Morphological Characteristics of Pacing Horses and Examination of Breeding Conditions*

DOI : 10.5152/actavet.2019.19012 The purpose of this study was to examine the morphological characteristics and breeding conditions of pacing horses in the Afyonkarahisar province. A total of 117 head of pacing horses, as well as farm operations and opinions of horse owners, were evaluated. The  overall means of height at wither, body length, rump length, chest depth, chest circumference, head length, and forehead width were measured: 142.42, 145.15, 49.77, 55.43, 161.44, 51.94, and 21.52 cm respectively. It was determined that horses with Turkish native genotypes and 1-3 elder horses had the lowest body measurements. It was determined that the pacing horses had  the bay, chestnut, gray, black, and chestnut paint coat colors. It has been determined that, in the choosing of pacing horses, horse owners pay great attention to the parent information (71.1%), the temperament (71.1%), body condition (68.9%), and the foot-nail structure (62.2%) of horses. As a result, it was concluded that the pacing horses with native genotypes in the Afyonkarahisar province were smaller than those who were crossbred and of foreign  origin. Also, it was determined that the horses examined were of the bay, chestnut, gray, and black coat colors. In addition, it was concluded that the breeding conditions of pacing horses should be improved, and the horse owners should be informed about horse training and exercising. Cite this article as : Akyol, H., Kocak, S., 2019. Morphological Characteristics of Pacing Horses and Examination of Breeding Conditions. Acta Vet Eurasia 45, 91-95.