Heiðrún Sigurðardóttir

The topic of my PhD project is to explore the genetic regulation of ability and quality of gaits in Icelandic horses.

The overall goal of my PhD-project is to provide novel insight into the genetic background of gaiting ability and quality of gaits in Icelandic horses. No other breed in the world has as detailed and extensive phenotypic records as the Icelandic horse. We will take advantage of this extensive phenotypic recording in three carefully designed gene mapping experiments by combining state-of-the-art genomics technologies (NGS and advanced bioinformatics) with deep knowledge on gaits in Icelandic horses.

The project is a collaboration between SLU and the Agricultural University of Iceland (AUI). My supervisors are assoc. prof. Susanne Eriksson and prof. Gabriella Lindgren at the Dept. of Animal Breeding and Genetics, assoc. prof. Marie Rhodin at the Dept. of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Dr. Elsa Albertsdóttir at the Farmer’s Association in Iceland and Dr. Þorvaldur Kristjánsson at the Icelandic Agricultural Advisory Centre and AUI.

BSc Equine Science, Agricultural University of Iceland and Holar University College, 2012

MSc Animal Science, SLU, 2016

International breeding judge for Icelandic horses, certified by the International Federation of Icelandic Horse Associations (FEIF)

Sigurðardóttir, H., Albertsdóttir, E., & Eriksson, S. 2017. Analysis of new temperament traits to better understand the trait spirit assessed in breeding field tests for Icelandic horses. Acta Agric. Scand. Sect A. Anim. Sci. 67(1-2):46-57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09064702.2017.1383507