How to score your horse's body condition

16m 55secs
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Made by:Horse Hero

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Can you tell what condition a horse is in just by looking at him? Vet Claire Williams explains to Fiona Price how to create an objective assessment irrespective of your horse's age, breed and body muscle. Using a scale of 0-5 Claire demonstrates how to use your hands to assess a horse's body condition and what signs indicate too much or too little condition. Dividing the horse into three areas, Claire comes up with an overall score. She also shows how to use a weight tape. We then look at a horse in poor condition which is a sorry sight indeed! Packed with vital information, you will never again be in doubt as to the condition of your horse!

Comments

Horse Hero Guru 15 Mar 2010 TinkerBell, the exercises that I would use to build up the front end (by which I presume you mean the shoulders particularly) would be circles, shoulder-in, shoulder out, trotting poles – nothing different t usual, but always done so tat you are making sure he is carrying himself rather than leaning on your hand - the one muscle you don’t want to build up is the one under his neck which will come if he is resisting the bit.

TinkerBell 13 Mar 2010 A brilliant video! Claire has such a gift of explaining things plainly and understandably to non-medical people. What would be the excercise that Claire could recommend to muscle-up the "front-end" of the horse? Most of us are more often concerned with building up the power and muscle in the rear part. So I was wondering whether there is something special to bring the front part "in-line" with rear if the horse is a less conditioned in front than in the end?

ashwell 7 Mar 2010 Very informative and how to actually position the weigh tape was very useful.

hhhorse 3 Mar 2010 Very helpful! Not able to access such detail anywhere else but Horse Hero. Grateful thanks!

An American in Copenhagen 3 Mar 2010 That was really wonderful!