Theoretical Breeding Question?

Question

Don't go all Fugly Horse on me, this is just a thought experiment.

What would happen if you crossed:

a dapple grey Fell stallion to a palomino Haflinger mare?

a black Fell stallion to a palomino Haflinger mare?

Do you think you'd end up with a sturdy versatile large pony?

What would the color options be?

Again, not breeding, just curious. :P

Answer 1

think it would be sturdy, as for color you'd have to wait and see.

Answer 2

itd probably be ugly

Answer 3

Hmmm...good question!!!

Answer 4

i would say you would end up with a sturdy, versatile pony, but it wouldn't necessarily be large. this is because the halflinger is the smaller of the two, and seeing as the mare would be a halflinger, the foal would be limited in size by the size of her womb. if you swapped the two around and had a fell mare, then the foal would be more likely to be larger. as for colour, i really couldn't say. hope this helped :)

Answer 5

For starters, Haflingers are not, genetically speaking, palominos.  They are actually sorrels (chestnuts) with flaxen mane and tails.  If you bred a black to a sorrel, you can get bay, black, or sorrel.  I think the Fells are homozygous for black usually (if I'm thinking the correct breed), so you'll probably end up with a black baby.

Haflingers typically have a more "horsey" head, thicker neck and body, and the Fells are a little more typey, but don't have great length of leg in comparison to body.

I think you could either end up with the worst of both worlds (thick neck, long body, short legs, big head), or you could end up with the good points of each breed, and have good bone, balanced body, pretty black coloring, and more refinement in the head and neck.  I think it would be an interesting cross.

Answer 6

I'd anticipate the sturdy/versatile.

I don't know much about Fell ponies...what colors do they have?  Grey is a modifier, so it would depend on the base color of the Fell, and any other hidden modifiers he may have.

If he was red at birth, then you could get either a red, or a palimino, if mom throws her dilute.  If he throws is grey, they could be born either color and grey out as they age.

If he was black, it's a little more tricky.  If he had a red parent and has a red gene to throw, it would be the same as above...if he throws black, you could have a black or a dilute black, and if the grey is thrown, the foal will grey as it ages.

I'm actually a big fan of hypothetical/theoretical breeding.  ;o)

I think it's the first element of the thought process behind responsible breeding...looking at the potential result and breeding for a specific goal.