Prevalence and risk of orthopedic diagnoses in insured Swedish Warmblood horses

Abstract

Sweden has a strong tradition of insuring horses for veterinary costs, and orthopedic diagnoses are the most common for insurance claims. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in prevalence and risk of orthopedic diagnoses for Swedish warmblood (SWB) horses classified as jumping (J) or dressage (D) horses. Also, other factors that may influence orthopedic health were investigated, i.e., sex, birth cohort, and participation in young horse tests and competition. The data consisted of 15,619 insured SWB horses born between 2010 and 2020. Horses were classified as J or D horses according to pedigree. The prevalence of orthopedic diagnoses was investigated using logistic regression analysis and presented as Least Squares means. The time from birth to first orthopedic diagnosis was investigated using survival analysis. D horses were at a higher risk of having orthopedic diagnoses compared with J horses (50.9 % vs 43.9 %, P < 0.0001). Male horses were at a higher risk than females (49.7 % vs 45.0 %, P < 0.0001), and tested horses were at a higher risk than non-tested horses (49.9 % vs 44.9 %, P < 0.0001). No significant difference was seen between competed and non-competed horses regarding the risk of having orthopedic diagnoses, but the groups were predisposed to different subgroups of orthopedic diagnoses. Survival analysis showed that later cohorts were more likely to have insurance claims for orthopedic diagnoses at a younger age than earlier cohorts. In conclusion, insurance data can be a useful tool to study which factors influence the orthopedic health status of the SWB horse population.