Body Condition Scoring

2/11/2016

Body condition scoring (BCS), or fat scoring, is a method of assessing the amount of fat a horse is carrying, and can help owners recognize whether their horse is over or under weight. It should be carried out regularly, ideally every 2 weeks, so that weight gain or loss can be acted upon appropriately.

There are two systems in use:

The 9 point system, developed by Dr Henneke. 6 parts of the body - neck, withers, shoulders, ribs, loins and tailhead - are given a score from 1 to 9, with a body condition score of 5 being considered ideal for leisure/riding horses, and a BCS over 7 indicating obesity.

The 5 or 6 point system, which divides the horse into 3 sections - neck/shoulder, back/ribs and bottom, and gives each section a score between 0 and 5, where 0 = emaciated, 1 = poor, 2 = moderate, 3 = good, 4 = fat and 5 = obese.

Both systems are based on visually assessing the horse and feeling for fat deposits/bones.

9 point system

Test your knowledge of body condition scoring - Coursera Equine Nutrition

Body Condition Scoring System - Benefits for Horses and Owners - Mississippi State University Extension

Equine Body Condition Score poster - www.thehorse.come Aug 2014

Body Condition Scores - The Henneke System - Robin Easley - photo examples of all body conditions scores

In this video from Spillers/Horse&Rider Essentials two horses are body condition scored - the first has a BCS of 6.5/9, the second a BCS of 6/9.

6 point system

Body condition scoring and cresty neck scoring - CARE About Laminitis

How to Condition Score - British Horse Society

Fat Horse Slim - The Blue Cross

Is your horse the right weight? - World Horse Welfare

This video (below) by Dr Teresa Hollands - as shown in the October 2013 The Laminitis Revolution 2 webinar - shows how to body condition score your horse, using the modified 0-5 point scoring system. Horses that are too thin, too fat and just right are used to demonstrate how to assess BCS, including a typical underweight PPID horse and a typical overweight EMS/PPID pony.

The body should be divided into 3 sections: neck, middle and bottom, and each section scored separately by feeling for fat over the skeleton. 3 is the perfect score. Body condition scoring should be carried out ideally every 2 weeks on all horses, and the results recorded.

Neck - there shouldn't be any fat or crest above the nuchal ligament - there is no muscle above the nuchal ligament, anything felt here is fat, not top line. A large crest will score 4 or more, bulges and corregation in the crest will probably score 5.
The shoulder blade should be well defined - if you run your hand down the side of the neck, it should come to a stop at the shoulder blade.

Middle - you should be able to feel the ribs, like feeling stair banisters through a velvet curtain, but hardly see them. If you can neither see nor feel the ribs, that scores 4 or more.
If you place your hand over the backbone, it should form a nice curve - a triangle is too thin, flat is too fat.

Bottom - you should be able to feel just feel the top of the pelvis, the hip bone and the tail bone. If you can't see or feel these bones, that scores 4 or more.

Research has shown that if a horse is overweight, for the all fat that is visible or can be palpated under the skin, there is probably the same amount inside the horse that can't be seen, wrapped around the organs and killing the horse from the inside.

In summary, if you can feel AND see bones, the horse is too thin.
If you can neither feel nor see bones, the horse is too fat.
If you can feel but not see bones, the horse is just right.

In this video from World Horse Welfare, a native pony is assessed and found to have a body condition score of 4.5/5, meaning he is on his way from fat to obese.