All members of a breed which descend from relatively few ancestors are related to each other in someway, but as the common ancestors become more remote their genetic influence upon their descendants becomes more diluted and may be almost insignificant in three or four generations. Only though inbreeding (I am including linebreeding as a less intense form of inbreeding) can the genetic influence of an ancestor be maintained to a significant degree. In Arabian breeding there is a belief among many breeders that some families (i.e. strains) possess special qualities that are carried forward to an unusual extent through succeeding generations making them prepotent. Scientists generally consider prepotency to be a characteristic of an individual and not a family but, the persistence of family characteristics over many generations cannot be overlooked.
Although many modern breeders are reluctant to inbreed in the closest sense of the word (father to daughter, full brother to full sister, son to mother) it should be noted that some of the soundest and most beautiful horses of Egyptian breeding have come through intensifying the blood of certain individuals: examples are the doubling of Nazeer (Nazeer sons to Nazeer Daughters), close crosses to Mansour (Nazeer to Sheikh El Arab daughters),the doubling of Shahloul (Alaa El Din to El Sareei daughters, El Sareei to Moniet El Nefous), the doubling of Hamdan (Hamdan to his daughter, Mahfoua got Hafiza), full brother to full sister (Ansata Shah Zaman or the Babson stallion Ibn Fa-Serr), and so on. The great value of Egyptian Arabians today is that the have a heritage of inbreeding and linebreeding for elegance and refinement. The vale of inbreeding is that it increases uniformity within the inbred stock and this stock inturn transmits its inherited characteristics to the next generation with greater regularity. This is most important when for outcrossing where the genes of the dominant individual are introduced to correct certain defects.
Any distinct breed of animals must have the capacity to breed true to type and this depends on inbreeding for the purpose of stamping the desired characteristics firmly in the stock. While it is true that inbreeding may also produce a certain numberof individuals who are completely unlikethe rest and are worthless as breeding stock, this fact should never give rise to allegations that inbreeding causes degeneracy. Instead, inbreeding lays bare faults which have been hidden in the parent stock in the form of recessive genes. If the bad individuals are culled and inbreeding continued with the normal soundprogeny in eachsucceeding generation, the line will be gradually purified of the undesirable recessive characteristics and will breed true for the valued ones.
Linebreeding is a less intensive form of inbreeding and the frontier between them is grey. It is less effective than inbreeding in that extraneous genes are introduced at each generation and therefore progress towards having all important genes in doulble strength is slower.
It should be remembered that all Arabians, regardless of lines, are subject to certain faults in balance, beauty, conformation and bonestructure. These defects are not unique to justone strain or group of individuals. While some Egyptian horses have been unfairly criticized in print for leg problems, particularly sickle hocks (the tendency to stand under), those countries touted for good legs, particularly Poland, produce their fair shareof cow-hocked, crooked legged animals nonetheless publicizedas champions or breeding stock. While some breeders consider "sickle hocks" a defect, others prefer it to the absolutely straight hind leg which they feel lacks flexibility.
Every country produces its exceptions, its averages and its discards now matter how great its breeders.
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