Body Condition Scoring of Horses

Henneke Body Condition Scoring System

Holstein_CorradoThere are two scoring systems that can be used to determine the body condition score of your horse. The following scoring system is generally more preferred by veterinarians and equine nutritionists.

To evaluate your horse’s body condition, veterinarians and equine nutritionists, use a standard system of checks, developed by Don Henneke, PhD, whose illustration and chart originally appeared in the Equine Veterinary Journal in 1983.

The system involves massaging and scoring six main parts of the horse’s body – neck, withers, shoulder, ribs, loin, and tailhead – on a scale of 1 to 9 for their fat/muscle content.

Score Condition  
1 Poor Extremely emaciated; no fatty tissue; vertebrae, ribs, tail head, and bones of withers, shoulder, and neck are visible
2 Very Thin Emaciated; slight tissue cover over bones; vertebrae, ribs, tail head, and bones of withers, shoulder, and neck are visible
3 Thin Slight fat cover over body; individual vertebrae and ribs no longer visibly discernible; withers, shoulders, and neck do not appear overly thin
4 Moderately Thin Ridge of spine and outline of ribs are visible; tail head may or may not be visible depending on the breed; withers, shoulders, and neck do not appear overly thin
5 Moderate Spine and ribs cannot be seen however ribs can be felt; tail head is spongy; withers, shoulders, and neck are rounded and smooth
6 Moderately Fleshy Slight crease down spine; ribs and tail head feel spongy; fat deposits along withers and neck and behind shoulders
7 Fleshy Crease down spine; ribs have fat filling between them; tail head spongy; fat deposits along withers and neck and behind shoulders
8 Fat Apparent crease down spine; ribs difficult to feel; soft fat surrounding tail head; fat deposits along withers, behind shoulders, and on inner thighs; neck is large
9 Extremely Fat Obvious crease down spine; patchy fat on ribs; bulging fat on tail head, withers, behind shoulders, and on neck; fat fills in flank and on inner thighs

To get your horse’s body condition score you record on the body condition scoring sheet the scores of each of these areas separate (you can have 0.5 scores). Once you recorded all scores you average the scores to get your final body condition score.

HennekeBSC

Main points checked in Henneke Scoring System:

  1. Neck
  2. Withers
  3. Shoulder
  4. Ribs
  5. Loin
  6. Tailhead

DOWNLOAD FACT-SHEET HERE: ” How to score the body condition of your horse”

Henneke, D., Potter, G.D., Kreider, J.L. & Yeated, B.F. 1983.Relationship between condition score, physical measurements and body fat percentage in mares. Equine Veterinary Journal 15 (4); 371-372.

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