Is My Horse Fat? Estimating Body Weight in Adult Horses

Summary

Determining a horse’s body weight is important for weight and feeding management and administration of medication. A livestock scale provides accurate measurement of body weight; however, few owners have access to a scale. This presentation will focus on methods horse owners can use to estimate body weight in adult horses, including newly developed equations that estimate ideal body weight and body weight index to assess the likelihood that a horse is over- or under-weight. New tools will also be highlighted including the Healthy Horse App, developed for iPhones and iPads.

Presenter Details

Dr. Martinson received her BS from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and her Masters and PhD from the University of Minnesota. She has worked for the University of Minnesota since 2001, and is currently the Equine Extension Specialist in the Animal Science Department. Her specializations include pasture management, weed control, poisonous plants, and forage utilization and her research focuses on optimizing equine forage utilization.

Watch the recorded webcast below!