Project Description
Why Body Score?
• The prime reason is to maintain your horse at a healthy weight for optimum performance.
• While very poor horses are naturally noticed and we would always advise contacting a local professional organisation such as ourselves or the RSPCA if a horse is seen in this condition, many people do not realise that obesity can also be a killer.
• Like people, if your horse is overweight it puts more strain on the heart, muscles and legs and can lead to serious illnesses such as Laminitis or heart trouble.
• Once you have achieved a healthy weight, regular condition scoring will allow you to check you are not over or under feeding your horse and could save you money.
How to Body Score
There are 2 standard numerical body scoring systems that can be used. This is the UK System devised by Carroll & Huntington and divides the horse in to 3 areas – the front of the horse with the neck and front legs, the middle of the horse with the ribs and backbone and the back of the horse with the rump, back legs and tail. Below is a copy of the pictures adapted from Carroll and Huntington’s book “Body Condition Scoring and Weight Estimation of Horse” for visual reference and a table itemising what to expect for each conditioning score number[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]