Why body condition score? Being able to understand if your horse is over- or underweight is an essential part of being a horse owner. Being underweight can lead to a lack of energy and a greater susceptibility to diseases due to a poor immune system, while being overweight can lead to obesity-related diseases and a shortened performance career. Recently, the show horse world has trended towards favoring obese horses, with judges even rewarding overweight horses. One study has even shown that many judges may view overweight horses more along the lines of average (see: https://pubag.nal.usda.gov/catalog/7385645). Why is it important to be able to appropriately judge a horse’s weight? As mentioned previously, it can be detrimental to a horse to be either over- or underweight, with overweight horses potentially even having shorter athletic careers due to injury or founder. Therefore, it is important to be able to identify if your horse needs to gain or lose weight. What are some issues obesity can cause in horses? Obesity can lead to a variety of issues and illnesses in horses. An overweight horse may have a shorter performance career compared to horses of a smaller size due to extra weight on joints and soft tissue structures. Diseases which can arise from obesity include insulin resistance and equine metabolic syndrome. Perhaps the biggest concern in obese horses, however, is the heightened risk of founder. How do I body condition score? The currently used body condition scoring system was developed by Henneke et al. (1983). Horses are scored on body condition based off 6 locations along the horse’s body. The overall score is based on an average score of these 6 locations, not just from one location, such as the ribs. Horses put weight on in some areas of their body before they do others, and many horses may store excess fat along their crest and tailhead, which may make them more obese than they look at first glance. Each location is given a score on a 1 to 9 scale, with 1 being severely malnourished, 9 being severely overweight, and 5 being ideal. The locations of which to body score are the crest, ribs, tailhead, behind the elbow, topline, and behind the withers. Refer to the chart below for a full breakdown of what each score means. What is an ideal score?
A body condition score of 5 is typically ideal, however, there may be some fluctuations depending on the horse’s use. Highly athletic horses may trend more towards a 4 due to high levels of energy expenditure and fitness. This may include horses being utilized in disciplines such as upper level eventing and racing. Fertility has been shown to increase when broodmares are slightly on the heavier side, so you may find it easier to get your broodmare in foal if she is a body condition score of 6 vs a 5 or under! The skinnier the mare is, the harder it will be to get her to take. However, getting her heavier than a 6-6.5 does not yield enough benefit compared to the added health risks.
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