Swedish study finds dressage horses face higher injury risks

A comprehensive Swedish study involving over 15,000 Swedish Warmblood (SWB) horses has revealed that dressage horses face a significantly higher risk of orthopedic diagnoses compared to show jumping horses.

Researchers from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) analyzed insurance data from Agria for horses born between 2010 and 2020. The findings showed that 50.9 percent of dressage-classified horses had received at least one orthopedic diagnosis, compared to 43.9 percent of show jumping horses. The most frequent issues involved the legs, back, and cervical vertebrae.

Additional findings indicated that stallions and geldings were more susceptible to these issues than mares. Furthermore, horses that participated in young horse testing were more likely to have recorded orthopedic diagnoses. Researchers noted that while the study identifies these disparities, it does not yet explain the underlying causes, which may be linked to decades of specialization in breeding, movement patterns, and training methods.