Final answer:
The most accurate example of genetic influence is a horse's size being similar to its parents', which underscores the genetic inheritance despite environmental conditions.
Step-by-step explanation:
The example that best describes the influence of genetic factors is: 'A horse is the same size as its parents and shorter than other horses of the same breed that it lives with on a farm.' This example demonstrates how the genetics inherited from the parents influences the phenotype of the offspring, in this case, the physical size of the horse. Despite environmental factors, such as the availability of food or space, which may influence the growth of other horses of the same breed, this horse's size closely aligns with its parents, suggesting that genetic inheritance is playing a key role.
In the context of Gregor Mendel's work with pea plants, we know that certain traits, such as height, are inherited through alleles, with dominant alleles like tallness (T) masking recessive alleles such as shortness (t). Phenotypic traits like height in both the horse and Mendel's pea plants can thus be strongly influenced by genetic makeup.