Is My Horse Obese and Should I Be Worried About It?

differences in regional fat deposition. The individual scores for observation and palpations are then added up and divided by six to give the final overall score for the animal.
The final scale ranges from 19 with 1 defined as poor and 9 as extremely fat. Both a severely underweight defined as a BCS of 3 or less or obese defined as a BCS of 7 or more out of 9 result are associated with a higher risk of health problems.
As a guide for leisure horses and ponies Dr. Harris recommends a BCS of 5 tending to 6 towards the end of summer and around 5 tending to 4 5 at the end of winter. It is important for all horse owners to learn to carry out a BCS effectively so that horses at risk can be identified as soon as possible and appropriate changes in nutrition and management can be put in place andor veterinary and nutritional advice sought.
Dr. Harris says that BCS scoring is only a part of weight management. Especially for some of the more obese animals and at least initially during a weight management programme it is really important to be aware that the body condition score may not actually reduce despite the horse losing weight most likely because at this stage they lose the invisible internal fat first rather than the external fat that we can palpate.
Therefore Dr. Harris always recommends regularly measuring and recording belly girth and rump width taking care the horse is fully comfortable with the procedure. In addition periodic and accurate body weight measurement preferably using a calibrated weighbridge at a local veterinary practice can be extremely helpful to ascertain early on if the management changes are having a positive effect. 
It can be very easy for some animals to gain weight and extremely difficult for them to lose weight especially when limited facilities are available. It is therefore really important that all involved help support the ownerfeeder in their efforts rather than perhaps making them feel guilty for continuing to have an overweight or obese animal says Dr. Harris.
Looking forward we are working hard to find ways to identify those animals that are more resistant to losing weight than others so that we can better advise on the optimal weight management programme for an individual animal.