A morphometrics study of equine Brazilian Fjord.

In Brazil only one herd of locally bred Fjord horses exists, located in the state of Espírito Santo, established in 2003. These horses are used mainly in equestrian events and family outings. Since these animals have not yet been scientifically studied, the objective of this work is to characterize the morphology of these horses by linear measures and conformation indices. The morphology was evaluated by 22 measures of adult animals, used to calculate body, meloscopic, dactilo-thoracic and body indices. The measurement of the total head length was used in the eclectic system of linear proportions. The analysis of variance included the fixed effect of sex and the covariable age. There were no significant differences between the body measures of males and females. The animals had average withers height of 1.42±2.60 m and body weight of 472.1±40.4 Kg. The Fjord mares presented hip width proportion of 0.83, smaller than in males. The classification of the body index of the males and females indicated these animals are medioline, but according to the meloscopic index, they are classified as breviline. According to the dactilo-thoracic index, the males are considered to by hypermetric and the females eumeric. In conclusion, the animals can be classified as medium-sized with morphological traits of a robust body structure and good capacity for shifting their body mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]