Simulation Study on the Integration of Health Traits in Horse Breeding Programs.
Authors: Büttgen Lisa, Geibel Johannes, Simianer Henner, Pook Torsten
Journal: Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
Summary
# Editorial Summary: Optimising Breeding Strategies for OCD Reduction in Warmblood Horses Osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD)—the development of cartilage fragments within joints—represents a significant welfare and economic concern in horse breeding, yet effective strategies to reduce its prevalence remain unclear. Using realistic computer simulation of German Warmblood breeding programmes, researchers compared three selection approaches: simple threshold culling, index selection incorporating OCD breeding values, and genomic-assisted index selection, evaluating their effectiveness at reducing osseous fragments in fetlock and hock joints whilst maintaining performance traits. The most effective strategy combined strict threshold selection at stallion licensing with index selection based on OCD breeding values that influenced how frequently selected stallions were used in breeding. Importantly, whilst modest performance trade-offs occurred with more aggressive OCD reduction, this approach proved substantially more efficient than passively including OCD in breeding indices without corresponding selection intensity. These findings suggest that UK and European breeding programmes could significantly improve joint health outcomes through structured, rigorous selection protocols at licensing stages—particularly by leveraging genomic information and strategically managing high-genetic-merit stallion usage rather than simply broadening selection criteria.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •Breeding programs should implement structured selection protocols (threshold or index-based) at stallion licensing and breeding use decisions rather than passive integration of OCD data into breeding values
- •Breeders can expect a modest decrease in performance trait improvement when prioritizing OCD reduction, but this trade-off appears acceptable given the welfare and economic benefits of disease reduction
- •Genomic selection tools offer an effective alternative to traditional threshold selection for managing OCD in riding horse populations
Key Findings
- •Rigorous threshold selection and integration of OCD in selection index at stallion licensing stage were most effective for reducing OCD prevalence
- •Genomic index selection incorporating OCD breeding values performed comparably to threshold selection approaches
- •Scenarios achieving higher OCD reduction showed slightly reduced improvement in riding horse performance traits, indicating a minor trade-off
- •Simply integrating OCD into breeding values without structured selection protocols was less effective than index-based or threshold-based approaches