By Charlotte Dekker / KWPN
Photography: Anniek de Wit
In the summer of 2023, the PROK requirement was reintroduced within the stallion selection process. At the same time, the General Board formed a Veterinary Advisory Committee to reassess the current PROK requirement.
This group of renowned veterinarians and radiologists has formulated several recommendations that the General Board has adopted.
The main objective of the KWPN is to breed horses that can perform at the highest level in sports. Ensuring the correct selection based on health characteristics is important to maintain the distinguishing feature of the studbook. For this reason the approved stallions themselves must be sufficiently healthy, enabling breeders to make better choices and breed more sustainable horses.
Gold standard
The Veterinary Advisory Committee consists of members of the PROK committee (Gijs Jan van Selm, Bart Veldeman, Hans Peeters, and Hank van Campen), supplemented with practical experience via Arie Hoogendoorn, Don van de Winkel, and Jacques Maree. For the scientific basis and assessment, they are supported by radiologists A.J. van den Belt and Stephanie Veraa from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
As mentioned, this committee has examined the recalibration of the evaluation of the radiographic images. Veterinarian Hank van Campen explains: “The PROK examination, which stands for Project Radiographic Examination KWPN, has been in existence since 1997 and has given the KWPN a significant advantage in terms of health breeding goals. Other studbooks have largely copied this method of selection. We saw that this was slowly eroding our advantage.
“Additionally, breeding progresses in a certain direction, including health. Since 1997, only a few minor changes have been made to the PROK requirement. Therefore, it was time to assess PROK in light of today’s horse, so that tomorrow’s breeding product can also meet the high health standards of the KWPN. With this, we aim to establish a norm that will once again become the gold standard for the coming years, even internationally.”.. To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
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