Fat Horses are Prone to Dangerous Health Issues - By: SEO Bedford

Like humans, fat horses are seen as in ill health individuals and are prone to a series of health problems due to their extreme weight. Anybody has their own understanding of what equates overweight and in the equine world that is even more difficult to decide.

Several experts say that we are on the verge of an epidemic of obesity in the equine world because the mass of horse owners don't appraise or don't know how to determine if their are horses are obese or not.

Recent studies and statistics show that overweight horses are a growing issue and so are the physical issues related to it, like Laminitis, Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) and DOD (developmental orthopaedic disease).

To attend to this problem properly horse owners first need to know how to decide if their horses are overweight or not. Many commit the mistake of comparing with other animals in the yard. But with horses you need to apply an objective measure to your horse to tell if he is heavy or not.

Back in 1989 a semi objective measure of overweight was developed and published by equine publications worldwide to help owners determine if their animals were fat, obese or in good shape. This measuring method was called conditioning scoring. Recently this process has been modernized and renamed to "Fat Scoring" and it has been used by major Roadshows and Championships around the sphere.

This new procedure uses numbers from 0 to 5, where 0 is a skinny horse and 5 an obese horse. The model is to 2 or 3, 4 is considered fat.

What risks are posed to obese horses?

Overweight animals are prone to laminitis, equine metabolic syndrome and metabolic disorders that could lead to several diseases and gradual loss of vitality. Excessive weight can also affect the immune and reproductive systems, not to mention that has clear long term fitness consequences.

Horses are very similar to us humans when the subject is fitness. Just like a body builder a beefy show horse that looks fat is not fat at all because the bulk is muscle. Just like marathon runners, racehorses look lean and mean but in fact they have a fat score of 2 or 3 maximum.

When it comes down to determine if a horse is heavy each case should be addressed differently. Sometimes extra workout is not enough and you will need a feeding plan with specially arranged horse feeds.

About the Author

Horse Nutritionis specialised horse feeds for overweight horses and related diseases such as laminitis and equine metabolic syndrome

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/SEO-Bedford/43811

Additional Articles From - Home | Home & family | Pets