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111-629: The Kentucky Association (also known as the Kentucky Racing Association) was formed on July 23, 1826, to promote the breeding and racing of Thoroughbred horses in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky . The "oldest turf organization in America", it was founded by a group of prominent locals, who included planter and politician Henry Clay , Jesse Bledsoe , Dr. Elisha Warfield , and Thomas F. Marshall . Between 1828 and 1834,

222-420: A "broad" definition: "a coevolutionary process that arises from a mutualism, in which one species (the domesticator) constructs an environment where it actively manages both the survival and reproduction of another species (the domesticate) in order to provide the former with resources and/or services." He comments that this adds niche construction to the activities of the domesticator. Domestication syndrome

333-675: A Trustee for the stockholders, purchased the track in 1901 for $ 1 plus other considerations. In April 1906 a fire broke out at the track, which quickly spread to the surrounding private residences. Eighteen area homes were destroyed. The Phoenix Stakes , now the oldest stakes race in the United States, was first run in 1831 as the Phoenix Hotel Handicap at the Kentucky Association track. Other important races inaugurated there and still run today, include

444-460: A family mare to a local stallion in order to produce a companion animal, most professional breeders use selective breeding to produce individuals of a given phenotype , or breed . Alternatively, a breeder could, using individuals of differing phenotypes, create a new breed with specific characteristics. A horse is "bred" where it is foaled (born). Thus a colt conceived in England but foaled in

555-764: A farm and patrol animal is bred for a shorter stride, an ability to stop and turn quickly, and an unflappable attitude that remains calm and focused even in the face of an angry charging steer. The first two are still to this day bred to have a combination of explosive speed that exceeds the Thoroughbred on short distances clocked as high as 55 mph, but they still retain the gentle, calm, and kindly temperament of their ancestors that makes them easily handled. The Canadian horse 's origin corresponds to shipments of French horses, some of which came from Louis XIV's own stable and most likely were Baroque horses meant to be gentlemen's mounts. These were ill-suited to farm work and to

666-860: A few have been domesticated, including squid , cuttlefish and octopus , all used in research on behaviour and neurology . Terrestrial snails in the genera Helix are raised for food. Several parasitic or parasitoidal insects, including the fly Eucelatoria , the beetle Chrysolina , and the wasp Aphytis are raised for biological control. Conscious or unconscious artificial selection has many effects on species under domestication; variability can readily be lost by inbreeding, selection against undesired traits, or genetic drift, while in Drosophila , variability in eclosion time (when adults emerge) has increased. Humans foraged for wild cereals, seeds, and nuts thousands of years before they were domesticated; wild wheat and barley, for example, were gathered in

777-438: A few hours a wild foal can travel with the herd. In domestic breeding, the foal and dam are usually separated from the herd for a while, but within a few weeks are typically pastured with the other horses. A foal will begin to eat hay, grass and grain alongside the mare at about 4 weeks old; by 10–12 weeks the foal requires more nutrition than the mare's milk can supply. Foals are typically weaned at 4–8 months of age, although in

888-442: A field amongst a herd, but may also see higher rates of foal and mare mortality in doing so. Most mares foal at night or early in the morning, and prefer to give birth alone when possible. Labor is rapid, often no more than 30 minutes, and from the time the feet of the foal appear to full delivery is often only about 15 to 20 minutes. Once the foal is born, the mare will lick the newborn foal to clean it and help blood circulation. In

999-446: A foal's navel is dipped in antiseptic to prevent infection. The foal is sometimes given an enema to help clear the meconium from its digestive tract. The newborn is monitored to ensure that it stands and nurses without difficulty. While most horse births happen without complications, many owners have first aid supplies prepared and a veterinarian on call in case of a birthing emergency. People who supervise foaling should also watch

1110-416: A heartbeat should be visible by about day 23. After the formation of the endometrial cups and early placentation is initiated (35–40 days of gestation) the terminology changes, and the embryo is referred to as a fetus . True implantation – invasion into the endometrium of any sort – does not occur until about day 35 of pregnancy with the formation of the endometrial cups, and true placentation (formation of

1221-427: A mare is sexually receptive toward a stallion, and helps to physically prepare the mare for conception. It generally occurs during the spring and summer months, although some mares may be sexually receptive into the late fall, and is controlled by the photoperiod (length of the day), the cycle first triggered when the days begin to lengthen. The estrous cycle lasts about 19–22 days, with the average being 21 days. As

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1332-484: A means of communication between far-flung places through the exploitation of the pigeon's homing instinct; research suggests it was domesticated as early as 10,000 years ago. Chicken fossils in China have been dated to 7,400 years ago. The chicken's wild ancestor is Gallus gallus , the red junglefowl of Southeast Asia. The species appears to have been kept initially for cockfighting rather than for food. Two insects ,

1443-525: A mile). Colonists did not have racetracks or any of the trappings of Europe that the earliest Thoroughbreds had at their disposal, so instead the owners of Quarter Horses would run their horses on roads that lead through town as a form of local entertainment. As the USA expanded West, the breed went with settlers as a farm and ranch animal, and "cow sense" was particularly valued: their use for herding cattle increased on rough, dry terrain that often involved sitting in

