Transcript Tall - AQHA
Three Bars Genetics American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum Three Bars Bulldog Horse Result “Middle of the Road Quarter Horses” • Bulldog Quarter horses were known to be quick, good on their feet, and to have incredible cow sense. • Against other breeds, (ex. Thoroughbred), they were short distance runners that lacked some racing ability. • Bulldog horses were short, heavy bulky muscular horses. Three Bars Adding Three Bars genetics to the Bulldog type horses resulted in speedy race horses who were no competition on the short distance quarter of a mile tracks. These sprinters had a longer neck, smoother muscle tone, and heads which were much cleaner and prettier. Three Bars helped produce the racing quarter horses which we are all familiar with today. Though highly known for their athletic ability in the rodeo arena, on the ranch, and other various cattle events, quarter horses became even more versatile by increasing their ability to sprint down the tracks. Bulldog Quarter Horses However, the thoroughbred Three Bars cannot take all of the credit for this new style of quarter horse. The Bulldog quarter horses brought just as much to the table. By crossing Three Bars with the Bulldog horses, it gave these horses a better, calmer temperament, more muscle, and cow sense which is an advantage after retiring from the tracks. The combination of the long distance runners and the bulldog sprinters made these horses perfectly unbeatable. As with most things, when you add an ingredient to a mixture, it changes. Many families, and breeds, can be influenced by different factors, Three Bars is only one example of what has changed the American Quarter Horse breed. The make up of each breed is different and when you combine the genetics of two breeds you will see certain characteristics change. GENES are the smallest unit of an organism that is still able to contain and transfer genetic information. GENETIC MATERIAL consists of DNA. DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic Acid. DNA stores genetic information and tells the cell what to do and how to do it. This determines what traits you will have. DNA is what makes you unique from everyone else. Some genes are DOMINANT and some genes are RECESSIVE. For example, if you have a Tall parent and a Short parent you have a chance of being either short or tall, however because Tall is the dominant gene it gives you a GREATER chance of being tall. How do we determine the chances of which genes we will receive? The Punnett square is a diagram that is used to predict the outcome of a particular cross or breeding experiment. It is named after Reginald C. Punnett, who devised the approach, and is used by biologists to determine the probability of an offspring having a particular genotype. Dad y x x x x x girl y boy Mom x x x girl 2:2 x y boy 50% chance to be a boy 50% chance to be a girl Dominant genes are usually shown by using a capital letter and recessive genes are usually shown by using a lower case letter. Aa A is the dominant gene and a is the recessive gene Remember when there is a dominant gene, this is the trait which shows up. For example: For Tall we will use the letter “T” We have two parents Tt and tt The first parent is Tall and the second parent is Short. When you cross them it looks like this: Parent 2 t t 3:1 T Tt Tall Tt Tall Parent 1 t Tt tt Tall Short This gives you A 75% chance The offspring will Be tall and a 25% Chance the offspring Will be short