How To: Body Condition Scoring
Body Condition Scoring (BCS) is an essential skill for all owners to know and perform regularly to maintain overall health and reduce metabolic risk. But not all horse owners are confident scoring their horse. In this article I’ll break down the key elements of a BCS so you have the tools to score your own horse.
How Do You Score?
Just like in humans, a horse’s body condition influences their health, reproductivity, and performance. A Body Condition Score tells you what kind of shape your horse is in and gives you a good idea of whether or not weight gain or loss is needed. The scoring system focuses on 6 critical areas of a horse’s body, examining palpable fat and visual appearance. These areas include:
Crest of the Neck
Withers
Crease Down Back
Trailhead
Ribs
Behind the Shoulder
You then rate your horse on a scale of 1 - 9 (1 = underweight and 9 = obese) in each category. By finding the average of these 6 numbers you will get a body condition score for your horse. If you’d like more information on the process, here is a great resource.
Pictures When Assessing a BCS
Most often, I’ve found owners are scoring their horse as well as sending pictures to an advisor who is reviewing their horse. Or, they are taking pictures for their own personal record throughout the year. How you take the photos for can impact the quality of the assessment and the historical information you have.
Here are my tips to get the best photos of your horse:
Stand your horse square in a halter with a neutral head position.
Have a photographer stand 10 feed back at the shoulder for your first image.
Take front, back, left and right side views of your horse.
If you need any help scoring your horse contact me! I’d be more than happy to help. More importantly, please reach out if you find any concerning results when scoring.
Concern Areas
As a general rule, if your horse is outside of the normal range of 5.0 - 6.5 on the 9 point scale, your horse needs a diet modification. The goal of this modification would be to either gain or loose enough wait to be at a healthy score in a period of three months.
If you’re looking for a further breakdown of each of the 9 categories, be sure to check this article out.