Fleshy, fat or extremely fat?
Most equine veterinarians and nutritionists use a body condition scorecard to determine a horse’s need to lose or gain weight. Scores range from 1 to 9, with 1 denoting extreme emaciation and 9 signifying obesity. For most horses, a body condition score of 5 seems to be most appropriate. Horses in this state have sufficient fat cover so that ribs cannot be seen but can be felt. There is also no excessive fat deposition around the shoulders, over the withers and topline, or around the top of the tail. As researchers dig deeper into the metabolic issues that influence body weight, it is becoming obvious that maintaining horses in moderate body condition may be much healthier than keeping them even slightly overweight.
1 Poor
Animal extremely emaciated; spinous processes, ribs, tailhead, tuber coxae, and ischii projecting prominently; bone structure of withers, shoulders, and neck easily noticeable, no fatty tissue can be felt
2 Very thin
Animal emaciated; slight fat covering over base of spinous processes; transverse processes of lumbar vertebrae feel rounded; spinous processes, ribs, tailhead, tuber coxae, and ischii prominent; withers, shoulders, and neck structure faintly discernible
3 Thin
Fat buildup about halfway on spinous processes; transverse processes cannot be felt; slight fat cover over ribs; spinous processes and ribs easily discernible; tailhead prominent, but individual vertebrae cannot be identified visually; tuber coxae appear rounded but easily discernible; tuber ischii not distinguishable; withers, shoulders, and neck accentuated
4 Moderately thin
Slight ridge along back; faint outline of the ribs discernible; tailhead prominence depends on conformation, fat can be felt around it; tuber coxae not discernible; withers, shoulders, and neck not obviously thin
5 Moderate
Back is flat (no crease or ridge); ribs not visually distinguishable but easily felt; fat around tailhead beginning to feel spongy; withers appear rounded over spinous processes; shoulders and neck blend smoothly into body
6 Moderately fleshy
May have slight crease down back; fat over ribs spongy; fat around tailhead soft; fat beginning to be deposited along the side of withers, behind shoulders, and along the sides of neck
7 Fleshy
May have crease down back; individual ribs can be felt but noticeable filling between ribs with fat; fat around tailhead soft; fat deposited along withers, behind shoulders, and along neck
8 Fat
Crease down back; difficult to feel ribs; fat around tailhead very soft; area along withers filled with fat; area behind shoulder filled with fat; noticeable thickening of the neck; fat deposited along the inner thighs
9 Extremely fat
Crease down back; difficult to feel ribs; fat around tailhead very soft; area along withers filled with fat; area behind shoulder filled with fat; noticeable thickening of the neck; fat deposited along the inner thighs
In Australia we use a body conditioning scorecard of 1 -5 which can be viewed on the the Department of Primary Industries website
As researchers dig deeper into the metabolic issues that influence body weight, it is becoming obvious that maintaining horses in moderate body condition may be much healthier than keeping them even slightly overweight. In the next article we’ll look at suggestions to help put the brakes on weight gain for horses who tend to pile on the weight. In the meantime, here is a videos which help explain how to ascertain your horse’s weight using a weight tape
This article/video is republished with the permission of Kentucky Equine Research.
For further information and free nutrition advice, contact KER on 1800 772 198, [email protected] www.ker.com or www.equinews.com