1554-468: A population bottleneck where genetic drift is enhanced by the small population size. Mutations can also be fixed in a population by a selective sweep . Mutational load can be increased by reduced selective pressure against moderately harmful traits when reproductive fitness is controlled by human management. However, there is evidence against a bottleneck in crops, such as barley, maize, and sorghum, where genetic diversity slowly declined rather than showing

1665-779: A predictable supply of a resource, resulting in mutual benefits . She noted further that it is not synonymous with agriculture since agriculture depends on domesticated organisms but does not automatically result from domestication. Michael D. Purugganan notes that domestication has been hard to define, despite the "instinctual consensus" that it means "the plants and animals found under the care of humans that provide us with benefits and which have evolved under our control." He comments that insects such as termites , ambrosia beetles , and leafcutter ants have domesticated some species of fungi , and notes further that other groups such as weeds and commensals have wrongly been called domesticated. Starting from Zeder's definition, Purugganan proposes

1776-425: A protracted coevolutionary process with multiple stages along different pathways. There are three proposed major pathways that most mammal domesticates followed into domestication: Humans did not intend to domesticate mammals from either the commensal or prey pathways, or at least they did not envision a domesticated animal would result from it. In both of those cases, humans became entangled with these species as

1887-575: A rapid initial fall at the point of domestication. Further, the genetic diversity of these crops was regularly replenished from the natural population. Similar evidence exists for horses, pigs, cows, and goats. At least three groups of insects, namely ambrosia beetles, leafcutter ants, and fungus-growing termites, have domesticated species of fungi . Ambrosia beetles in the weevil subfamilies Scolytinae and Platypodinae excavate tunnels in dead or stressed trees into which they introduce fungal gardens, their sole source of nutrition. After landing on

1998-417: A stallion. The shipments included a mix of draft horses and light horses, the latter of which included both pacing and trotting horses.[1] The exact origins of all the horses are unknown, although the shipments probably included Bretons, Normans, Arabians, Andalusians and Barbs. In modern times, these breeds themselves have since been selectively bred to further specialize at certain tasks. One example of this

2109-457: A steady supply of resources, such as meat, milk, or labor. The process is gradual and geographically diffuse, based on trial and error. Domestication affected genes for behavior in animals, making them less aggressive. In plants, domestication affected genes for morphology, such as increasing seed size and stopping the shattering of cereal seedheads. Such changes both make domesticated organisms easier to handle and reduce their ability to survive in

2220-644: A stockhorse, or a horse to pull a conestoga wagon. Other horses from North America retained a hint of their mustang origins by being either derived from stock that Native Americans bred that came in a rainbow of color, like the Appaloosa and American Paint Horse , with those East of the Mississippi River increasingly bred to impress and mimic the trends of the upper classes of Europe: The Tennessee Walking Horse and Saddlebred were originally plantation horses bred for their gait and comfortable ride in

2331-402: A suitable tree, an ambrosia beetle excavates a tunnel in which it releases its fungal symbiont . The fungus penetrates the plant's xylem tissue, extracts nutrients from it, and concentrates the nutrients on and near the surface of the beetle gallery. Ambrosia fungi are typically poor wood degraders and instead utilize less demanding nutrients. Symbiotic fungi produce and detoxify ethanol, which

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2442-412: A very short time, the foal will attempt to stand and get milk from its mother. A foal should stand and nurse within the first hour of life. To create a bond with her foal, the mare licks and nuzzles the foal, enabling her to distinguish the foal from others. Some mares are aggressive when protecting their foals, and may attack other horses or unfamiliar humans that come near their newborns. After birth,

2553-477: A war horse, and popular among the elite nobility of the time. Breeds such as the Lipizzan and the now extinct Neapolitan horse were developed from Spanish-bred horses for this purpose, and also became the preferred mounts of cavalry officers, who were derived mostly from the ranks of the nobility. It was during this time that firearms were developed, and so the light cavalry horse, a faster and quicker war horse,

2664-474: A working animal. Among invertebrates , the silkworm and the western honey bee were domesticated over 5,000 years ago for silk and honey , respectively. The domestication of plants began around 13,000–11,000 years ago with cereals such as wheat and barley in the Middle East , alongside crops such as lentil , pea , chickpea , and flax . Beginning around 10,000 years ago, Indigenous peoples in

2775-405: Is an attractant for ambrosia beetles and likely prevents the growth of antagonistic pathogens and selects for other beneficial symbionts. Ambrosia beetles mainly colonise wood of recently dead trees. The leafcutter ants are any of some 47 species of leaf-chewing ants in the genera Acromyrmex and Atta . The ants carry the discs of leaves that they have cut back to their nest, where they feed

2886-668: Is believed to be a very close relative of Ottoman horses from the earliest origins of the Turks in Central Asia. The types of horse bred varied with culture and with the times. The uses to which a horse was put also determined its qualities, including smooth amblers for riding, fast horses for carrying messengers, heavy horses for plowing and pulling heavy wagons, ponies for hauling cars of ore from mines, packhorses, carriage horses and many others. Medieval Europe bred large horses specifically for war, called destriers . These horses were

2997-404: Is bred less for overall form and more for power over tall fences, along with speed, scope, and agility. This favors a horse with a good galloping stride, powerful hindquarters that can change speed or direction easily, plus a good shoulder angle and length of neck. A jumper has a more powerful build than either the hunter or the racehorse. The history of horse breeding goes back millennia. Though

