Evaluating Weight and Body Conditions

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From the course by University of California, Davis

Equine Welfare and Management

1 оценка

University of California, Davis

Equine Welfare and Management

1 оценка

This unique course was developed by veterinarians at the world-renowned University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. The course will address horsemanship from a welfare perspective, within the context of “The Five Freedoms” of animal welfare. We’ll explore equine physiology, behavior and basic needs including housing, nutrition, hygiene and disease management. You’ll learn how to perform basic tasks to assess the overall condition of the horse and identify problem areas. We’ll also examine the specialized needs of the equine athlete and the major responsibilities we as owners, handlers or competitors must assume in order to ensure the health and welfare of our equine companions. Finally, we’ll look several special topics in equine welfare including disaster planning and the international welfare efforts now in place to protect working horses and other equids in key industries such as racing, international competition, tourism and even mining. By the conclusion of the course, you will be well equipped to develop a comprehensive welfare plan for any horses in your care.

From the lesson

The Normal Horse: Basic Physiology

In this module, you will be able to identify the parameters of normal health in a horse. You will be able to measure a horse’s vital signs, including temperature, pulse, and capillary refill time, or CRT. You will be able recognize ranges of what are considered normal vital signs for the species, breed and individual horse. You will be able to monitor these normals over time to detect changes and alert a veterinarian to a problem.

Introduction to the Normal Horse0:59

Recognizing a Normal, Healthy Horse2:39

Assessing Key Vital Signs8:37

Evaluating Weight and Body Conditions7:10

Recognizing Variations Among Breeds5:03

Basic Equine Anatomy and Terminology6:52

Natural and Acquired Locomotion and Gaits6:48

Hoof Physiology7:34

The Musculoskeletal System7:34

The Vision and Nervous System10:51

Meet the Instructors

Claudia Sonder, DVM
Emeriti Director of Equine Outreach
Center for Equine Health

Welcome back to our discussion of the normal horse.

In this lesson, we'll take a look at weight and body condition,.

By the end of the lesson, you'll be able to recognize over and

underweight horses and you will be able to take proper

measurements to assess weight and body condition.

It's important to remember that weight and body condition vary with breed,

size, confirmation and age.

For any horse in your care, it's important to know the baseline for each individual

horse and to monitor him over time, watching for changes up or down.

Weight and body condition are a reflection of the balance between proper food intake,

active digestion, and appropriate exercise, as well as overall health.

These values should be monitored over time, so

you can detect changes that alert us to a potential problem.

Again, knowing what the baseline normal is for

an individual horse is key to optimizing in his health and welfare.

Since most people don't have access to a livestock scale,

you can still estimate the horse's weight using a simple girth tape,

which can be purchased at your local feed store or through your veterinarian.

This tape has lines with increasing weight in pounds or

kilograms, just like a ruler has inch marks.

To estimates a horse's weight,

place the tape over the top of the withers and behind the elbow.

This is known as the heart girth.

Circle the entire chest of the horse, the way a saddle and

girth go all the way around.

This measurement will tell you an approximate weight

which you should record.

As you continue to monitor weight over time,

remember to be consistent with the placement of the tape.

Another method of estimating weight is a simple math formula

using two body measurements taken with a regular soft tape measure.

First, we measure hearth girth, which is a measure,

in inches, all the way around the torso, over the withers, and behind the elbow.

Second, we measure body length, which is a measure in inches from the point of

the shoulder front to the protrusion of the hip, or point of the hip.

Okay, now here is the formula to plug those numbers into.

The horse's weight is going to be equal to the heart girth squared times body length,

and then that number divided by 330.

For example, if the horse's heart girth is 73 and

body length is 69, in inches, you should get

an estimated weight of 1,114 pounds.

Just as with the way tape measurements, the answer is not so

much about one point in time, but consistent methods and

watching the trend of stable weight or gain or loss.

By the way, the heart girth and

body length are measurements use to size girths, saddles, and blankets.

Now, let's discuss body condition which can be more difficult to assess.

Assessing a body condition score or BCS can be subjective, but

there are specific BCS chart guidelines that are based on the amount of visible

and palpable cover of fat at six specific body points on the horse.

The neck, shoulder, ribs, withers, back and tail head.

There are numerical score ranges assigned to each category.

Including ideal, thin and overweight, which makes it

easy to follow body condition score over time, just like weight.

Body condition score is a visual and palpable score.

>> When we make a body condition assessment of a horse,

it's not just a visual assessment.

We do need to put our hands on them to feel for

the areas of fat distribution over the body.

We usually start just over the crest of the neck and we will work our way down,

feel over the shoulder, along the rib cage, along the back, over the tail head.

And we will decide how much fat we palpate in those areas.

A great place to start with body condition is to look at the rib cage and

determine how much fat is over the rib cage.

Ideally, you want to horse somewhere in the area of body condition score five

where you cannot see their ribs, but

you can palpate the ribs just under a small amount of fat.

>> Now, let's look at a thin horse.

A thin horse will have visible ribs and

they will be easily felt underlying the skin.

In a thin horse, you will see a sunken appearance of the back muscles

with a prominent tail head and hip bones.

There's also an abrupt transition between the neck and the body,

and the shoulder and the body with noticeable bone structure in a thin horse.

On the other hand, an overweight horse will have a thick cover of fat

over the ribs, which you may not be able to feel.

And overweight horse will also have an overall thick appearance of the neck and

a rounded top edge of the neck along the mane, known as the crest.

An overweight horse will have spongy layers of fat over the ribs and

rump, which may appear as lumps.

Before we live the topic of body condition,

we should add a special note about older horses.

As horses age they lose muscle mass much like elderly humans.

It is not unusual for an aged horse to have a prominent wither and tail head.

In older horses, this thin appearance should not be confused with weight loss.

Carefully consider the age of the horse and

his scores over time when assessing body condition.

Seek veterinary advice to help you determine the reasons for

a horses appearance that do not fit into the ideal category,

or if he is showing rapid changes in body type.

In the next lesson, we'll take a look at some of the major breeds and

how breed can account for wide variations in condition, care and characteristics.

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