# The role of Interstallion in supporting international sport horse breeding by improved transparency

K F Stock, Å Viklund, I Cervantes, A Ricard, K Christiansen, O Vangen, S Janssens

► To cite this version:

K F Stock, Å Viklund, I Cervantes, A Ricard, K Christiansen, et al. The role of Interstallion in supporting international sport horse breeding by improved transparency. 69th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science, Aug 2018, Dubrovnik, Croatia. *hal-05447201*

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https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05447201v1

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vit

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IT-Solutions for
Animal Production

69th EAAP Annual Meeting,
27-31 August 2018, Dubrovnik, Croatia

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Session 39 (abstract no. 29784)

# The role of Interstallion in supporting international sport horse breeding by improved transparency

K. F. Stock<fnref n="1" />*, Å. Viklund², I. Cervantes³, A. Ricard⁴, K. Christiansen<fnref n="5" />,
O. Vangen⁶, S. Janssens⁷

## Outline

* background

* development of sport horse breeding and its needs

* Interbull & Interstallion

* installation and establishment

* aims & scope of Interstallion

* general approach

* framework of development, with major challenges and key factors of success

* perspectives

**INTERSTALLION**

*How it started*

*How it has developed*

*How it may develop further on*
*or: How today's breeders think about*
*transparency and its increase*

vit

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EAAP

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Horse
Commission

European Federation of Animal Science

<footnote n="1">¹ IT Solutions for Animal Production (vit), Verden (Aller), Germany; ² SLU, Dept. of Anim. Breed. & Genet., Uppsala,</footnote>

<footnote>Sweden; ³ Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), Madrid, Spain; ⁴ INRA, UMR 1313 GABI, Jouy-en-Josas, France;</footnote>

<footnote n="5">⁵ Danish Warmblood, Maarslet, Denmark; ⁶ Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Dept. of Anim. and Aquacult. Sciences, Ås, Norway; ⁷ KU Leuven, Livestock Genetics, Heverlee, Belgium</footnote>

<footnote>*E-mail: friederike.katharina.stock@vit.de</footnote>
## The sport horse sector today

* key characteristics

* development from regional or national to international (sport and breeding)

* high proportion of artificial insemination

* strong impact of import / export of genetic material (on the market and on the traditional business of studbooks)

* increasing information demands (riders, studbooks, individual breeders)

* major challenges of sport horse breeding related to:

* coping with the structural developments and

* responding to the changing needs (e.g. regarding information management)

* What does it concretely mean for studbooks and individual breeders?

* How could efficient support look like? And who could provide it?

## Situation of sport horse breeding (I)

* national studbooks with large variation in

* size (numbers of broodmares, stallions, active breeders)

* number and strength of competing studbooks within country

* amount of international activity (own and other studbooks')

* general structural changes

* dependence on economic situation (in the country and worldwide)

* impact of societal developments: 'new generation of breeders' ≠ traditional horse breeders (different knowledge, motivation, expectation and mindset)

* internal conceptual challenges for the studbooks
## Situation of sport horse breeding (II)

* similarity of breeding goals across sport horse studbooks

* performance under rider

* major disciplines of riding sport (mainly):
    * dressage and/or show jumping

* similarity of genetics

* open studbooks implying 'free' flow of genes (semen marketing, horse trade)

* internationalization of sport horse pedigrees supporting openness of breeders to sources of information and providers of service around breeding

* highly competitive situation for the studbooks

* convenient to confusing situation for the individual breeders

## Options for sport horse breeding

* potential strategies of studbooks and the equine sector to cope with the changes over time:

* **defensive, protective, reactive**

→ in conflict with the increasing demand of breeders for data, information, facts, ... as basis of decision making

⇒ **high risk of failure** (at least medium-to-long term)

* **offensive, open-minded and transparent, proactive**

→ possibly difficult to implement sustainably (internal structures, workflow, breeding program), but most likely quickly rewarded by the practice

⇒ **good chances of success** (size / strength, breeding progress)

* **support of transparency**
as valuable investment in the future of the sport horse sector
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## Parallels to the dairy industry (I)

* high level of internationalization of dairy cattle breeding

* identification of needs to optimize breeding progress

* standardization and harmonization of data recording

* sharing of limited resources, incl. expertise

* information exchange regarding evaluation methods and outcomes

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### formation of INTERBULL

* since 1988 permanent sub-committee of the International Committee for Animal Recording (ICAR)

* supported by its parent organizations EAAP and IDF (International Dairy Foundation), and by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)

* managed by an ICAR appointed Steering Group, consisting of members from many different countries

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Benefits

http://www.interbull.org/ib/benefits

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## Parallels to the dairy industry (II)