3108-578: Is difficult to determine how far back the Bedouin passed on pedigree information via an oral tradition , there were written pedigrees of Arabian horses by CE 1330. The Akhal-Teke of West-Central Asia is another breed with roots in ancient times that was also bred specifically for war and racing. The nomads of the Mongolian steppes bred horses for several thousand years as well, and the Caspian horse

3219-432: Is domesticated wheat, which relies on farmers for its reproduction and dissemination. Domesticated plants differ from their wild relatives in many ways, including Plant defenses against herbivory , such as thorns, spines, and prickles , poison, protective coverings, and sturdiness may have been reduced in domesticated plants. This would make them more likely to be eaten by herbivores unless protected by humans, but there

3330-669: Is only weak support for most of this. Farmers did select for reduced bitterness and lower toxicity and for food quality, which likely increased crop palatability to herbivores as to humans. However, a survey of 29 plant domestications found that crops were as well-defended against two major insect pests ( beet armyworm and green peach aphid ) both chemically (e.g. with bitter substances) and morphologically (e.g. with toughness) as their wild ancestors. During domestication, crop species undergo intense artificial selection that alters their genomes, establishing core traits that define them as domesticated, such as increased grain size. Comparison of

3441-465: Is suitable breeding stock, hotly debated by breeders. Additional personal beliefs may come into play when considering a suitable level of care for the mare and ensuing foal, the potential market or use for the foal, and other tangible and intangible benefits to the owner. If the breeding endeavor is intended to make a profit, there are additional market factors to consider, which may vary considerably from year to year, from breed to breed, and by region of

Kentucky Association - Misplaced Pages Continue

3552-523: Is the American Quarter Horse . Once a general-purpose working ranch horse, different bloodlines now specialize in different events. For example, larger, heavier animals with a very steady attitude are bred to give competitors an advantage in events such as team roping , where a horse has to start and stop quickly, but also must calmly hold a full-grown steer at the end of a rope. On the other hand, for an event known as cutting , where

3663-533: Is the Thoroughbred . While most representatives of this breed are bred for horse racing , there are also specialized bloodlines suitable as show hunters or show jumpers . The hunter must have a tall, smooth build that allows it to trot and canter smoothly and efficiently. Instead of speed, value is placed on appearance and upon giving the equestrian a comfortable ride, with natural jumping ability that shows bascule and good form. A show jumper , however,

3774-453: Is the duplication of fourth-generation or more distant ancestors. However, the term is often used more loosely, describing horses with duplication of ancestors closer than the fourth generation. It also is sometimes used as a euphemism for the practice of inbreeding , a practice that is generally frowned upon by horse breeders, though used by some in an attempt to fix certain traits. The estrous cycle (also spelled oestrous) controls when

3885-668: Is the suite of phenotypic traits that arose during the initial domestication process and which distinguish crops from their wild ancestors . It can also mean a set of differences now observed in domesticated mammals, not necessarily reflecting the initial domestication process. The changes include increased docility and tameness, coat coloration, reductions in tooth size, craniofacial morphology, ear and tail form (e.g., floppy ears), estrus cycles, levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone and neurotransmitters, prolongations in juvenile behavior, and reductions in brain size and of particular brain regions. The domestication of animals and plants

3996-725: Is today Baluchistan in Pakistan. In East Asia 8,000 years ago, pigs were domesticated from wild boar genetically different from those found in the Fertile Crescent. The cat was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, perhaps 10,000 years ago, from European wildcats , possibly to control rodents that were damaging stored food. The domestication of vertebrate animals is the relationship between non-human vertebrates and humans who have an influence on their care and reproduction. In his 1868 book The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication , Charles Darwin recognized

4107-636: Is widely grown for food. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been used for thousands of years to ferment beer and wine , and to leaven bread . Mould fungi including Penicillium are used to mature cheeses and other dairy products, as well as to make drugs such as antibiotics . Selection of animals for visible traits may have undesired consequences for the genetics of domestic animals. A side effect of domestication has been zoonotic diseases. For example, cattle have given humanity various viral poxes , measles , and tuberculosis ; pigs and ducks have contributed influenza ; and horses have brought

4218-811: The American Quarter Horse and the Criollo of Argentina . In Canada, the Canadian Horse descended from the French stock Louis XIV sent to Canada in the late 17th century.[6] The initial shipment, in 1665, consisted of two stallions and twenty mares from the Royal Stables in Normandy and Brittany, the centre of French horse breeding.[7] Only 12 of the 20 mares survived the trip. Two more shipments followed, one in 1667 of 14 horses (mostly mares, but with at least one stallion), and one in 1670 of 11 mares and

4329-519: The Arabian , Barb , and Turkoman horse This cross-breeding led both to a nimbler war horse, such as today's Andalusian horse , but also created a type of horse known as a Courser , a predecessor to the Thoroughbred , which was used as a message horse. During the Renaissance , horses were bred not only for war, but for haute ecole riding, derived from the most athletic movements required of

4440-812: The Ashland Oaks , revived as the Ashland Stakes , which was named for Henry Clay's Ashland estate ; plus the Breeders' Futurity Stakes (1910), the Blue Grass Stakes (1911), and the Ben Ali Stakes (1917). Some of the notable events that took place at the Kentucky Association Racetrack include: Past presidents of the racetrack include John C. Breckinridge and General Leslie Combs . During 1918–1919,

