BLUP

Generally about BLUP

One of the most important support available for breeders of Icelandic horses are BLUP values, reflecting the breeding value of individual horses. The BLUP (Best Linear Unbiased Prediction) calculations for Icelandic horses are done for the entire population (all registered horses in all countries). It is the Farmers Association in Iceland that is responsible for the calculations and the development of the system. 

BLUP is a mathematical method that summits all available information included in the breeding goal of the Icelandic horse from breeding assessments of all horses in the population. It estimates the breeding value of individual horses and ranks them based on their expected contribution to the development of the breed. Approximately, 500.000 horses have calculated BLUP values that are updated every year as new information is added from breeding assessments on a yearly basis.

The scale is set with 100 as the average value and one standard deviation (std) is 10 units. The population of horses is distributed on 6 std (normal distribution), with only a few horses outside of the range of 70-130. The recommendation is not to use individuals for breeding that have a  BLUP breeding value below 100, as their contribution is likely to be in a negative direction, compared to the official breeding goal for the breed. In this context it is important to take the accuracy into account, that differs from one horse to another. The more information there is about parents and relatives, the higher the accuracy of the estimation becomes. Accuracy below 60% should be interpreted as relatively uncertain estimation. In general, the higher the accuracy becomes, the lower the std will be. Further information about std and accuracy can be found in WF (www.worldfengur.com).

Corrections for systematic environmental factors

The BLUP method for estimation of breeding values is a highly reliable and robust method. The BLUP values reflect the individual’s genetic capacity in comparison with all other individuals within the population. All known systematic environmental factors are considered and corrected by the system. The purpose of those corrections is to make the assessments of individual horses comparable between individuals.

Corrections are made for three systematic environmental factors. The factors are age and gender of the horse and the year in which the horse received the highest breeding assessment corrected by age. Concerning the age and the gender of an individuum, these factors effect the performance of the horse since stallions are systematically earlier in their development, compared to mares and the horse’s performance improves systematically with increased age. As the assessment system develops continuously and the quality of the horses improves year by year due to genetic improvement, the year of the breeding assessment is also a systematic environmental factor.

Photo: Gunnhildur Birna Björnsdóttir, photo competition 2022

Development of BLUP breeding values

In the year 2020 substantial changes were made to the breeding evaluation system. New traits were added to the calculations, weighing factors of different traits changed and new program was taken into use. Development work is continuing to improve and adapt the system so that it fulfils its purpose the best in a secure way.

The latest changes were done in spring 2022 when the correction for the country of assessment was excluded. Although the country of assessment shows some significant influence, it is not needed to consider it as an environmental effect since e.g. all breeding shows have been standardised.