The Swedish Warmblood riding horse is a popular horse for sport in Sweden, and the Breeding goal is to produce competitive horses in both show jumping and dressage. The breed has its origin in native Swedish cavalry horses but has been highly influenced by foreign stallions throughout the years. Breeding values are estimated based on the results from young horse field test, which are held for 3- or 4-year old horses, and competition data. The young horse field tests are highly correlated with later performances in competition. The total proportion of horses with own observations to include in the genetic evaluation are slightly under 50 %, and in most cases their pedigrees are known.

As the quality of internationally competing horses is increasing, a debate concerning the Breeding goal of the Swedish Warmblood horse has arisen. Some people claim that the Breeding goal should be divided into two separate goals in the future; one for show jumping horses and another one for dressage horses. At the same time others claim that since the largest group of people using the Swedish Warmblood horse today is amateur riders, the needs of these riders should be taken into a larger consideration in the Breeding program. The largest emphasis in this matter is on the horses? temperament. The objective of the study was to investigate what the majority of the Swedish horse people think about a variety of questions concerning today?s Breeding goal of the Swedish Warmblood horse.

Sheep Breeding contributes not only with wool, hides, meat and milk but also with openlandscapes. The sheep?s wool is a good raw material thanks to a lot of different qualities as itis water rejecting and easy to form. The wool production today is concentrated to specificplaces in the world which leads to environmental problems and a distorted market. InJämtland, a province in Sweden, there is right now a staking going on for local production andrefining of wool in a project called Ullforum.

The fertility of the North Swedish horse was investigated using a questionnaire. Data concerning altogether 73 North Swedish stallions and 213 mares used for Breeding during the season 2005 were collected and analysed. The survey also included the analyses of 305 Breeding case books, especially distributed for this study, from 27 stallions. The aim was to collect information on how the Breeding was carried out in the North Swedish horse, and to learn what categories of mares that were covered and what routines were used in these farms. Breeding statistics from 1999 to 2004 was also analysed to complete the questionnaire.

Sheep Breeding contributes not only with wool, hides, meat and milk but also with openlandscapes. The sheep?s wool is a good raw material thanks to a lot of different qualities as itis water rejecting and easy to form. The wool production today is concentrated to specificplaces in the world which leads to environmental problems and a distorted market. InJämtland, a province in Sweden, there is right now a staking going on for local production andrefining of wool in a project called Ullforum.

Sheep Breeding contributes not only with wool, hides, meat and milk but also with openlandscapes. The sheep?s wool is a good raw material thanks to a lot of different qualities as itis water rejecting and easy to form. The wool production today is concentrated to specificplaces in the world which leads to environmental problems and a distorted market. InJämtland, a province in Sweden, there is right now a staking going on for local production andrefining of wool in a project called Ullforum.

The purpose of this literature study was to describe the seasonal reproduction in sheep and the presence of genetic variation in fertility traits. Methods to induce oestrus are described and the possibilities to change the reproduction season through Breeding are discussed. Sheep have a pronounced seasonality in their reproduction. Mating season starts in the fall and the lambs are born during the spring because this is the most beneficial time. The market request for lamb meat has increased and therefore it is desirable with ewes that could get pregnant all year round.

In today?s genetic evaluation of Swedish beef cattle, mainly traits that are directly related to productivity are measured. However, other traits, such as temperament and mature cow weight affect the economy of the farmer, as well as the welfare of the animals. This thesis evaluates possible ways of measuring new traits, with focus on temperament and mature weight of suckler cows. The goal is to examine the possible benefits of including these traits in the Swedish Breeding scheme.

The main part of the goats in the world is located in developing countries, whereas active Breeding programs are mainly restricted to Northern America and Europe. Goat milk can be processed to several products and goat cheese is the main product. An organized Breeding program is carried out in France and Norway but is not present in Sweden. Important selection traits for milk producing goats include milk, protein and fat yield along with protein and fat content. Functional traits have been more important the past years and they have large economic importance for the farmers.

In Sweden the Breeding organization for the Swedish Warmblood horse uses a traditional scoring system when evaluating horses. The horse is scored subjectively in relation to how good each trait is in relation to the Breeding objective. Other countries, for example the Netherlands, instead use a linear scoring system. The linear scoring system evaluates the horse on a scale between two, for the breed, biological extremes which makes the evaluation more objective since the judges personal values does not influence as much. The Breeding organization for the Swedish Warmblood is today planning a change towards a linear scoring system.

It is important to ensure and develop the Swedish model for riding schools, since the pupils at a Swedish riding school learn both to ride and to handle horses. There is a pronounced problem of stagnation and in some cases a reduced demand in several of the equine industry sectors including Breeding with decreased coverings. The aim of this study was to cast light on how representatives from the horse industry looks at riding schools and their recruitment of horses in the next five years. The research issue was ?Will there be difficulties regarding horse recruitment in 2020 and in that case, what are the consequences?? The results of this work consist mostly of material from a workshop on how the riding school will be affected by reduced Breeding in the future.

EVA, Equine Viral Arteritis, was diagnosed for the first time in 1953 in USA. The disease gained international interest in 1984, when there were several outbreaks of abortion at Thoroughbred studs in USA. EAV, Equine Arteritis Virus, is an RNA virus in the Arteriviridae family. There is only one serotype of EAV but several strains and the strains have different virulence. EAV is transmitted in two different ways: by aerosols, or by venereal transmission.

InBreeding has become a problem in some horse breeds. Studies show that it may lead to inBreeding depression which affects e.g. reproduction traits. In the wild there are mechanisms that make horses avoid mating with close relatives. When selection is done by humans this mechanism is removed and intensive Breeding for a few traits, for example good racing results, can become a problem.

In Sweden you will find the coot chiefly in the southern parts. The species winters in the southern part of the Baltic Sea and along the coasts of northern Europe. The number of coots is heavily decreased by harsh winters. The population of the coots in Sweden is estimated to 20 000 to 30 000 pairs. The region of Dalarna is the random zone for the Breeding of coots in Sweden .

The purpose of this Master thesis is to examine and describe dog breeders? information activities. Questions posed in this study are:? What are the information needs of dog breeders?? How does the dog breeder seek and use information?? How can the relationship between serious leisure and information activities be described?The theoretical framework consists of the sociologist Robert A Stebbins? theory about serious leisure. The study is based on a qualitative methodology.