4551-718: The Indian Ocean and those in the Pacific Ocean . The coconut experienced a founder effect , where a small number of individuals with low diversity founded the modern population, permanently losing much of the genetic variation of the wild population. Population bottlenecks which reduced variation throughout the genome at some later date after domestication are evident in crops such as pearl millet , cotton , common bean and lima bean . In wheat, domestication involved repeated hybridization and polyploidy . These steps are large and essentially instantaneous changes to

Kentucky Association - Misplaced Pages Continue

4662-847: The Kentucky Jockey Club was created to take over the four racetracks in the state, consisting of the Kentucky Association, Churchill Downs , Latonia Race Track , and the Douglas Park Racetrack . The Kentucky Association racetrack closed in the spring of 1933 and its facilities were torn down in 1935. On April 17, 1933, articles of incorporation were filed for the Keeneland Association ; their new racecourse opened in 1935, located about six miles outside of Lexington. Today city roads Versailles and Man O' War Boulevard intersect at one corner. The Kentucky Association racetrack's historic gates were replicated at

4773-634: The Levant at least 23,000 years ago. Neolithic societies in West Asia first began to cultivate and then domesticate some of these plants around 13,000 to 11,000 years ago. The founder crops of the West Asian Neolithic included cereals ( emmer , einkorn wheat , barley ), pulses ( lentil , pea , chickpea , bitter vetch ), and flax . Other plants were independently domesticated in 13 centers of origin (subdivided into 24 areas) of

4884-524: The Odyssey by Homer, and hieroglyphics and paintings left behind by Egyptians tell stories of pharaohs hunting elephants from chariots. Nearly nothing is known of what became of the horses they bred for hippodromes, for warfare, or even for farming. One of the earliest people known to document the breedings of their horses were the Bedouin of the Middle East , the breeders of the Arabian horse . While it

4995-597: The Panic of 1893 was a serious blow, and financial difficulties plagued the new owners. Given the low economy, they had difficulty attracting horses for important events such as the 1896 Ashland Oaks , which the New York Times described as a farce after it drew only two entries. Facing imminent foreclosure, on March 18, 1897, the track was put up for sale. The status of the track remained in limbo for four years until Charles Green of St. Louis, Missouri , who had been

5106-465: The Rhinopneumonitis (EHV-1) virus (which can cause miscarriage) as well as vaccines for other conditions that may occur in a given region of the world. Pre-foaling vaccines are recommended 4–6 weeks prior to foaling to maximize the immunoglobulin content of the colostrum in the first milk. Mares are dewormed a few weeks prior to foaling, as the mare is the primary source of parasites for

5217-473: The Thoroughbred , to produce the modern warmblood breeds popular in sport horse disciplines, particularly at the Olympic level. Breeding a horse is an endeavor where the owner, particularly of the mare, will usually need to invest considerable time and money. For this reason, a horse owner needs to consider several factors, including: There are value judgements involved in considering whether an animal

5328-411: The blastocyst stage. The gestation period lasts for about eleven months, or about 340 days (normal average range 320–370 days). During the early days of pregnancy, the conceptus is mobile, moving about in the uterus until about day 16 when "fixation" occurs. Shortly after fixation, the embryo proper (so called up to about 35 days) will become visible on trans-rectal ultrasound (about day 21) and

5439-619: The coding DNA of chromosome 8 in rice between fragrant and non-fragrant varieties showed that aromatic and fragrant rice, including basmati and jasmine , is derived from an ancestral rice domesticate that suffered a deletion in exon 7 which altered the coding for betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (BADH2). Comparison of the potato genome with that of other plants located genes for resistance to potato blight caused by Phytophthora infestans . In coconut , genomic analysis of 10 microsatellite loci (of noncoding DNA ) found two episodes of domestication based on differences between individuals in

5550-470: The domestication of wheat . Wild wheat shatters and falls to the ground to reseed itself when ripe, but domesticated wheat stays on the stem for easier harvesting. This change was possible because of a random mutation in the wild populations at the beginning of wheat's cultivation . Wheat with this mutation was harvested more frequently and became the seed for the next crop. Therefore, without realizing it, early farmers selected for this mutation. The result

5661-417: The domestication syndrome , traits presumed essential in the early stages of domestication, while others represent later improvement traits. Domesticated mammals in particular tend to be smaller and less aggressive than their wild counterparts; other common traits are floppy ears, a smaller brain, and a shorter muzzle. Domestication traits are generally fixed within all domesticates, and were selected during

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5772-489: The pineal gland to reduce the levels of melatonin , thereby allowing the hypothalamus to secrete GnRH. While horses in the wild mate and foal in mid to late spring, in the case of horses domestically bred for competitive purposes, especially horse racing , it is desirable that they be born as close to January 1 in the northern hemisphere or August 1 in the southern hemisphere as possible, so as to be at an advantage in size and maturity when competing against other horses in

5883-437: The rhinoviruses . Many parasites , too, have their origins in domestic animals. Alongside these, the advent of domestication resulted in denser human populations, which provided ripe conditions for pathogens to reproduce, mutate, spread, and eventually find a new host in humans. Scholars have expressed widely differing viewpoints on domestication's effects on society. Anarcho-primitivism critiques domestication as destroying

