Ep. 38: Body Weight, Condition Scoring and Equine Nutrition

Scoop & Scale: An Equine Podcast (Mostly) About Nutrition

Body condition scoring is an objective technique used to determine whether a horse is in optimal condition or not. When a horse's body condition is less than or more than optimal it suggests that the dietary calorie intake needs to be adjusted. Once you know if your horse's condition is optimal, knowing its weight is important so that you can determine how to feed commercial feeds and supplements correctly. Various methods exist for estimating body weight when a scale is not available. But how accurate are these methods, and how do we know if this weight is actually a good one or not? In this episode we talk about:

• Why guessing your horse's weight is not a good idea
• How to use a weight tape and whether they are accurate
• Body weight calculations and whether they are better than weight tapes
• What condition scoring is and how to do it
• How to use body condition to determine whether your horse's current weight is ideal
• Considerations around breed, conformation and discipline when determining ideal body condition

For instructions on body condition scoring click HERE
For a video on body condition scoring click HERE
For a video on how to take weight measurements click HERE

Do you have questions about feeding your horse? Contact us at [e-mail]

Thanks for riding along with us!