A breed is a specific group of domestic animals that have been bred to all look and act alike. It could also be because of a number of other specific traits that are meant for a whole host of tasks depending on the animal we’re talking about.
A “breed” of something is a term commonly used by people in the pet industry. Whether it’s a “purebred” dog or this and that breed of horse, it’s not a term most people can say they’ve never heard of before.
However, most people probably couldn’t tell you exactly what breed something is. And, although I gave a definition, many people are probably still wondering what exactly what I said means.
However, if I break it down into simpler language, it will hopefully become more and more clear what is meant by the term race. And, as a side note, how does it differ from other terms like “family”, “species”, or “genus”.
What is a breed?
To begin with, a race is not the same as a species, a genus or a family of creatures. Although all four terms are used to describe a specific group of animals, two different breeds of a dog, for example, can still be the same species.
And on a similar note, genus and family are also just other scientific terms for classifying animals. Genus and family are simply broader than species and can encompass many species within them.
Going back to my definition, “a breed is a specific group of domesticated animals that have been bred to all look and act alike.” Essentially what this means is that you have taken a specific animal and bred certain traits to it.
Let’s say you have three dogs. Two of those dogs are very healthy and they are the cutest and sweetest puppies you could find. They love people and are nice to be around. On the other hand, the third dog is mean, he tends to bark a lot and has many health problems.
A breeder would take the two cute little dogs and breed them because the traits those two dogs have are desirable. The puppies would then be euthanized for those same traits and bred with other dogs that have those traits and so on.
This will eventually lead to a new breed of dog that has that cuddly temperament. You just bred a friendly dog breed! The same applies to us with horses.
A horse breeder will choose the horses with the traits he wants and breed them. Those traits could be that they are quick to ride, they are very attractive horses, or maybe they are incredibly strong.
They will then choose another horse with similar characteristics (one male and the other female, obviously) and then breed them. After a few generations, they will end up with a breed of horse that expresses the traits they wanted.
Why do races exist?
You may be thinking that it’s all very well to breed dogs, cats, or horses for specific traits, but why? Can’t you just find a normal dog, horse or cat with the traits you want and use them?
Why go through all the effort of raising animals for generations? Well, why would anyone practice hard at an Australia online casino with a no deposit bonus? Because they can get more consistent results.
When you breed animals with the characteristics you want, you know that that breed of animal will have the characteristics you want. Whether it’s a super fast horse or a very friendly dog, you know that if you choose that breed, you’ll be able to get an idea of what you’re getting.
It’s also helpful to have different animals that are specialized for different things. You are never going to have an animal that is good at everything, so you have to choose what you want.
This means you’ll probably need multiple animals for different tasks, or just to pick and choose which traits you’re willing to give up. For example, you might want a really fast racehorse, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be strong enough to pull a plow.
But, if you had a really strong horse that could pull a plow very well, it probably wouldn’t be very fast either. That’s just how the world works. Sometimes you have to choose the most important and give up the rest.
