Home Health and vet Clinical findings of German Warmblood candidate stallions

Clinical findings of German Warmblood candidate stallions

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By M.S. Folgmann, K.F. Stock, K. Feige, U. Delling
Graphics/Tables: The authors

There is little information available about the health status of young stallions from the German Warmblood population that will, once licensed, shape the future of equestrian sport and horse breeding. This article presents the clinical findings of candidate stallions presented for licensing.

1. Introduction
German Warmblood breeding is, except for the Trakehner, characterised by open studbooks, enabling free exchange of genetic material across the distinct breeds.1 Accordingly, the German horse-breeding associations have, co-ordinated by their umbrella organisation, the German Equestrian Federation (FN), and in collaboration with their official veterinarians, promoted the idea of a joint equine health database in Germany to maintain and advance their common values.2,3 The database has been available since 2014 and allows standardised, online data recording. The database aims to cover all types of equine examination data but functionalities for documentation are currently confined to examinations of candidate stallions performed prior to licensing.4
Licensing is obligatory for stallions intending to start a breeding career. The responsibility for licensing rests with the individual breeding associations, but there are some general requirements that must be fulfilled by all German Warmblood stallions:
(1) The age of the stallion when presented for licensing must be a minimum of 2 years at evaluation;
(2) the stallion must participate in a preselection if offered by the respective breeding association; and
(3) the stallion must not have any health condition defined as disqualifying for breeding use.5
The latter is verified by the veterinary medical licensing examination performed prior to the stallion’s licensing. This examination consists of a clinical examination, which is the subject of this article, and a radiological examination of the limbs. The veterinary medical licensing examinations are performed by official veterinarians according to the German Breeding Association Regulations (‘Zuchtverbands-ordnung’).6
The outcome of the licensing examination is documented and submitted to the respective breeding associations. The licensing process, performed by a distinct commission of the breeding association, includes evaluations of all stallions’ conformation, movement, and, in some cases, jumping ability. A licence only grants limited breeding permission. In order to switch from temporary to permanent approval for breeding use, stallions must fulfil further performance-related criteria referring to the outcome of standardised performance tests or successful participation in equestrian sport.7 Accordingly, the health status of the individual stallions plays an important role in the process of licensing, but stallion selection is currently not based on distinct health traits...

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