5994-436: The silkworm and the western honey bee , have been domesticated for over 5,000 years, often for commercial use. The silkworm is raised for the silk threads wound around its pupal cocoon; the western honey bee, for honey , and, from the 20th century, for pollination of crops. Several other invertebrates have been domesticated, both terrestrial and aquatic, including some such as Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies and

6105-434: The "distaff" or direct female line, known as their "family" or "tail female" line, tracing back to their taproot foundation bloodstock or the beginning of their respective stud books . The female line of descent always appears at the bottom of a tabulated pedigree and is therefore often known as the bottom line . In addition, the maternal grandfather of a horse has a special term: damsire . " Linebreeding " technically

6216-555: The Americas began to cultivate peanuts , squash , maize , potatoes , cotton , and cassava . Rice was first domesticated in China some about 9,000 years ago. In Africa, crops such as sorghum were domesticated. Agriculture developed in some 13 centres around the world, domesticating different crops and animals. Three groups of insects, namely ambrosia beetles , leafcutter ants , and fungus-growing termites have independently domesticated species of fungi, on which they feed. In

6327-592: The Americas, Africa, and Asia (the Middle East, South Asia, the Far East, and New Guinea and Wallacea); in some thirteen of these regions people began to cultivate grasses and grains. Rice was first cultivated in East Asia. Sorghum was widely cultivated in sub-Saharan Africa, while peanuts, squash, cotton, maize , potatoes , and cassava were domesticated in the Americas. Continued domestication

6438-502: The Association acquired 65 acres of land in an area of the city of Lexington, Kentucky that today is the east end of 5th Street at Race Street. On the property, the Association built a one-mile dirt racetrack with grandstand and stables to host Thoroughbred flat racing events. After more than six decades of success, financial problems led to the track being sold in 1890 to a group of investors. The economic depression following

6549-715: The Keeneland Race Course. The historical records for the Kentucky Association (1828 to c.1935) are maintained at the University of Kentucky library's Special Collections & Digital Programs Division. Horse breeding Horse breeding is reproduction in horses , and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed . Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses. Furthermore, modern breeding management and technologies can increase

6660-595: The Late Pleistocene. Domestication reduces genetic diversity of the domesticated population, especially of alleles of genes targeted by selection. One reason is a population bottleneck created by artificially selecting the most desirable individuals to breed from. Most of the domesticated strain is then born from just a few ancestors, creating a situation similar to the founder effect . Domesticated populations such as of dogs, rice, sunflowers, maize, and horses have an increased mutation load , as expected in

6771-451: The United States is regarded as being bred in the US. In some cases, most notably in the Thoroughbred breeding industry, American- and Canadian-bred horses may also be described by the state or province in which they are foaled. Some breeds denote the country, or state, where conception took place as the origin of the foal. Similarly, the "breeder", is the person who owned or leased the mare at

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6882-404: The ancestors of the great heavy horses of today, and their size was preferred not simply because of the weight of the armor, but also because a large horse provided more power for the knight's lance. Weighing almost twice as much as a normal riding horse, the destrier was a powerful weapon in battle meant to act like a giant battering ram that could quite literally run down men on an enemy line. On

6993-458: The beginning of the Holocene 11,700 years ago, a warmer climate and increasing human populations led to small-scale animal and plant domestication and an increased supply of food. The appearance of the domestic dog in the archaeological record, at least 15,000 years ago, was followed by domestication of livestock and of crops such as wheat and barley , the invention of agriculture , and

7104-409: The careful balance required of increased protein, increased calories through extra fat as well as vitamins and minerals. Overfeeding the pregnant mare, particularly during early gestation, should be avoided, as excess weight may contribute to difficulties foaling or fetal/foal related problems. Mares due to foal are usually separated from other horses, both for the benefit of the mare and the safety of

7215-562: The case of the termites, the relationship is a fully obligate symbiosis on both sides. Domestication (not to be confused with the taming of an individual animal ), is from the Latin domesticus , 'belonging to the house'. The term remained loosely defined until the 21st century, when the American archaeologist Melinda A. Zeder defined it as a long-term relationship in which humans take over control and care of another organism to gain

7326-513: The days shorten, the mare returns to a period when she is not sexually receptive, known as anestrus . Anestrus – occurring in the majority of, but not all, mares – prevents the mare from conceiving in the winter months, as that would result in her foaling during the harshest part of the year, a time when it would be most difficult for the foal to survive. This cycle contains 2 phases: Depending on breed, on average, 16% of mares have double ovulations, allowing them to twin, though this does not affect

7437-402: The desert naturally developed speed and endurance to travel long distances and survive in a harsh environment, and domestication by humans added a trainable disposition to the animal's natural abilities. In the meantime, in northern Europe , the locally adapted heavy horse with a thick, warm coat was domesticated and put to work as a farm animal that could pull a plow or wagon. This animal

7548-663: The development of breeds such as the Thoroughbred , a horse taller than the Arabian and faster over the distances of a few miles required of a European race horse or light cavalry horse. Another cross between oriental and European horses produced the Andalusian , a horse developed in Spain that was powerfully built, but extremely nimble and capable of the quick bursts of speed over short distances necessary for certain types of combat as well as for tasks such as bullfighting . Later,

