Introduction to Nutrition Flashcards
What determines how much a horse should be fed?
bodyweight
can get wrong very easily
What are the methods of weight estimation?
Measuring the horse
Weighbridge (WB)
Weightape (WT)
Equations
Weight guide
Nomograms
What is heart girth?
measurement in cm around the horses heart girth (over the withers and close behind his elbows)
What is length?
measurement in cm from the point of shoulder to the point of shoulder to the point of his buttock
What is the formula to approx weight?
(HGxHGxL)divided by 11877=————-kg
What are the advantages and disadvantages of weigh tapes?
Advantages simple cost effective < 75'' long monitoring weight gain and loss
Disadvantages not long enough high withers pregnant mares measure as horse exhales
What is the first method of nomograms?
calculate weight from height and condition store
What is the second method of nomograms?
relates to girth length
What is condition scoring?
Assessment of subcutaneous body fat
Not Visceral
Applying a numeric value
Objective/subjective system of evaluating the horse’s level of body condition
Evaluation of amount of stored fat
What is body conditioning scoring?
Can evaluate condition by assessing the amount of fat a horse is carrying, not their muscle tone, coat condition, etc.
Applicable to all horses
5-point system in UK (Carroll and Huntington, 1988)
USA still use 9 point system designed by Henneke et al. (1983)
Ideal score is 2-3 depending on WL
Horses are designed to lose weight over the winter months so that they can safely gain weight from spring grass, therefore fluctuation is expected.
What is body condition affected by?
Food availability
Performance or work activities
Reproductive activities
Weather
Reproductive activities
Dentition
Feeding practices
Parasites
What will body condition affect?
Performance ability
Work function
May be reproductive
Health status
Endocrine status
Desired level?
Activity dependent
Vary between horses
What are the benefits of body condition scoring?
Assessment involves palpation and visual evaluation of the amount of fat in various areas of horse
A standard scoring system that reduces the need to subjectively describe how much condition a horse has
Independent of a horse’s breed, muscling, fitness, conformation, age, gut fill, etc.
Is an assessment ONLY of the amount of fat covering certain skeletal landmarks on the body
Helps better determine the overall condition of the horse as an adjunct to weighing the horse
How do you body score?
Horses store fat over their skeleton
Horses are individuals and store excess fat differently. therefore divide the horse into 3 areas:-
neck and shoulder
back and ribs
HQ
Score each separately, add up and divide by 3 to obtain the mean
Take into account:
Furry, winter coat
Dirt or lighting
Stance
Compare both sides
How does body score relate to reproductive systems?
Mare’s BCS < 1.5 (0-5 method) Delayed onset of first ovulation 2-3 cycles to get in foal 20% reduction in fertility Greater incidence of embryonic death
Obese mares display similar problems
Ideally breeding mare’s BCS = 3
