Diversity of Kabardian horses and their genetic relationships with selected breeds in the Russian Federation based on 17 microsatellite loci

17 standard microsatellite loci, used for horse identification and origin control, were deployed for studying the genetic structure of Kabardian breed. The observed (Ho) and expected (He) heterozygosity, level of polymorphism (Na), polymorphism information content (PIC), and fixation index (Fis) were calculated. The results of microsatellite analysis were used for description of the Kabardian breed at the population level. The distribution and frequency of microsatellite alleles was compared with Russian populations of Arab and Thoroughbred horses.