Body Condition Scoring

Jan 27

Written By Rachel Mottet

1/27/21

“I have a game for you!”

I photographed the horses pictured and gave them each a body condition score. My challenge to you is to identify the leanest to fleshiest and rank them in order!

Each image has a number in the upper left hand corner.

Drop in the comments your guess. For example you could put in: 61342 if you think 6 has the lowest body condition score and 2 has the highest body condition score, with the middle numbers being scores in between.

This is way harder than it sounds... but give it a try! I'll reveal the answers at the end of the day! Good luck!

Alright... SPOILER ALERT... the results are below!

Before I post the results, did you know notice this exercise was difficult? You should be saying YES! Especially because 4 of the 6 horses are within 1 score of each other. 🙂 While their body types are quite different, remember this is a cumulative measure of subcutaneous fat in the 5 key areas I've taught you about (see zoom webinar if you're not sure what I'm referring to), and these areas MUST be palpated to get a true assessment of fat.

However... I am very proud of the individuals who participated! Many of you have a great ability to spot some of the physical signs that gave you clues about how to rank these horses! Just remember... pictures can be deceiving and they don't tell us the full story. So if you need a true assessment, make sure you're doing this on a living, breathing horse in person, not just a picture. But again, thanks for playing this! You guys are pretty good!!

Here goes, from lowest score to highest...

3, 2, 6, 1=5, 4

Below are their actual scores...

3 - Body condition score (BCS): 4

2 - BCS: 5.5 - Don't let his withers or thoroughbred rump fool you! He is in PERFECT condition for his discipline of 3 day eventing and he's running prelim this weekend. Good luck Chai and Tasha! Also, you may see what looks like ripples over the ribs in one spot. They're not actual rib ripples, small fat ripples just from how he's standing. He's not ribby at all. 🙂

6 - BCS: 6

1 - BCS: 6.5 - This guy is an easy keeper! While it isn't so obvious, he's holding onto fat over his ribs, behind the shoulder and around the tailhead. So he's at the upper end of ideal. I need to keep an eye on him to make sure he stays in healthy condition!

5 - BCS: 6.5 - Are you surprised that he's the same score as the paint? While this horse looks fleshy, he is pretty solid with muscle when palpated. His short strong back makes him appear more round and fleshier than he actually is. Although, I can't ignore some fat deposition along the neck, rump and a bit of squish over the ribs, so his score is a 6.5

4 - BCS: 7

#7 is the epitome of perfection. He doesn't even need a score, he's in a league of his own. 🥰

How did you do?