When we last left Dancer, she had been weighed on our weigh bridge and with a weigh tape - both of which gave us records that we can now use as a comparison to track Dancer’s progress in future weigh in’s. But now, it’s time to get hands on and feel what Dancer’s fat score is.
Looks can be deceiving!
It is important to physically assess your horse and feel for their overall fat covering. Fat scoring your horse every two weeks will help you monitor their weight and determine any areas of concern regarding the amount of fat they are carrying. We are aiming for a healthy amount of coverage; too little or too much fat are both of a concern.
There are three key areas to consider; neck, body and hindquarters and you will need to get hands on to help you determine between muscle and fat. Fat will feel spongy whereas muscle is firmer. The exception is dangerous crest fat which can start to feel hard and become difficult to move from side to side.
When it came to fat scoring Dancer each key area scored a 5 out of 5, putting her at a very unhealthy weight. Watch the videos below to see how we came to this conclusion and follow our handy step by step tips for getting an accurate fat score for your horse, remember you are only feeling for fat!
There are four videos in this playlist that will help you understand how to fat score; Fat scoring explained, and then three further videos for different areas on the horse - Neck, Middle and Hind:
