti ve Araştırma Mevzuu. www.googleearth.com, (accessed on 28.02.2011)T.C. Ziraat Vekaleti Yüksek Ziraat Enstitüsü Çalışmalarından, 62,

CONTENTS 1 / 1

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 3, No 3, 2011

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Investigation on some seed characteristics among sunflower lines and hybridsM. Drumeva, N. Nenova, E. Penchev

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possible for others to repeat the experiment in order to verify results.Results are presented in understandable tables and figures, accompanied by the statistical parameters needed for the evaluation. Data from tables and figures should not be repeated in the text.Tables should be as simple and as few as possible. Each table should have its own explanatory title and to be typed on a separate page. They should be outside the main body of the text and an indication should be given where it should be inserted.Figures should be sharp with good contrast and rendition. Graphic materials should be preferred. Photographs to be appropriate for printing. Illustrations are supplied in colour as an exception after special agreement with the editorial board and possible payment of extra costs. The figures are to be each in a single file and their location should be given within the text. Discussion: The objective of this section is to indicate the scientific significance of the study. By comparing the results and conclusions of other scientists the contribution of the study for expanding or modifying existing knowledge is pointed out clearly and convincingly to the reader.Conclusion: The most important conse- quences for the science and practice resulting from the conducted research should be summarized in a few sentences. The conclusions shouldn't be numbered and no new paragraphs be used. Contributions are the core of conclusions. References:In the text, references should be cited as follows: single author: Sandberg (2002); two authors: Andersson and Georges (2004); more than two authors: Andersson et al.(2003). When several references are cited simultaneously, they should be ranked by chronological order e.g.: (Sandberg, 2002; Andersson et al., 2003; Andersson and Georges, 2004).References are arranged alphabetically by the name of the first author. If an author is cited more than once, first his individual publications are given ranked by year, then come publications with one co-author, two co-authors, etc. The names of authors, article and journal titles in the Cyrillic or alphabet different from Latin, should be transliterated into Latin and article titles should be translated into English. The original language of articles and books translated into English is indicated in

parenthesis after the bibliographic reference (Bulgarian = Bg, Russian = Ru, Serbian = Sr, if in the Cyrillic, Mongolian = Мо, Greek = Gr, Georgian = Geor., Japanese = Jа, Chinese = Ch, Arabic = Аr, etc.)The following order in the reference list is recommended:Journal articles: Author(s) surname and initials, year. Title. Full title of the journal, volume, pages. Example:Simm G, Lewis RM, Grundy B and Dingwall WS, 2002. Responses to selection for lean growth in sheep. Animal Science, 74, 39-50Books: Author(s) surname and initials, year. Title. Edition, name of publisher, p l ace o f pub l i ca t i on . Examp le : Oldenbroek JK, 1999. Genebanks and the conservation of farm animal genetic resources, Second edition. DLO Institute for Animal Science and Heal th, Netherlands.Book chapter or conference proceedings: Author(s) surname and initials, year. Title. In: Title of the book or of the proceedings followed by the editor(s), volume, pages. Name of publisher, place of publication. Example: Mauff G, Pulverer G, Operkuch W, Hummel K and Hidden C, 1995. C3-variants and diverse phenotypes of unconverted and converted C3. In: Provides of the Biological Fluids (ed. H. Peters), vol. 22, 143-165, Pergamon Press. Oxford, UK.Todorov N and Mitev J, 1995. Effect of level of feeding during dry period, and body condi t ion score on reproduct ive

t hperformance in dairy cows, IX International Conference on Production Diseases in Farm Animals, Sept.11 – 14, Berlin, Germany, p. 302 (Abstr.).Thesis:Penkov D, 2008. Estimation of metabolic energy and true digestibility of amino acids of some feeds in experiments with muscus duck (Carina moshata, L). Thesis for DSc. Agrarian University, Plovdiv, 314 pp.

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Volume 3, Number 3September 2011