Mane and Tail Genetics

[Altaluna]

I was just wondering about the mane and tail genes. Is the short mane/short tail gene recessive to the long mane/long tail gene?

I'm only asking as I got a short-mane/tail foal out of two long mane/long tail parents. I'm aiming to breed for long manes and long tail, so I just wanted to know if it's random, or if the short gene is recessive.

Thanks!

[MaliaSilverheart]

All foals are born with a short mane and tail. Their mane and tail grow over time but I am not sure what age it stops growing.

[Altaluna]

I know foals have short manes and tails. Their mane and tail starts growing around 1 year, apparently, but I have no clue at which age I can tell if they are going to have long or short mane/tails. I'm trying to find out which gene (long or short) is dominant, and at what age I can find out either way.

[Millwood]

If you got a short tails from two long tails, I'd guess short tail is recessive?? The drafts seem to have a lot of short tails so I was trying to breed some longer tails in but hadn't really worked it all out either as I was mostly watching the feather! I do know that some grow their hair quicker than others. If the mane has grown in but the tail hasn't got any longer, I'd guess it won't? Oh also I think tails and mane genetics are separate as far as length goes?

[SeinaMacabre]

• • Breeding for special traits like Punk manes, short tails,... is quite tricky. It took me 6 generations of crossbreeding to get to long feathers, thick manes and short tails on Dales x Clydesdale crosses and still after so many generations sometimes happenes that I get punk mane on some of them, no feathers,...
    I got few with longer tails, so its possible, but it takes a lot of effort and selective breeding.
    http://www.horseworldonline.net/horse/profile/27938

[Wolfman]

Long hair seems to be recessive because if you start with two long hair horses you can get a shorter hair colt. If the long hair gene was dominant it would overrule the short hair gene and two long hair horses would always have long haired foals.

I prefer the longer manes and over the generations if you ignore the hair length and breed for other factors they will end up with short hair (which if long hair was dominant, it would go the other way).

I think mane and tail length are separate but I don't know as much about that.

[Kintara]

Long hair seems to be recessive because if you start with two long hair horses you can get a shorter hair colt. If the long hair gene was dominant it would overrule the short hair gene and two long hair horses would always have long haired foals.

Dominant genes can hide/carry recessive genes, so it's actually the recessive genes that breed true if bred to each other. For example, two black horses that both carry chestnut can produce a chestnut. Two chestnuts always produce a chestnut. Chestnut is recessive to black

[Weaving]

I'm no master of genetics and don't pretend to be, but when I was on the quest for short maned, long tailed horses, I was informed it was impossible as tail and mane length are linked. I can't remember who told me so can't 100% confirm this is true, but I have personally found it to ring true in all of my breeding.

Also short is definitely dominant to long in both

[Wolfman]

Long hair seems to be recessive because if you start with two long hair horses you can get a shorter hair colt. If the long hair gene was dominant it would overrule the short hair gene and two long hair horses would always have long haired foals.

Dominant genes can hide/carry recessive genes, so it's actually the recessive genes that breed true if bred to each other. For example, two black horses that both carry chestnut can produce a chestnut. Two chestnuts always produce a chestnut. Chestnut is recessive to black

Right! Thanks for correcting my mistake. I was trying to say that if they had the dominant and recessive gene the dominant gene would be the one to show up.

[Arctictea]

According to this thread, short mane/tail is incomplete dominant over long mane/tail (heterozygote gives medium, not short).

Short mane/tail: LL
Medium mane/tail: Ll
Long mane/tail: ll