7659-509: The domestication of animals involved violence against animals and damage to the environment. This, in turn, he argues, corrupted human ethics and paved the way for "conquest, extermination, displacement, repression, coerced and enslaved servitude, gender subordination and sexual exploitation, and hunger." Domesticated ecosystems provide food, reduce predator and natural dangers, and promote commerce, but their creation has resulted in habitat alteration or loss, and multiple extinctions commencing in

7770-515: The domestication syndrome; it is predicted that domestic animals are less resistant to parasites than their wild relatives. Domesticated birds principally mean poultry , raised for meat and eggs: some Galliformes ( chicken , turkey , guineafowl ) and Anseriformes (waterfowl: ducks , geese , and swans ). Also widely domesticated are cagebirds such as songbirds and parrots ; these are kept both for pleasure and for use in research. The domestic pigeon has been used both for food and as

7881-402: The fetus increases the mare's nutritional requirements. Energy requirements during these last few months, and during the first few months of lactation are similar to those of a horse in full training. Trace minerals such as copper are extremely important, particularly during the tenth month of pregnancy, for proper skeletal formation. Many feeds designed for pregnant and lactating mares provide

7992-404: The foal. Mares can be used for riding or driving during most of their pregnancy. Exercise is healthy, though should be moderated when a mare is heavily in foal. Exercise in excessively high temperatures has been suggested as being detrimental to pregnancy maintenance during the embryonic period; however ambient temperatures encountered during the research were in the region of 100 degrees F and

8103-447: The freshwater cnidarian Hydra for research into genetics and physiology. Few have a long history of domestication. Most are used for food or other products such as shellac and cochineal . The phyla involved are Cnidaria , Platyhelminthes (for biological pest control ), Annelida , Mollusca , Arthropoda (marine crustaceans as well as insects and spiders), and Echinodermata . While many marine mollusks are used for food, only

8214-810: The genome and the epigenome , enabling a rapid evolutionary response to artificial selection. Polyploidy increases the number of chromosomes, bringing new combinations of genes and alleles, which in turn enable further changes such as by chromosomal crossover . The microbiome , the collection of microorganisms inhabiting the surface and internal tissue of plants, is affected by domestication. This includes changes in microbial species composition and diversity. Plant lineage, including speciation , domestication, and breeding , have shaped plant endophytes ( phylosymbiosis ) in similar patterns as plant genes. Several species of fungi have been domesticated for use directly as food, or in fermentation to produce foods and drugs. The cultivated mushroom Agaricus bisporus

8325-630: The hardscrabble life of the New World, so like the Americans, early Canadians crossed their horses with natives escapees. In time they evolved along similar lines as the Quarter Horse to the South as both the US and Canada spread westward and needed a calm and tractable horse versatile enough to carry the farmer's son to school but still capable of running fast and running hard as a cavalry horse,

8436-532: The homogenizing effect of gene flow from wild boars into pigs, and created domestication islands in the genome. The same process may apply to other domesticated animals. The 2023 parasite-mediated domestication hypothesis suggests that endoparasites such as helminths and protozoa could have mediated the domestication of mammals. Domestication involves taming, which has an endocrine component; and parasites can modify endocrine activity and microRNAs . Genes for resistance to parasites might be linked to those for

8547-423: The horse must separate a cow from a herd and prevent it from rejoining the group, the best horses are smaller, quick, alert, athletic and highly trainable. They must learn quickly, have conformation that allows quick stops and fast, low turns, and the best competitors have a certain amount of independent mental ability to anticipate and counter the movement of a cow, popularly known as "cow sense." Another example

8658-469: The horse racing world, although its lines have been more recently used to improve warmblood breeds and to develop sport horses. The French saddle horse is an excellent example as is the Irish Sport Horse , the latter being an unusual combination between a Thoroughbred and a draft breed. The American Quarter Horse was developed early in the 18th century, mainly for quarter racing (racing ¼ of

8769-426: The initial episode of domestication of that animal or plant, whereas improvement traits are present only in a proportion of domesticates, though they may be fixed in individual breeds or regional populations . Certain animal species, and certain individuals within those species, make better candidates for domestication because of their behavioral characteristics: The beginnings of mammal domestication involved

8880-434: The larger stud farms . Many stud farms worldwide employ technology to alert human managers when the mare is about to foal, including webcams , closed-circuit television , or assorted types of devices that alert a handler via a remote alarm when a mare lies down in a position to foal. On the other hand, some breeders, particularly those in remote areas or with extremely large numbers of horses, may allow mares to foal out in

8991-580: The leaf material to the fungi that they tend. Some of these fungi are not fully domesticated: the fungi farmed by Mycocepurus smithii constantly produce spores that are not useful to the ants, which eat fungal hyphae instead. The process of domestication by Atta ants, on the other hand, is complete; it took 30 million years. Some 330 fungus-growing termite species of the subfamily Macrotermitinae cultivate Termitomyces fungi to eat; domestication occurred exactly once, 25–40 mya . The fungi, described by Roger Heim in 1942, grow on 'combs' formed from

9102-415: The length of time of estrus or diestrus. Changes in hormone levels can have great effects on the physical characteristics of the reproductive organs of the mare, thereby preparing, or preventing, her from conceiving. The cycle is controlled by several hormones which regulate the estrous cycle, the mare's behavior, and the reproductive system of the mare. The cycle begins when the increased day length causes

