Clinical findings of candidate stallions presented for licensing at all
German Warmblood horse-breeding associations in 2018--2020
Abstract
Background: There is very little information available about
the health status of young stallions from the German Warmblood
population that will, once licensed, shape the future of the equestrian
sport and horse-breeding. Objectives: To evaluate the
prevalence of clinical findings at licensing examinations of candidate
stallions and the influences of season of birth, age at licensing, year
of licensing, and the evaluator on the distribution of recorded
findings. Study design: Retrospective observational study
Methods: Clinical records of 1655 candidate stallions presented
for licensing in 2018–2020 were reviewed. Data were provided by all
German Warmblood horse-breeding associations and their official
veterinarians. Storage and processing of the records was performed using
the German equine health database. Generalised linear models were used
to determine the influences of fixed effects (season of birth, age at
licensing, year of licensing, evaluator) on main clinical findings.
Significance level was set at p < 0.05. Results: No
remarks were documented on the clinical examination protocol in 777 of
the 1655 horses (47.0 %). Furthermore, 51.9% of those stallions with
remarks had only one finding documented. Main abnormalities recorded
were skin lesions, enlargements on the limbs, and testicular findings.
The distributions of several clinical findings differed significantly
between the evaluators. Main limitations: Homogenous study
population and retrospective data Conclusion: The clinical part
of the licensing examination of German Warmblood candidate stallions
presented in 2018–2020 revealed mostly no or only very few findings.
Furthermore, the majority of the clinical findings recorded are
considered to be of minor clinical relevance, implying an overall
favourable clinical health status of the stallions presented.