dc.identifier.citation | Ripollés- Lobo, M., Perdomo González, D.I., Azor, P.J. y Valera Córdoba, M.M. (2023). Orthopedic Diseases in the Pura Raza Española Horse: The Prevalence and Genetic Parameters of Angular Hoof Deviations. Animals, 13, 3471. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13223471. | |
dc.description.abstract | Abnormalities in hoof shape are usually connected with limb conformation defects. The
role of angular hoof deviations is important for longevity in sports competitions and is increasingly
recognized as a factor associated with lameness in performance horses. In this paper, we measured
the prevalence of four defects related to the angulation of the hoof in the Pura Raza Española horse
(PRE): splay-footed forelimb (SFF), pigeon-toed forelimb (PTF), splay-footed rear limb (SFR), and
pigeon-toed rear limb (PTR). A total of 51,134 animals were studied, of which only 15.75% did not
have any of the four angular hoof defects investigated, while 26.61%, 23.76%, 79.53%, and 3.86%
presented SFF, PTF, SFR, and PTR, respectively. Angular defects were evaluated using two different
models; model A was a linear scale composed of three categories, where 0 corresponded to the
absence of defects, 1 to a minor presence of the defect and 2 to the highest degree of the defect. Model
B was composed of two categories, where 0 corresponded to the absence of defects and 1 to the
presence of defects, joining classes 1 and 2. We measured the factors influencing the appearance of
these defects: age, inbreeding coefficient, sex, and birth stud size. The heritability of each defect was
also estimated using a multivariate animal model, using the Gibbsf90+ software from the BLUPF90
family, resulting in heritability estimates of 0.18 (s.d. = 0.009), 0.20 (s.d. = 0.010), 0.11 (s.d. = 0.009), and
0.31 (s.d. = 0.010) for SFF, PTF, SFR, and PTR defects, respectively, for model A, and 0.17 (s.d. = 0.008),
0.19 (s.d. = 0.009), 0.11 (s.d. = 0.009), and 0.29 (s.d. = 0.009) for SFF, PTF, SFR, and PTR defects,
respectively, for model B. Finally, the genetic correlation between the diameter of the superficial
digital flexor tendon (SDFT) and the proportionality index (PI) in relation to the higher or lower
prevalence of the defects was analyzed. We concluded that diameter of SDFT development is strongly
correlated with inward toe conditions (PTF, PTR; P6=0 ≥ 0.95), while PI is associated with outward
toe defects (SFF, SFR; P6=0 ≥ 0.95). | es |