9213-436: The mare to be sure that she passes the placenta in a timely fashion, and that it is complete with no fragments remaining in the uterus . Retained fetal membranes can cause a serious inflammatory condition ( endometritis ) and/or infection. If the placenta is not removed from the stall after it is passed, a mare will often eat it, an instinct from the wild, where blood would attract predators. Foals develop rapidly, and within

9324-432: The mare, as well as sniff her urine to determine her readiness for mating. During copulation , the stallion usually ejaculates after 6 to 8 pelvic thrusts . Once fertilized, the oocyte (egg) remains in the oviduct for approximately 5.5 more days, and then descends into the uterus . The initial single cell combination is already dividing and by the time of entry into the uterus, the egg might have already reached

9435-504: The other hand, during this same time, lighter horses were bred in northern Africa and the Middle East, where a faster, more agile horse was preferred. The lighter horse suited the raids and battles of desert people, allowing them to outmaneuver rather than overpower the enemy. When Middle Eastern warriors and European knights collided in warfare, the heavy knights were frequently outmaneuvered. The Europeans, however, responded by crossing their native breeds with "oriental" type horses such as

9546-622: The people who settled America needed a hardy horse that was capable of working with cattle . Thus, Arabians and Thoroughbreds were crossed on Spanish horses, both domesticated animals descended from those brought over by the Conquistadors , and feral horses such as the Mustangs , descended from the Spanish horse, but adapted by natural selection to the ecology and climate of the west. These crosses ultimately produced new breeds such as

9657-602: The placenta) is not initiated until about day 40-45 and not completed until about 140 days of pregnancy. The fetus's sex can be determined by day 70 of the gestation using ultrasound. Halfway through gestation the fetus is the size of between a rabbit and a beagle . The most dramatic fetal development occurs in the last 3 months of pregnancy when 60% of fetal growth occurs. Colts are carried on average about 4 days longer than fillies. Domestic mares receive specific care and nutrition to ensure that they and their foals are healthy. Mares are given vaccinations against diseases such as

9768-522: The precise date is in dispute, humans could have domesticated the horse as far back as approximately 4500 BCE. However, evidence of planned breeding has a more blurry history. It is well known, for example, that the Romans did breed horses and valued them in their armies, but little is known regarding their breeding and husbandry practices: all that remains are statues and artwork. Mankind has plenty of equestrian statues of Roman emperors, horses are mentioned in

9879-447: The rate of conception, a healthy pregnancy, and successful foaling. The male parent of a horse, a stallion , is commonly known as the sire and the female parent, the mare , is called the dam . Both are genetically important, as each parent genes can be existent with a 50% probability in the foal. Contrary to popular misuse, "colt" refers to a young male horse only; "filly" is a young female. Though many horse owners may simply breed

9990-514: The relationship between them intensified, and humans' role in their survival and reproduction gradually led to formalized animal husbandry . Although the directed pathway for draft and riding animals proceeded from capture to taming, the other two pathways are not as goal-oriented, and archaeological records suggest that they took place over much longer time frames. Unlike other domestic species selected primarily for production-related traits, dogs were initially selected for their behaviors. The dog

10101-552: The saddle as a plantation master would survey his vast lands like an English lord. Horses were needed for heavy draft and carriage work until replaced by the automobile, truck, and tractor. After this time, draft and carriage horse numbers dropped significantly, though light riding horses remained popular for recreational pursuits. Draft horses today are used on a few small farms, but today are seen mainly for pulling and plowing competitions rather than farm work. Heavy harness horses are now used as an outcross with lighter breeds, such as

10212-431: The saddle for long hours. However, this did not mean that the original ¼-mile races that colonists held ever went out of fashion, so today there are three types: the stock horse type, the racer, and the more recently evolving sport type. The racing type most resembles the finer-boned ancestors of the first racing Quarter Horses, and the type is still used for ¼-mile races. The stock horse type, used in western events and as

10323-437: The same age group. When an early foal is desired, barn managers will put the mare "under lights" by keeping the barn lights on in the winter to simulate a longer day, thus bringing the mare into estrus sooner than she would in nature. Mares signal estrus and ovulation by urination in the presence of a stallion, raising the tail and revealing the vulva . A stallion , approaching with a high head, will usually nicker, nip and nudge

10434-440: The same results may not be encountered in regions with lower ambient temperatures. During the first several months of pregnancy, the nutritional requirements do not increase significantly since the rate of growth of the fetus is very slow. However, during this time, the mare may be provided supplemental vitamins and minerals, particularly if forage quality is questionable. During the last 3–4 months of gestation, rapid growth of

10545-419: The same sire", and no sibling relationship is implied. "Full" (or "own") siblings have both the same dam and the same sire. The terms paternal half-sibling, and maternal half-sibling are also often used. Three-quarter siblings are horses out of the same dam, and are by sires that are either half-brothers (i.e. same dam) or who are by the same sire. Thoroughbreds and Arabians are also classified through

10656-459: The small number of traits that made domestic species different from their wild ancestors. He was also the first to recognize the difference between conscious selective breeding in which humans directly select for desirable traits and unconscious selection, in which traits evolve as a by-product of natural selection or from selection on other traits. There is a difference between domestic and wild populations; some of these differences constitute

