Estimates of longevity and causes of culling and death in Swedish warmblood and coldblood horses

Abstract

Data on several different horse populations were analysed and compared regarding length of life and diseases or injuries leading to death or culling. In order to include information for horses still alive, a failure time (survival) analysis was used. The first material included 1847 warmblood horses born between 1968 and 1982, that had participated in the Swedish Riding Horse Quality Test (RHQT) as 4-year-olds. The next two materials included 344 warmblood and 204 coldblood horses owned by the Swedish Cavalry Horse Foundation (CHF), born between 1970 and 1975. The last population consisted of 481 warmblood brood-mares born between 1965 and 1967. According to this study it was important to estimate the median length of life separately for each sex. For warmblood brood-mares and mares that had participated in the RHQT, comparable figures of 18.6 and 18.3 years were found. Close agreement was also found between geldings of the CHF and males that had participated in the RHQT; the estimates were 14.7 and 13.9 years, respectively. There was a positive trend in the median length of life over time for horses that had participated in the RHQT, and the median length-of-life curve increased more steeply for mares than for males. This study showed a longer median length of life for coldblood geldings, 17.6 years, than for the mares, 16.4 years. The most common causes of death of warmblood horses were diseases of the musculoskeletal system (56–57%), respiratory diseases (8–9%), diseases of the digestive system (5–6%) and accidents (3–9%). The primary causes of death of coldblood horses were temperamental disorders (23%), diseases of the musculoskeletal system (14%) and hoof diseases (8%).