Prevalence of orthopedic diagnoses in insured Swedish warmblood riding horses
Lameness is by far the most common health problem in Swedish warmblooded riding horses (SWB). Researchers at SLU have investigated the proportion of orthopedic problems in different groups of the SWB population, including differences between jumping and dressage horses, conducted for the first time.
In Sweden, a large proportion of the country's horses are insured, which is relatively unique compared to many other countries. The study included 15,619 SWB horses born between 2010 and 2020 and insured by Agria. This corresponded to 56% of SWB horses born. The insurance data contained more than 900 different orthopedic diagnoses that were divided into eight subgroups. Approximately 44% of the insured horses had an orthopaedic diagnosis and, in terms of number of claims, diagnoses related to the limbs or to the spine and cervical spine were most common.
The results showed that dressage horses are more likely to have orthopaedic diagnoses compared to jumping horses. It was also found that stallions and geldings are more likely to be affected than mares, and that horses chosen to be shown at the young horse assessment are more affected than those not shown.
Horses that were shown were more likely to have diagnoses related to the limbs, back or cervical spine, while horses that were not shown were more likely to have developmental problems in the legs and hooves, laminitis and neurological diagnoses. In some cases, these diagnoses may have had such an impact on the horse that it never competed as a result of the diagnosis.
The study also found that later vintages had suffered from orthopedic diagnoses at a younger age, compared to earlier vintages.
The results of the study show the importance of continuing to monitor orthopaedic health in SWBs and that insurance data can be used to assess the impact of orthopaedic
The results of the study show the importance of continuing to monitor orthopaedic health in SWB and that insurance data can be useful in the search for causative factors.
The research was funded by Stiftelsen Hästforskning.
Link to the publication
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106596
Reference
Bonow, S., Hernlund, E., Eriksson, S., Strandberg, E. & Gelinder Viklund, Å. (2025). Prevalence and risk of orthopedic diagnoses in insured Swedish Warmblood horses, Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 242.
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