Additional Points About Body Condition
By Karen E. Davison, Purina Mills, Inc.
Body conditioning scoring is a great tool for evaluating the calorie intake of a horse. It provides a measure of body fat or condition. While a weight tape gives a good estimate of how much a horse weights, it doesn't tell you if that is the ideal weight for that individual. A tape could show that a horse weights 1000 pounds, but he could be 1000 pound horse that should weight 1200 pounds or he could be a 1000 pound horse that should weight 800 pounds. These are very different feeding situation. One horse needs more energy than recommended for a 1000 pound horse and the other situation would indicate that the horse should receive less energy than recommended for a 1000 pound horse. This is why the feeding recommendations on the feed bags are guidelines, but cannot replace the horse owner or manager in regards to determining feeding rates.
The ideal condition falls between a 5 and 7 score. The condition score 5 is the minimum score for any horse to be at his optimal performance, whether it is a performance horse, a broodmare or a growing horse. Determining condition scores accurately requires both visual appraisal and hands on to feel fat depth in various areas. To determine if a horse meets the minimum score of 5 requires visual appraisal only. If a horse's ribs cannot be seen, then he will be at least a score of 5. If his ribs can be seen, regardless of how big his belly is, he will be a score of 4.5 or lower. To determine whether he is a 5 or greater will require palpation of the rib area to determine the fat depth over the ribs. This is very important to make clear, because many horse owners will see a horse with a big belly, such as a broodmare and even some young horses, and think they are fat. If their ribs show, they are not fat and need some management of their feeding program to fill them in over the top-line and ribs without making the belly larger.
Performance horse owners, even some polo players who typically keep horses in a condition score of 3 to 4.5, are finding that their horses can have more stamina and recover from work or a performance better it they are a condition score of 5. Many race horse trainers are beginning to run their horses with a little more flesh. A horse can still be very fit and maintain a score of 5. These horses will have some body reserves for fuel to help them recover from intense or repetitive work. Cutting horse trainers are finding that some horses just run out of gas when they keep them thin. Therefore they look for a way to keep them in condition without getting them excitable. Strategy works well in this situation. A performance horse that is above a 6 or 7 condition score will have a difficult time in the summer in cooling off during and following a performance. In addition, they will be carrying too much weight which can stress joints and make a horse work harder during the performance.
Broodmares must be in a condition score of 5 or greater to be in optimal reproductive condition. Mares thinner than this, especially older mares, will cycle later in the year, require more cycles to get pregnant, and will be at a greater risk of losing the foal early in pregnancy. They can also have smaller, weaker foals. There is no problem for the mare to be overweight, either in foaling or getting in foal. However, there is not advantage for having the mare excessively fat. The key is to get a thin mare to gain weight and to keep a fatter mare from losing weight. A fat mare that begins to lose weight can present some problems similar to the thin mare.
Young growing horses need to be kept at a condition score around 5 or 6 as well. Youngsters that are thin are not reaching their genetic potential for growth and run the risk of very rapid gains (similar to compensatory gains in cattle) if their plane of nutrition is improved. This can lead to contracted tendons and other bone and joint problems. The foals are also not putting down the muscle or bone that they should. Foals that are too fat are putting excess strain on young bones and joints, which is also a risk factor. Young horses fed to maintain a condition score of 5 or 6 are growing well without being too excessive.
Body condition is an important management tool for all lifestyles of horses. The point needs to be made, however, that there are many ways to feed a horse to keep him fat. Just because he is fat doesn't mean he is healthy. The calories must be accompanied with quality protein, vitamins and minerals in a well-balanced feed to enable a horse to meet his full potential and increase longevity. Just as with people, we can eat a lot of feed that will keep cover out ribs, but it doesn't mean we are healthy or able to perform at high levels for an extended period of time. The older we get, the more important it becomes.
Description of Individual Condition Scores
(Score 1-9)
Poor: Animal extremely emaciated; spinous processes, ribs, tail-head, tuber coxae (hip joints) and ischia (lower pelvic bones) projecting prominently; bone structure of withers, shoulders, and neck easily noticeable; no fatty tissue can be felt.
Very Thin: Animal emaciated; slight fat covering over base of spinous processes; transverse processes of lumber vertebrae fee; rpimded; spinous processes, ribs, tailhead, tuber cozae (hip joints) and ischia (lower pelvic bones) prominent; withers, shoulders, and neck structure faintly discernible.
Thin: Fat buildup about halfway on spinous processes; transverse processes cannot be felt; slight fat cover over ribs; spinous processes and ribs easily discernible; tail-head prominent, but individual vertebrae cannot be identified visually; tuber coxae (hip joints) appear rounded but easily discernible; tuber ischia (lower pelvic bones) not distinguishable; withers, shoulders and neck accentuated.
Moderately Thin: Slight ridge along back; faint outline of ribs discernible; tail-head prominence depends on conformation, fat can be felt around it; tuber coxae (hip joints) not discernible; withers, shoulders and neck not obviously thin.
Moderate: Back is flat (no crease or ridge); ribs not visually distinguishable, but easily felt; fat around tail-head beginning to feel spongy; withers appear rounded over spinous processes; shoulders and neck blend smoothly into body.
Moderately Fleshy: May have slight crease down back; fat over ribs spongy; fat around tail-head soft; fat beginning to be deposited along the side of withers, behind shoulders, and along sides of neck.
Fleshy: May have crease down back; individual ribs can be felt, but noticeable filling between ribs with fat; fat around tail-head soft; fat deposited along withers, behind shoulders and along neck.
Fat: Crease down back; difficult to feel ribs; fat around tail-head very soft; area along withers filled with fat; area behind shoulder filled with fat; noticeable thickening of neck; fat deposited along inner thighs.
Extremely Fat: Obvious crease down back; patchy fat appearing over ribs; bulging fat around tail-head, along withers, behind shoulders, and along neck; fat along inner thighs may rub together; flank filled with fat.