* high level of internationalization of dairy cattle breeding

* identification of needs to optimize breeding progress

* standardization and harmonization of data recording

* sharing of limited resources, incl. expertise

* information exchange regarding evaluation methods and outcomes

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### formation of INTERBULL

* since 1988 permanent sub-committee of the International Committee for Animal Recording (ICAR)

* supported by its parent organizations EAAP and IDF (International Dairy Foundation), and by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)

* managed by an ICAR appointed Steering Group, consisting of members from many different countries

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key role for the global dairy industry

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Service Portal

http://www.interbull.org/ib/customerarea

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## Approach for the sport horse

* in 1998 establishment of the INTERSTALLION working group by

* WBFSH (World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses)

* EAAP and

* ICAR (International Committee for Animal Recording)

* main aims:

* reviewing breeding objectives, testing and evaluation systems

* exploring ways of harmonizing and comparing estimated breeding values (EBVs) across countries

* improving transparency and understanding of practices of studbooks

* contributing to optimal use of information on sport horses for breeding

Interstallion:
'spiritus motors' of the work are
J. Philipsson and E. Bruns
(WAAP 2003, p.176)

WAAP

book of the year

2003

55th Annual Meeting of the European Association for Animal Production
Bled, Slovenia, 5-8 September 2003 (Session H05)

Interstallion - on the way to an international genetic evaluation of sport horses

E. Bruns, A. Records, E. Knuuti / Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics, 17075 Gothenburg, Germany
SNRA Centre for research of Tetrislova, 11324 Carlsbad Tatslova, France (SAR, 6000 AL, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, email: cbruns@gy.gv.gv.de)

## From ideas to realization

* lack of transparent information on key facts and procedures

* **systematic information collection**

* lack of validated methods / systems and of applications supporting interpretation of results

* **scientific investigation as basis for recommendations**
    on procedures and possibly actions to improve

* lack of regular exchange between equine science and practice to reflect on topics of (potential) importance

* **coordination of reports, flow of information, discussions, etc.**
    **to systematically work on closing the gap**

* initial phase (survey / review, pilot projects)

* continued development on scientific basis

INTERSTALLION as permanent working group of the EAAP Horse Commission since 2006
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# Improving transparency ...

## ... by systematic information collection (I)

* results of the initial overview

* huge variation of breeding programs for sport horses with respect to

* definitions of breeding objectives

* testing systems

* systems for genetic evaluation

* low transparency constituting a major obstacle

* for breeders:
      * how to use genetic material from other countries optimally?

* for INTERSTALLION:
      * how to approach improvement of international comparability?

(Paper presented at 7th World Congress Applied to Livestock Production, Montpellier, August 2002)

### TESTING AND GENETIC EVALUATION OF SPORT HORSES IN AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

E.P.C. Koenen¹ and L.I. Aldridge²

survey among
sport horse studbooks
(1999 - 2002)

¹NRS, PO Box 454, 6800 AL Arnhem, The Netherlands

²Irish Horse Board, Agriculture House (4E), Kildare Street, Dublin 2, Ireland

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# Improving transparency ...

## ... by systematic information collection (II)

* work towards adequate international comparison of breeding values

* survey → status quo (basis) and identification of desired steps

* further scientific study
    * → identification of required steps, indication of possible approaches

## INTERSTALLION pilot projects with focus on:
connectedness of populations, across country correlations
(pilot project I performance tests, pilot project II competition performance)

## motivation to ensure transparency, be open for chances, etc.:
considerable opportunities of validating and improving methods

* increase of selection efficiency of national breeding programs

* basis for an international genetic evaluation of sport horses
Improving transparency ...

... by making information accessible 1.0

■ initial survey (scientific overview)

→ standard questionnaire (suggested practical routine)

- population statistics

- breeding objectives

- testing methods

- genetic evaluation systems

- compilation and dissemination of
detailed and easy to understand information on

- variation and similarities of testing schemes

- trait definitions and methods for estimation of breeding values

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helping the practice to work against the lack of transparency
becoming increasingly problematic with further internationalization

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(Note presented at WBFSH seminar, Budapest, November 5th, 2002)

The Interstallion questionnaire: a valuable information source for sport horse breeders

Erwin Koenen

NRS, P.O. Box 454, 6800 AL Arnhem, The Netherlands

Improving transparency ...

