Anuario Raza Polo Argentino Anuario2017 | Page 257

Final Remarks
It is understood that the main difficulty when
implementing a genetic improvement program
of a business nature, in a population made up of
numerous breeding establishments, is to reach a
consensus as regards the selection objective: agree
on the “ideal horse” to be selected. This is vital,
because experience with the beef or milk bovine
in our country indicates that if there is no agreed-
upon objective, results will always be dissimilar and
not very reliable. In the case of the polo pony, our
country has a great advantage by being a world
benchmark, which enables it to become cutting
edge in this type of programs. But this may only
be achieved by generating consensus as regards
the horse we want (even the different horses for
different positions), without having to depend on
what breeders from other countries dictate (as in
the case of milk bovines). But we must also take
into account the changes that are occurring in the
phenotypes and genetics of the Polo Argentino in
general, with a greater specialization of the animals
and increasingly more defined bloodlines. In this
regard, a recent analysis carried out by scientists
from La Plata University during 2017 determined
that the number of existing genetic bloodlines in
Polo Argentino is becoming increasingly smaller,
particularly in the last 10 years, where it has been
observed that there are more animals belonging to
increasingly less different bloodlines.
To conclude, the polo pony is in an advantageous
situation as regards holding its own as a benchmark
in the use of biotechnologies at a global level,
being ready to join advanced reproductive
biotechnologies—of which it is a benchmark—
with state-of-the-art genetics based on genomic
methodologies. Likewise, a technological scientific
consortium made up of representatives from
different public National and International political
establishments and of the Argentine Association of
Polo Pony Breeders wishes to face the challenge
of situating our breed—which has become
renowned as being the breed with the greatest
worldwide recognition thanks to the efforts of its
breeders—once again at the forefront in the use
of these technologies at a global level. It is a great
challenge, but possible. All we need to do is pluck
up our courage and join up to do it.
255