# Shape and joint angle data for seven European horse breeds and their repeatability

## TL;DR

This study provides objective shape and joint angle data for seven European horse breeds, enabling comparisons and further genetic research.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a standardized model with 253 landmarks and semi-landmarks for objective horse conformation analysis across breeds.

## Key findings

- A dataset of 253 landmarks for 1241 horses from seven breeds is provided.
- An R code file is included to extract joint angles and transform data for analysis.
- Repeatability of joint angles is reported for reliability assessment.

## Abstract

Conformation traits are important in the selection and distinction between horse breeds, but tend to be evaluated subjectively within a breed and cannot be compared between them. The horse shape space model, using a combination of 253 landmarks and semi-landmarks, provides objective information on the shape of a horse photographed from the side that can be compared between breeds. In this dataset, we are providing the full set of 253 landmarks for 1241 horses from seven breeds, including an R code file to extract joint angle information and transform the raw data into csv files for further analysis, such as breed comparisons, heritability or genome-wide association studies (single- or multibreed). The repeatability of the joint angles are also reported.