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The origin of ambling horses

Wutke, Saskia ; Andersson, Leif ; Benecke, Norbert ; Sandoval-Castellanos, Edson ; Gonzalez, Javier ; Hallsson, Jón Hallsteinn ; Lõugas, Lembi ; Magnell, Ola LU ; Morales-Muniz, Arturo and Orlando, Ludovic , et al. (2016) In Current Biology 26(15). p.697-699
Abstract

Horseback riding is the most fundamental use of domestic horses and has had a huge influence on the development of human societies for millennia. Over time, riding techniques and the style of riding improved. Therefore, horses with the ability to perform comfortable gaits (e.g. ambling or pacing), so-called ‘gaited’ horses, have been highly valued by humans, especially for long distance travel. Recently, the causative mutation for gaitedness in horses has been linked to a substitution causing a premature stop codon in the DMRT3 gene (DMRT3_Ser301STOP) [1]. In mice, Dmrt3 is expressed in spinal cord interneurons and plays an important role in the development of limb movement coordination [1]. Genotyping the position in 4396 modern horses... (More)

Horseback riding is the most fundamental use of domestic horses and has had a huge influence on the development of human societies for millennia. Over time, riding techniques and the style of riding improved. Therefore, horses with the ability to perform comfortable gaits (e.g. ambling or pacing), so-called ‘gaited’ horses, have been highly valued by humans, especially for long distance travel. Recently, the causative mutation for gaitedness in horses has been linked to a substitution causing a premature stop codon in the DMRT3 gene (DMRT3_Ser301STOP) [1]. In mice, Dmrt3 is expressed in spinal cord interneurons and plays an important role in the development of limb movement coordination [1]. Genotyping the position in 4396 modern horses from 141 breeds revealed that nowadays the mutated allele is distributed worldwide with an especially high frequency in gaited horses and breeds used for harness racing [2]. Here, we examine historic horse remains for the DMRT3 SNP, tracking the origin of gaitedness to Medieval England between 850 and 900 AD. The presence of the corresponding allele in Icelandic horses (9th–11th century) strongly suggests that ambling horses were brought from the British Isles to Iceland by Norse people. Considering the high frequency of the ambling allele in early Icelandic horses, we believe that Norse settlers selected for this comfortable mode of horse riding soon after arrival. The absence of the allele in samples from continental Europe (including Scandinavia) at this time implies that ambling horses may have spread from Iceland and maybe also the British Isles across the continent at a later date.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Current Biology
volume
26
issue
15
pages
697 - 699
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:27505236
  • wos:000381241100004
  • scopus:84992170644
ISSN
0960-9822
DOI
10.1016/j.cub.2016.07.001
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ff758df5-11a7-4aee-a0d6-9fe9baf5a00c
date added to LUP
2017-04-13 10:07:35
date last changed
2024-03-31 07:43:52
@article{ff758df5-11a7-4aee-a0d6-9fe9baf5a00c,
  abstract     = {{<p>Horseback riding is the most fundamental use of domestic horses and has had a huge influence on the development of human societies for millennia. Over time, riding techniques and the style of riding improved. Therefore, horses with the ability to perform comfortable gaits (e.g. ambling or pacing), so-called ‘gaited’ horses, have been highly valued by humans, especially for long distance travel. Recently, the causative mutation for gaitedness in horses has been linked to a substitution causing a premature stop codon in the DMRT3 gene (DMRT3_Ser301STOP) [1]. In mice, Dmrt3 is expressed in spinal cord interneurons and plays an important role in the development of limb movement coordination [1]. Genotyping the position in 4396 modern horses from 141 breeds revealed that nowadays the mutated allele is distributed worldwide with an especially high frequency in gaited horses and breeds used for harness racing [2]. Here, we examine historic horse remains for the DMRT3 SNP, tracking the origin of gaitedness to Medieval England between 850 and 900 AD. The presence of the corresponding allele in Icelandic horses (9<sup>th</sup>–11<sup>th</sup> century) strongly suggests that ambling horses were brought from the British Isles to Iceland by Norse people. Considering the high frequency of the ambling allele in early Icelandic horses, we believe that Norse settlers selected for this comfortable mode of horse riding soon after arrival. The absence of the allele in samples from continental Europe (including Scandinavia) at this time implies that ambling horses may have spread from Iceland and maybe also the British Isles across the continent at a later date.</p>}},
  author       = {{Wutke, Saskia and Andersson, Leif and Benecke, Norbert and Sandoval-Castellanos, Edson and Gonzalez, Javier and Hallsson, Jón Hallsteinn and Lõugas, Lembi and Magnell, Ola and Morales-Muniz, Arturo and Orlando, Ludovic and Pálsdóttir, Albína Hulda and Reissmann, Monika and Muñoz-Rodríguez, Mariana B. and Ruttkay, Matej and Trinks, Alexandra and Hofreiter, Michael and Ludwig, Arne}},
  issn         = {{0960-9822}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  number       = {{15}},
  pages        = {{697--699}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Current Biology}},
  title        = {{The origin of ambling horses}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.07.001}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.cub.2016.07.001}},
  volume       = {{26}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}