10767-425: The soon-to-be-delivered foal. In addition, separation allows the mare to be monitored more closely by humans for any problems that may occur while giving birth. In the northern hemisphere, a special foaling stall that is large and clutter free is frequently used, particularly by major breeding farms. Originally, this was due in part to a need for protection from the harsh winter climate present when mares foal early in

10878-451: The supposed primitive state of harmony with nature in hunter-gatherer societies, and replacing it, possibly violently or by enslavement, with a social hierarchy as property and power emerged. The dialectal naturalist Murray Bookchin has argued that domestication of animals, in turn, meant the domestication of humanity, both parties being unavoidably altered by their relationship with each other. The sociologist David Nibert asserts that

10989-417: The time of foaling. That individual may not have had anything to do with the mating of the mare. It is important to review each breed registry's rules to determine which applies to any specific foal. In the horse breeding industry, the term "half-brother" or "half-sister" only describes horses which have the same dam, but different sires. Horses with the same sire but different dams are simply said to be "by

11100-637: The transition of humans from foraging to farming in different places and times across the planet. For instance, small-scale trial cultivation of cereals began some 28,000 years ago at the Ohalo II site in Israel. In the Fertile Crescent 11,000–10,000 years ago, zooarchaeology indicates that goats, pigs, sheep, and taurine cattle were the first livestock to be domesticated. Two thousand years later, humped zebu cattle were domesticated in what

11211-488: The ultimate racehorse, through the lines of three foundation Arabian stallions and one Turkish horse. In the 18th century, James Burnett, Lord Monboddo noted the importance of selecting appropriate parentage to achieve desired outcomes of successive generations. Monboddo worked more broadly in the abstract thought of species relationships and evolution of species. The Thoroughbred breeding hub in Lexington, Kentucky

11322-415: The wild a foal may nurse for a year. Beyond the appearance and conformation of a specific type of horse, breeders aspire to improve physical performance abilities. This concept, known as matching "form to function," has led to the development of not only different breeds, but also families or bloodlines within breeds that are specialists for excelling at specific tasks. For example, the Arabian horse of

11433-408: The wild. The first animal to be domesticated by humans was the dog , as a commensal , at least 15,000 years ago. Other animals, including goats , sheep , and cows , were domesticated around 11,000 years ago. Among birds, the chicken was first domesticated in East Asia, seemingly for cockfighting, some 7,000 years ago. The horse came under domestication around 5,500 years ago in central Asia as

11544-491: The world. In many cases, the low end of the market is saturated with horses, and the law of supply and demand thus allows little or no profit to be made from breeding unregistered animals or animals of poor quality, even if registered. Domestication Domestication is a multi-generational mutualistic relationship in which an animal species, such as humans or leafcutter ants , takes over control and care of another species, such as sheep or fungi, to obtain from them

11655-458: The year, but even in moderate climates, such as Florida , foaling stalls are still common because they allow closer monitoring of mares. Smaller breeders often use a small pen with a large shed for foaling, or they may remove a wall between two box stalls in a small barn to make a large stall. In the milder climates seen in much of the southern hemisphere, most mares foal outside, often in a paddock built specifically for foaling, especially on

11766-552: Was bred for "shoot and run" tactics rather than the shock action as in the Middle Ages. Fine horses usually had a well muscled, curved neck, slender body, and sweeping mane, as the nobility liked to show off their wealth and breeding in paintings of the era. After Charles II retook the British throne in 1660, horse racing, which had been banned by Cromwell, was revived. The Thoroughbred was developed 40 years later, bred to be

11877-646: Was developed in the late 18th century, and became a mainstay in American racehorse breeding. The 17th and 18th centuries saw more of a need for fine carriage horses in Europe, bringing in the dawn of the warmblood . The warmblood breeds have been exceptionally good at adapting to changing times, and from their coach horse beginnings they easily transitioned during the 20th century into a sport horse type. Today's warmblood breeds are frequently used in competitive driving , but are more often seen competing in show jumping or dressage . The Thoroughbred continues to dominate

11988-500: Was domesticated long before other animals, becoming established across Eurasia before the end of the Late Pleistocene era, well before agriculture . The archaeological and genetic data suggest that long-term bidirectional gene flow between wild and domestic stocks – such as in donkeys , horses , New and Old World camelids, goats, sheep, and pigs – was common. Human selection for domestic traits likely counteracted

12099-532: Was gradual and geographically diffuse – happening in many small steps and spread over a wide area – on the evidence of both archaeology and genetics. It was a process of intermittent trial and error and often resulted in diverging traits and characteristics. Whereas domestication of animals impacted most on the genes that controlled behavior, that of plants impacted most on the genes that controlled morphology (seed size, plant architecture, dispersal mechanisms) and physiology (timing of germination or ripening), as in

12210-458: Was later adapted through selective breeding to create a strong but rideable animal suitable for the heavily armored knight in warfare . Then, centuries later, when people in Europe wanted faster horses than could be produced from local horses through simple selective breeding, they imported Arabians and other oriental horses to breed as an outcross to the heavier, local animals. This led to

12321-557: Was triggered by the climatic and environmental changes that occurred after the peak of the Last Glacial Maximum and which continue to this present day. These changes made obtaining food by hunting and gathering difficult. The first animal to be domesticated was the dog at least 15,000 years ago. The Younger Dryas 12,900 years ago was a period of intense cold and aridity that put pressure on humans to intensify their foraging strategies but did not favour agriculture. By

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