01/05/2025
📊 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗢𝗳 𝗕𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴
🗯️ It can become incredibly frustrating trying to establish whether your horse needs to gain, maintain, or lose weight, and sadly our society seems to favour overweight horses as "normal" or "healthy" which can make managing our equine friends' figures that much harder.
🏇🏻 I have lost track of how many times I have read a post seeking weight gain recommendations for a Thoroughbred who is a 5/9 on the Henneke Body Condition Scoring System and is simply lacking a little muscle over their topline, but is certainly not underweight. Need I cast a gentle reminder that breeds such as Thoroughbreds are typically quite a lean and athletic horse and are certainly not supposed to look like a Welsh Cob in terms of build?
⚖️ 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙠𝙚 𝘽𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙎𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙎𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢
If this is an unfamiliar phrase, it might be insightful to establish where your horse's body condition falls on this numerical-based system. I'll post a photo of the visual chart in the comments, but for now this is the general ruling of the system:
1️⃣ Poor
Extremely emaciated; no fatty tissue; vertebrae, ribs, tail head, and bones of withers, shoulder, and neck are visible.
2️⃣ Very thin
Emaciated; slight tissue cover over bones; vertebrae, ribs, tail head, and bones of withers, shoulder, and neck are visible.
3️⃣ Thin
Slight fat cover over body; individual vertebrae and ribs no longer visibly discernible; withers, shoulders, and neck do not appear overly thin.
4️⃣ Moderately thin
Ridge of spine and outline of ribs are visible; tail head may or may not be visible depending on the breed; withers, shoulders, and neck do not appear overly thin.
5️⃣ Moderate
Spine and ribs cannot be seen however ribs can be felt; tail head is spongy; withers, shoulders, and neck are rounded and smooth.
6️⃣ Moderately fleshy
Slight crease down spine; ribs and tail head feel spongy; fat deposits along withers and neck and behind shoulders.
7️⃣ Fleshy
Crease down spine; ribs have fat filling between them; tail head spongy; fat deposits along withers and neck and behind shoulders.
8️⃣ Fat
Apparent crease down spine; ribs difficult to feel; soft fat surrounding tail head; fat deposits along withers, behind shoulders, and on inner thighs; neck is large.
9️⃣ Extremely fat
Obvious crease down spine; patchy fat on ribs; bulging fat on tail head, withers, behind shoulders, and on neck; fat fills in flank and on inner thighs.
🐎 Depending on the horse's breed and performance requirements, an ideal body condition score (BCS) typically falls somewhere between 4 and 6 on the Henneke Body Condition Scoring System.
💠 An actively racing Thoroughbred or hard working and competing Australian Stock Horse would be considered an optimal BCS if they sat around 4-5/9.
💠 A Shetland Pony or Quarter Horse who engages in Pony Club or weekend trail riding would be considered optimal for their breed if they sat around 5-6/9.
💠 Foals, weanlings, and yearlings of any breed are safest if kept at a BCS of 4-5 to prevent unnecessary strain on their developing bones and joints. A serious welfare issue is seeing weanlings or yearlings at a BCS of 6-7/9 and their owners parading them around for being "chunky" and "round" not knowing how much increased risk there is of these horses maturing with developmental diseases such as OCD.
💠 Contrary to what many feel, I believe it is safer and less damaging to have a horse sit at 3-4/9 than it is to have a horse sit at 7-8/9. Choosing to do nothing about an obviously overweight horse is just as much of a welfare and health problem as it is to have a malnourished horse left unattended.
🐴 A glimpse of ribs is an unfair and unreasonable means of determining whether a horse is underweight or not. Ribs that are slightly visible or easily palpable should make most horse owners feel good about their horse's condition. Remember, fat does not equate to muscle, so if your horse is lacking topline or hindquarter 'coverage,' it does not necessarily mean they need to gain weight, it might just mean they need to develop muscle mass with improved or altered diet, exercise, body work, and even hoof care.
