Mar
28
2022
Last year, the Stud Book (LG PRE ANCCE) registered a total of 12,382 new Purebred Spanish Horses (PRE) in its Birth Register (6,128 males and 6,254 females) and registered 3,310 new stud farms. Thus, as of December 31, 2021, the breed's census stands at 268,425 horses (134,889 males and 133,536 females), belonging to 44,220 active stud farms in 67 countries, which represents a 3.3% increase of horses and almost 7% of stud farms with respect to the previous year.
Of the newly registered stud farms, 47% are outside of Spain, mostly in Holland, the USA and Germany. The other 53% of the stud farms are located in Spain, with the main regions being Andalusia (47%), Catalonia and Castilla y Leon.
In terms of other services offered by the ANCCE PRE Stud Book office, there have been 5,642 assessments as Basic Breeding Stock and 10,823 changes of ownership (17.3% more than the previous year). Of these ownership modifications, most were in the United States, Holland, Mexico and Italy.
It is noteworthy that authorized veterinarians took 25 trips abroad for assessments (revisions); these were performed in 21 countries, including but not limited to the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Sweden and Austria.
Throughout 2021, work continued to move forward with the digitalization of IT processes. Most noteworthy is the new cell phone app, changes in the web site to include electronic requests for service and the WebCapas tool that allows breeders to predict the coat color of a horse’s offspring based on its parents’ genotypes. Other internal IT processes have been implemented to facilitate and verify processes, including lab work for molecular genetics as well as other stud book office tasks.
The LG PRE ANCCE Stud Book office underwent a renewal audit carried out by AENOR INTERNACIONAL, S.A.U. Thanks to this, the Stud Book maintained its Quality Certificate based on UNE-EN ISO 9001:2015 Standards. This ratifies the correct and efficient implementation of the Pre Stud Book’s quality system, both in terms of PRE Stud Book management and other molecular genetics laboratory activities, which has become one of the important aspects currently held by the LG PRE ANCCE Stud Book office. Other aspects pointed out by the audit team were the high degree of maturity of the Quality Management System to comply with the Standard’s applicable requirements, response times for the various services and the level of digitalization attained.
In 2021, studies in Equine Genomics applied to the PRE were launched. Analytical services for farm species such as cattle and swine have been consolidated, as well as other equine breeds such as the KWPN and the CDE (Spanish Sport Horse). The lab participated in the inter-comparison of results organized by ISAG (International Society for Animal Genetics) and has obtained the corresponding certification that includes the lab in Ranking 1 for precision, with 100% of the samples coinciding in the verification test carried by an outside quality control board.
Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, through its General Sub-department for Breeding Production chose ANCCE to carry out an official verification, in keeping with the Official Verification Coordination Plan. The objective was to validate ANCCE’s compliance with the mandates established in the applicable norms relative to the management of the PRE Breeding Program. This verification was carried out in several phases. A favorable report was issued, as no breach of compliance was observed regarding zootechnical mandates or in the approved PRE Breeding Program. Likewise, the Ministry assessed the results of the PRE Breeding Program, which earned very satisfactory results.
Thanks to the efforts undertaken over the past twenty years, in 2021, the PRE Breeding Program drafted and later published the results on its web site. This corresponded to 159,717 genetic assessments for Conformation Traits (59,941 stallions and 99,776 mares). The Catalog publishes the genetic values for 37 conformation traits together with the Global Genetic Index (GGI). When it comes to Dressage, 17,232 genetic values from 7,436 stallions and 9,796 mares at 5,581 stud farms were listed. The genetic values for six variables were listed for each horse, together with its Global Genetic Index.
This year, in 2022, data will continue to be collected at the various Functionality Tests performed at Conformation Competitions. This information will be included in the PRE Breeding Program. In addition to Dressage, and in response to breeder demands, the incorporation of other disciplines practiced by Purebred Spanish Horses is currently being studied, as well as how to incorporate all of this functional information into the Breeding Program and design the corresponding GGI for the breed type.
Likewise, the 2021 Breeding Stock Catalog was published. It contained data for the eighty horses that earned one of the genetic categories contemplated in the PRE Breeding Program. Forty-nine horses earned recognition as Young Recommended Breeding Stick, twenty as Improver Breeding Stock and eleven horses earned their stamp as Elite Breeding Stock.
Throughout 2021, ANCCE and LG PRE ANCCE Stud Book representatives participated in trade fairs, shows and conventions, in addition to offering training courses to breeders and enthusiasts. Meetings were held with authorized veterinarians and collaborating international associations to discuss new procedures, changes in legislation and provide refresher courses. Contacts were made with a number of organizations and institutions including but not limited to the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Governments, ASAJA (Young Farmers’ Agricultural Association), MERAGEM Research Group, etc. Also, representatives also attended a number of meetings with organization they are members of. These included WBFSH (World Breeding Federation of Sports Horses), WHIRDEC (World Horse Identification and Registration Data Exchange Committee), FEAGAS (Spanish Federation of Select Farm Breeds), FEACC (Spanish Federation of Breeder Associations), COPA-COGECA (Union of Agricultural/Breeder Co-ops), etc.
