Prevalence, environmental risk factors and heritability of body condition in Pura Raza Espanol horses

Although overweight and obesity are relatively common health problems in horses and are presumed to be prevalent in PRE, no previous studies have explored the potential genetic and environmental causes of these conditions. The main objective of this study was to establish the prevalence, potential risk factors and heritability of body condition in PRE. The database included the Body Condition Score (BCS) of 1511 PRE. The genetic parameters were estimated with a Bayesian genetic animal model which included the following systematic effects: gender, stud, year, feed management, veterinary appraisal and reproduction function. Of the total number of horses included in the study, 58.57% were overweight (BCS = 7) and 12.57% were obese (BCS > 7). The estimated heritabilities for BCS ranged from h(2) = = 0.14 (s.d. = = 0.050) to 0.24 (s.d. = 0.068) depending on the genetic model used. Thus, BCS showed a low-medium level of heritability. Genetic selection against overweight and obesity in this breed may therefore be beneficial.