Responsible sport horse breeding requires ethical engagement with heritable conditions that cause welfare compromise. Understanding the genetics of common conditions enables informed breeding decisions that reduce suffering.
Breeders who knowingly use carriers of severe heritable conditions in breeding programs take responsibility for the welfare consequences in offspring. WFFS carriers bred together produce 25% affected foals who suffer and die. HERDA-affected horses live with chronic, severe dermatological pain. HYPP-affected horses experience episodic paralysis attacks that are frightening and physically distressing. The ethics of knowingly perpetuating these conditions are unambiguous when prevention is available through testing and selection. The commercial pressure to use high-performing stallions regardless of carrier status prioritizes short-term performance gain over the welfare of the horses produced — a trade-off that reflects poorly on breeding programs that make it.