... by making information accessible 2.0 (1)

- annual reports and additional seminars for the studbooks
at the annual meetings of the WBFSH

- sporadic invitations in 2010 - 2013

- (re-)establishment of regular report in 2015:
  EAAP annual meeting, activities of EAAP HC

- seminars on (scientific) topics of relevance for the sport horse breeding sectors, e.g. genomics - changes & challenges at WBFSH annual meeting 2016 in Geneva

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members of INTERSTALLION as speakers and/or contact persons
to recommend invited speakers

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# Improving transparency ...

## ... by making information accessible 2.0 (II)

- annual reports and additional seminars for the studbooks at the annual meetings of the WBFSH

- using newly established channels to inform and exchange

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# Improving transparency ...

## ... by making information accessible 2.0 (III)

- annual reports and additional seminars for the studbooks at the annual meetings of the WBFSH

- using newly established channels to inform and exchange

- members of INTERSTALLION and WBFSH SC-CIGA as contact persons to allow canalizing (re-)actions

Statement from the WBFSH Board on WFFS

The Board of World Breeding Federation has published a statement regarding the
Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome.

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STATEMENT FROM WBFSH REGARDING WFFS:

To date the rare genetic mutation that results in **Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome (WFFS)** has been fairly unknown. It recently started gaining massive media attention.
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# Improving transparency ...

## ... by making information accessible 2.0 (IV)

- annual reports and additional seminars for the studbooks at the annual meetings of the WBFSH

- using newly established channels to inform and exchange

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members of INTERSTALLION feeding sources of information

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Welcome at
www.equinephenotypes.org!

the number of articles and presentations and the spectrum of topics is supposed to grow by and by.
Hot topics in science like equine health and genomic selection in horse breeding will be reflected in the amount of information material provided.

You are welcome to follow this development by regular checking of this address for updates! And if you have the feeling of an information gap in some field, please feel free to contact us such that we can enhance this website.

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Equine
Phenotypes

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http://www.interstallion.org (KU Leuven) and

http://www.equinephenotypes.org/

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# Improving transparency ...

## ... by making information more comparable (I)

- support of harmonization and standardization

- independent and general recommendations

e.g. scale and reference population for publication of EBVs (Nov. 2005)
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# Improving transparency ...

## ... by making information more comparable (II)

- support of harmonization and standardization

- independent and general recommendations
  - e.g. scale and reference population for publication of EBVs (Nov. 2005)

- targeted support in important fields of practical work
  - e.g. engagement in promoting the use of linear profiling

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- helping the practice to improve effectiveness and efficiency of work

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# Improving transparency ...

## ... by making information more comparable (III)

- support of harmonization and standardization

- independent and general recommendations
  - e.g. scale and reference population for publication of EBVs (Nov. 2005)

- targeted support in important fields of practical work
  - e.g. engagement in promoting the use of linear profiling

- review and study of recent developments in the sport horse sectors

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## Perspectives

* opinion of the sport horse sector about transparency and its increase today?

* breeders: essential

* studbooks: very important to essential

* development of methods and tools, e.g. genomic selection, increasing the motivation to:

* join forces

* use synergies

* cooperate

* develop new strategies to cope with changed needs

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EAAP

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Horse Commission

European Federation of Animal Science

## Role of INTERSTALLION?!

* actions guided by the final aim to support and benefit the practice, i.e. sport horse (breeding) sector

* implications:

* practice-oriented research

* immediate transfer of knowledge and results

* broad / general support
      → strengthening of the sector = all individual studbooks

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EAAP

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Horse Commission

European Federation of Animal Science
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## Role of INTERSTALLION?!

* actions guided by the final aim to support and benefit the practice, i.e. sport horse (breeding) sector

* implications:

* practice-oriented research

* immediate transfer of knowledge and results

* broad / general support
    → strengthening of the sector = all individual studbooks

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* basic requirement: open dialogue and close collaboration between (and also within) science and practice
  → trust in the principle of collaborative work to mutual benefit

* major challenge & key to success:
  convincing and proof of functioning of the collaboration principle in the given framework of equine sport and breeding

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Thank you!

Interstallion WG

* chair / presidency: Steven Janssens
  KU Leuven, Livestock Genetics, Heverlee, Belgium

* secretary: Kathrin F. Stock
  vit, Verden, Germany

* Isabel Cervantes
  Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

* Karina Christiansen
  Danish Warmblood, Maarslet, Denmark

* Bart Ducro
  Wageningen University, Animal breeding and Genomics Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands

* Anne Ricard
  INRA, Jouy-en-Josas and IFCE, Exmes, France

* Åsa Viklund
  SLU, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Uppsala, Sweden

* Katherine Quinn Brady / Alison Corbally
  Horse Sport Ireland, Osberstown, Ireland

* major challenge & key to success:
  convincing and proof of functioning of the collaboration principle in the given framework of equine sport and breeding