Equine body condition scoring – a useful tool for all?
The saying “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is certainly appropriate in the body conditioning of horses (Wood, 1995). Beauty in one owner’s eye is excess fat in another’s. So stands the issue: what is the appropriate condition of a horse? Horses come in a variety of shapes and sizes; some are heavy, some are thin and many somewhere in-between. Being able to identify if a horse is overweight, underweight or at an ideal weight is important when evaluating their general health. But what exactly is heavy and what determines if a horse is thin? It is relatively simple to assess either of the extremes, but it becomes increasingly difficult to assess moderate sized horses stuck in the grey …show more content…
Many people use tools such as weight tapes, nomograms and portable scales to assess weight, however, these methods provide only a measurement of the horse’s live-weight, not its condition. Relying exclusively on weight to monitor a horse’s health can be detrimental, as weight alone is not informative enough; a fat horse and well-muscled horse may weigh the same, but have very different body conditions. Change in body condition is a more reliable indicator of health status than change in live weight, (Shuffitt & TenBroeck, 2003) and thus is a useful tool when quantifying health. Evaluating weight is an important component for feeding regimes and administering medications or drugs, but weight alone does not paint a clear enough picture in regards to nutritional balance (Sheridan, 2014). A more beneficial measure is to apply the body condition scoring technique by examining fat deposition of the six key areas; it is more effective for evaluating a horses overall nutrient requirement. According to Seker & Koseman (2016), accurate determination of body condition allows for formulation of the necessary diet to create fat levels satisfactory for an individual …show more content…
In the case of horses, a practical and significant way of documenting observations of suspect animal abuse is by recording a BCS. This is especially important with concerns regarding lack of adequate food and hydration. This becomes of greatest importance for cases where the SPCA and the courts are involved when findings need to be quantified (E. Parkinson, personal communication, March 15, 2017). Body condition records may be used as evidence to support prosecution of an individual who committed an animal abuse offence (Marion, 2015). Body condition scoring is an indispensable tool used repeatedly by animal welfare authorities because it is an objective way to identify malnourished horses in cruelty cases (Habitat for horses,
The saying “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is certainly appropriate in the body conditioning of horses (Wood, 1995). Beauty in one owner’s eye is excess fat in another’s. So stands the issue: what is the appropriate condition of a horse? Horses come in a variety of shapes and sizes; some are heavy, some are thin and many somewhere in-between. Being able to identify if a horse is overweight, underweight or at an ideal weight is important when evaluating their general health. But what exactly is heavy and what determines if a horse is thin? It is relatively simple to assess either of the extremes, but it becomes increasingly difficult to assess moderate sized horses stuck in the grey …show more content…
Many people use tools such as weight tapes, nomograms and portable scales to assess weight, however, these methods provide only a measurement of the horse’s live-weight, not its condition. Relying exclusively on weight to monitor a horse’s health can be detrimental, as weight alone is not informative enough; a fat horse and well-muscled horse may weigh the same, but have very different body conditions. Change in body condition is a more reliable indicator of health status than change in live weight, (Shuffitt & TenBroeck, 2003) and thus is a useful tool when quantifying health. Evaluating weight is an important component for feeding regimes and administering medications or drugs, but weight alone does not paint a clear enough picture in regards to nutritional balance (Sheridan, 2014). A more beneficial measure is to apply the body condition scoring technique by examining fat deposition of the six key areas; it is more effective for evaluating a horses overall nutrient requirement. According to Seker & Koseman (2016), accurate determination of body condition allows for formulation of the necessary diet to create fat levels satisfactory for an individual …show more content…
In the case of horses, a practical and significant way of documenting observations of suspect animal abuse is by recording a BCS. This is especially important with concerns regarding lack of adequate food and hydration. This becomes of greatest importance for cases where the SPCA and the courts are involved when findings need to be quantified (E. Parkinson, personal communication, March 15, 2017). Body condition records may be used as evidence to support prosecution of an individual who committed an animal abuse offence (Marion, 2015). Body condition scoring is an indispensable tool used repeatedly by animal welfare authorities because it is an objective way to identify malnourished horses in cruelty cases (Habitat for horses,