Dutch Scientists and Horse Breeders Team Up to Protect the Genetic Future of Native Horse Breeds
Wageningen, Tuesday, 26 May 2026.
Wageningen University & Research and 15 Dutch studbooks are using DNA analysis and population data to reduce hereditary disorders and inbreeding — before irreversible genetic damage is done.
An Agritech Initiative With Deep Roots
This is, at its core, an agritech story — one that sits at the intersection of animal genomics, population biology, and data-driven agricultural management. The ‘Behouden Paard’ (Preserved Horse) project, formally titled ‘Behouden Paard: genetisch managementprogramma voor verduurzaming van de paardenfokkerij’ and registered under project code LWV23102, represents a structured, science-led response to a challenge that has quietly grown within Dutch horse breeding for decades: the erosion of genetic diversity and the accumulation of hereditary disorders in closed or semi-closed purebred populations [1][2]. The Netherlands has a long and distinguished tradition in horse breeding [GPT], and this initiative now positions Dutch studbooks and Wageningen University & Research (WUR) at the forefront of responsible equine population management in Europe [1].
Who Is Behind It, and Where
The project is led by Wageningen University & Research (WUR), one of the world’s leading institutions in life sciences and agricultural research, based in Wageningen, the Netherlands [GPT]. The project leader is Bart Ducro, and the researcher coordinating activities with the studbooks is Mira Schoon, both affiliated with WUR [1][2]. On the industry side, the initiative is anchored by the Koepel van Stamboeken voor Paardachtigen (KSP) — the umbrella body for Dutch horse studbooks — alongside approximately fifteen individual Dutch horse studbooks [1][2]. The project is structured as a Privaat-Publieke Samenwerking (Public-Private Partnership), with funding provided by the KSP, the Royal Friesian Horse Studbook (KFPS), the Royal Warmblood Studbook of the Netherlands (KWPN), Delta Horses, VHLGenetics, and the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and Fisheries (LVVN) [2].
The Problem: When Breeding Becomes a Closed Loop
Inbreeding and hereditary disorders are recognised, long-standing challenges in purebred horse populations worldwide [GPT]. In closed studbook systems, where only horses of a specific registered lineage may be bred together, the gene pool can narrow over successive generations. This increases the likelihood of recessive disease-causing genes pairing up and expressing themselves as hereditary conditions — outcomes that are not always immediately visible to breeders working animal by animal, season by season [GPT]. As Marjolein Meerburg-Neuteboom, a studbook administrator at the NWPCS Welsh Studbook and a breeder of Welsh, Cob, and KWPN horses, explained when the project was highlighted during ‘De Week van het Paard’ (Horse Week) around 19 May 2026: ‘In daily practice, it often comes down to individual animals and we tend to breed on feeling and practical experience. Now we are learning to understand our own population even better through data’ [1][2].
How the Science Works: Three Work Packages
The ‘Behouden Paard’ project is structured around three distinct work packages [2]. The first consists of participatory workshops, organised in collaboration with the KSP, in which studbook administrators, breeders, and organisational representatives engage directly with population analyses, genetic diversity metrics, inbreeding coefficients, health trait registration, and DNA applications [1][2]. The goal is not simply to present findings, but to build lasting analytical capability within the studbooks themselves. The second and third work packages involve deep-dive DNA research programmes specifically targeting two breeds: the KWPN warmblood and the Friesian horse (KFPS) [2]. It should be noted that the concrete steps within the KFPS component are currently listed as ‘on hold’ [alert! ‘Source indicates KFPS work package is on hold but provides no detail on the reason or expected timeline for resumption’] [2]. Participants across all work packages use their own pedigree data, health registrations, and modern DNA techniques to better substantiate breeding decisions and preserve genetic variation within breeds [1].
Data as the Foundation of Sustainable Breeding
Central to the project’s philosophy is a shift from intuition-led breeding to data-informed population management. Project leader Bart Ducro articulated this clearly: ‘Good population management starts with good data, but above all with good collaboration. Between the board of a studbook and its members, between breeders themselves, and often also between different studbooks. And it is precisely the joint approach of studbooks in this project that is an important added value. They often encounter the same problems and do not need to reinvent the wheel’ [1][2]. This insight underscores a key structural advantage of the project: rather than each studbook attempting to solve its genetic challenges in isolation, the collaborative framework allows shared methodologies, shared lessons, and shared tools to be developed and deployed across the participating organisations simultaneously.
Building Knowledge That Lasts
Perhaps the most forward-looking aspect of ‘Behouden Paard’ is its explicit commitment to durable, institutionalised knowledge rather than one-off consultancy. Mira Schoon, the project’s research coordinator for studbook activities, has been unequivocal on this point: ‘It is not about a one-time piece of advice, but about sustainable knowledge-building within the studbooks themselves. By actively involving board members, breeders, and organisations, a foundation is created to be able to steer towards healthy breeding in the long term as well’ [1][2]. This approach reflects a broader trend in agritech and applied genomics, where the transfer of analytical competence to practitioners — rather than dependence on external experts — is increasingly seen as the mark of a genuinely impactful intervention [GPT]. The ambition, as outlined in the project’s stated plans, is that studbook directors, organisations, and breeders will ultimately be able to steer independently using their own population data [1].
A Blueprint for European Equine Genomics
The timing of the public announcement, made during ‘De Week van het Paard’ around 19 May 2026, was deliberate: it signals to the broader equestrian and agricultural community that Dutch studbooks are taking genetic health seriously at a structural, not merely anecdotal, level [2]. For innovation professionals and agritech observers, ‘Behouden Paard’ offers a replicable model — a public-private funding structure, a tiered research architecture, and a participatory knowledge-transfer methodology that could, in principle, be adapted for other livestock species or other national breeding organisations facing similar pressures [GPT]. Meerburg-Neuteboom captured the dual benefit succinctly: ‘It brings both knowledge and a great network’ [1][2]. In a sector where the consequences of genetic mismanagement can take generations to become visible — and even longer to reverse — that combination of science, collaboration, and foresight may prove to be the most valuable breeding outcome of all.