I condition scored Ale

MrA

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Feb 8, 2012
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I watched a number of videos last night and felt I understood it a bit more so gave him the once over this morning.

I would say he's a 3.5 touching 4 in some places but he's out of work so very hard to keep weight down. Luckily we do not have much grass as he will not keep a muzzle on!

Neck. I would say this is a 3-3.5. He has very little crest and his shoulder is fairly well defined.

Belly 3.5. I can feel his ribs quite easily and he's still fluffy which doesn't help! He has a small fat pad behind his shoulder but it's not massive (would still rather it wasn't there!) His back is definitely not flat.

Bum. Hmm a 3.5 possibly 4. I can easily feel his hip area but he does have a gutter, however I think this is characteristic of the breed.

Anyway I am hoping the grass doesn't grow too much and I can get him down to a 3 even though he's not in work. I really want to find a yard where I can restrict his grazing because he gets fat on such little grass!

And a terrible picture, any thoughts? Have you condition scored? What did you come out with? IMAG0632_1_1.jpg
I wish he would wear a muzzle as would really help.
 
The way I was taught to do it was score each area individually, then add them all up and divide the total by the number of areas scored which is normally 6-8 (from memory) and you either do it on a 0-5 system with 3 being ideal, or the more accurate 1-9 system with 5 being ideal.

So for jess she has a hint of a crest above the nuchal ligament so I would probably call that a 5.5, her neck/shoulder is well defined so a 5, her wither and spine are defined 5, her ribs are felt but not visible so a 6, she has some fat behind her shoulder 6.5, she has a fatty tail head & hint of a gully so a 7. So 5.5+5+5+6+6.5+7=35/6= 5.83, so a little above the perfect 5 but not a whole point above :D Notice a BSC never counts the tummy as a pointof interest, the size of the tummy varies depending on the time of day and what they have been eating (fibre generally gives a bigger belly as it is digested in the hind gut)
 
@Ale I think he is looking really well. At the moment I think my Marley is looking fat and Rummy too thin :rolleyes:, I have them both turned out on a scrubby area, so no rich grass, lots of weeds..the sheep are happily eating down the other paddocks before I move my boys on to it..not much more i can do..I am hopeless at condition scoring, here is a couple of pics from yesterday and the last one shows the scrubby area that i have them on..
22.05.16.2.jpg 22.05.16.1.jpg 22.05.16..3.jpg 22.05.16.2.jpg 22.05.16.1.jpg 22.05.16..3.jpg
 
The way I was taught to do it was score each area individually, then add them all up and divide the total by the number of areas scored which is normally 6-8 (from memory) and you either do it on a 0-5 system with 3 being ideal, or the more accurate 1-9 system with 5 being ideal.

So for jess she has a hint of a crest above the nuchal ligament so I would probably call that a 5.5, her neck/shoulder is well defined so a 5, her wither and spine are defined 5, her ribs are felt but not visible so a 6, she has some fat behind her shoulder 6.5, she has a fatty tail head & hint of a gully so a 7. So 5.5+5+5+6+6.5+7=35/6= 5.83, so a little above the perfect 5 but not a whole point above :D Notice a BSC never counts the tummy as a pointof interest, the size of the tummy varies depending on the time of day and what they have been eating (fibre generally gives a bigger belly as it is digested in the hind gut)


Very interesting thank you. I did not know about the way you have scored Jess, that seems far more accurate. I will have to give it a try on Ale

I get a bit disheartened as Ale comes in with a bit of a belly but I realise now that's not the thing to worry about, the fat pad behind his shoulder is! However I did hear them say that crest fat was the worst type of fat on a horse and he has very little thankfully.

Have just bought him a muzzle for if the grass gets any richer (if he will keep it on!!)
 
@Ale I think he is looking really well. At the moment I think my Marley is looking fat and Rummy too thin :rolleyes:, I have them both turned out on a scrubby area, so no rich grass, lots of weeds..the sheep are happily eating down the other paddocks before I move my boys on to it..not much more i can do..I am hopeless at condition scoring, here is a couple of pics from yesterday and the last one shows the scrubby area that i have them on..
View attachment 82179 View attachment 82180 View attachment 82181 View attachment 82179 View attachment 82180 View attachment 82181


He doesn't look fat to me! Their field looks great. Luckily ours is sparse currently but I'm worried about the rested stuff !!
 
When I had the first round of shots 3 weeks ago the vet said Sonny was a 6 and too fat.
I thought he looked great hes a QH not a TB :D:D:D:D
She said no Andi is ok but Hes too fat!! HMMM I think Sonny crossed her of his Christmas card list:mad:

I have been trying to cut down a little on his hay - he does not get grain! and have cut back a bit on the
Oil i give him for his coat.

She is back tomorrow for the bal of shots - teeth floating and sheath cleaning. I hope she can see a difference:rolleyes:
 
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Very interesting thank you. I did not know about the way you have scored Jess, that seems far more accurate. I will have to give it a try on Ale

I get a bit disheartened as Ale comes in with a bit of a belly but I realise now that's not the thing to worry about, the fat pad behind his shoulder is! However I did hear them say that crest fat was the worst type of fat on a horse and he has very little thankfully.

Have just bought him a muzzle for if the grass gets any richer (if he will keep it on!!)

Don't worry about grass belly and you are correct, crest fat is the worst, even more so if it goes hard, I am on constant alert just now as we have had three go down with Lammi in the last two weeks at our yard, given that there are only 8 horses here and one of those hasn't ever had lammi before Im checking Belle twice a day just now. She also has that stuborn pad of fat behind her shoulder and a little apple bottom, although she still had those when she was what I thought of as skinny! You could see her ribs easily, not just feel them but those two places just wouldn't shift!
 
My horse is now coming off the grass for 12 hours per day and being ridden for twice a day. He hasn't gained any weight on the weight tape, but he has fat pads behind his shoulder which I really don't like. None of the horses on our yard have laminitis but I am so worried about Ben getting it. He would condition score as a 4 at the moment I think.
 
Ours are all condition scored formally by the inspecting vet as part of of our RS licencing.On a scale of 0-5 he expects them to come out at 3-3.5 and asks for explanations, corrective plans for anyone outside that range. Bearing mind this is in December this means ponies going into winter at 3.5-4 and coming into spring at 2.5-3 as we like them to bulk up over summer so they can winter out as much as possible and change naturally with the seasonal grazing
 
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Bearing mind this is in December this means ponies going into winter at 3.5-4 and coming into spring at 2.5-3 as we like them to bulk up over summer so they can winter out as much as possible and change naturally with the seasonal grazing

That's what I try to do with mine as they live out all year. Ziggy's probably 3.5 at the moment so I have to be careful that he doesn't put any more on. Mattie is still probably just under 3 (visible ribs) so he is getting extra grass and will do for the whole summer if he needs it.

I don't know what I would do without our track.
 
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