Editing Horse breeding (section)

== Terminology ==
The male parent of a horse, a [[Stallion (horse)|stallion]], is commonly known as the ''sire'' and the female parent, the [[mare (horse)|mare]], is called the ''dam''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Breeding Terms |url=https://pennhorseracing.com/glossary/category/breeding/ |access-date=2023-02-03 |website=The Pennsylvania Horse Racing Association |language=en-US}}</ref>  Both are genetically important, as each parent's 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 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 (horse)|colt]] conceived in England but foaled in the United States is regarded as being bred in the US.<ref name="Montgomery">Montgomery, E.S, "The Thoroughbred", Arco, New York, 1973 {{ISBN|0-668-02824-6}}</ref><ref>AJC & VRC, "Australian Stud Book", Vol. 31, Ramsay Ware Stockland Pty. Ltd., North Melbourne, 1980</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.equineinfoexchange.com/index.php/horse-racing/breedingracing|title=Equine Info Exchange - Breeding|website=www.equineinfoexchange.com|access-date=2019-06-11}}</ref>

Similarly, the "breeder", is the person who owned or leased the mare at the time of foaling. That individual may not have had anything to do with the mating of the mare.<ref name="Montgomery" /><ref name="Stratton">Stratton, Charles, The International Horseman's Dictionary, Lansdowne Press, Melbourne, 1978, {{ISBN|0-7018-0590-0}}</ref> 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.<ref name="EfH">Summerhayes, RS, Encyclopaedia for Horsemen, Warne & Co, London & New York, 1966</ref> Horses with the same sire but different dams are simply said to be "by the same sire", and no [[sibling]] relationship is implied.<ref name="de Bourg">de Bourg, Ross, "The Australian and New Zealand Thoroughbred", Nelson, West Melbourne, 1980, {{ISBN|0-17-005860-3}}</ref>  "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.<ref name="Napier">Napier, Miles, "Blood Will Tell", JA Allen & Co, London, 1977</ref>

[[Thoroughbred]]s and [[Arabian horse|Arabians]] are also classified through the "distaff" or direct female line, known as their "family" or "{{glossary link|glossary=Glossary of equestrian terms|tail-female}}" line, tracing back to their taproot [[foundation bloodstock]] or the beginning of their respective [[breed registry|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''.<ref name="Napier" />  In addition, the [[maternal grandfather]] of a horse has a special term: {{glossary link|glossary=Glossary of equestrian terms|damsire}}.

"[[Linebreeding]]" technically is the duplication of fourth-generation or more distant ancestors.<ref name="de Bourg" />  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 change certain traits.