Stallion Genetic Concentration in North America

This article first appeared in the January 2015 edition of Fell Pony News from Willowtrail Farm.

Highlights:

• Because the most prolific North American Fell Pony breeder had used just three stallions for many years, it seemed possible our North American population could have a high genetic concentration from them.
• To determine stallion genetic concentration, I looked at the pedigrees of all the registered ponies in North America through 2013 to see how many had the three stallions from the ‘big’ breeder in them.
• I learned that the older the pony, the more likely it will be prominent in the pedigrees of other North American ponies. 
• The oldest of the stallions from the big breeder shows up in 23% of pedigrees of ponies on this continent.
• None of these stallion statistics are necessarily cause for alarm.  It will, however, be important to monitor how the genetic concentration changes over time.

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