Prevalence and risk of orthopedic diagnoses in insured Swedish Warmblood horses.

The research investigates the correlation between different types of activity, sex, birth cohort, and competition participation on the prevalence and risk of orthopedic diagnoses in Swedish Warmblood horses. The study concluded that dressage horses had a higher risk of orthopedic issues than jumping horses, male horses have a higher risk than females, and tested horses have a higher risk than non-tested ones.

Methodology and Data Analysis

• The researchers carried out their study on 15,619 insured Swedish Warmblood horses born between 2010 and 2020.
• They classified the horses into either jumping (J) or dressage (D) horses based on their pedigree.
• A logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the prevalence of orthopedic diagnoses, the results of which were presented as Least Squares means.
• The time from birth to first orthopedic diagnosis was investigated with survival analysis.

Results

• Dressage horses showed a higher risk of having orthopedic issues than jumping horses, with 50.9% vs 43.9% occurrence respectively. The difference was statistically significant (P < 0.0001).
• Male Swedish Warmblood horses showed a higher risk for orthopedic diagnoses than females (49.7% vs 45.0%, P < 0.0001).
• Horses that were tested had a higher risk of having orthopedic diagnoses than those that were not tested (49.9% vs 44.9%, P < 0.0001).
• No significant difference was observed between competing and non-competing horses, however, they were predisposed to different subgroups of orthopedic diagnoses.
• Survival analysis revealed that later-born cohorts were likelier to have insurance claims for orthopedic diagnoses at a younger age than earlier-born cohorts.

Conclusions

• The study concluded that insurance data could serve as a useful tool for studying the factors influencing the orthopedic health status of the Swedish Warmblood horse population.
• Further studies might be needed to find the reasons behind the difference in prevalence in different horse categories, sexes, and cohorts to optimize training and care practices to prevent orthopedic issues.