[sublimequine]

Here's a photo:

http://imageshack.us/f/339/joyfat3.jpg/

What would you rate her at on the Henneke scale? Do you think she needs to lose more weight? She's a 15hh breeding stock Paint, 15 yrs old, and she's IR.

Her diet consists of:

- Tim/orchard mix hay twice daily, probably about 10lb per meal. So 20 lb daily.

- Handful Calf Manna, switching to Safe Choice Special Care within a week or two.

- Remission, Selenium/Vit E, Source Focus HF.

- A bit of scrubby grass in her mostly dry pasture.

- A sugarfree treat here and there, no more than one or two every few days.

She was on lush pasture... and got quite fat. Changed barns, the dry lot/scrubby pasture she's in now is really helping.

[Beethoven]

Its hard to body score them from a picture, but I think she could still loose some weight. Looks very cresty and has fat pads on her.

[sublimequine]

Its hard to body score them from a picture, but I think she could still loose some weight. Looks very cresty and has fat pads on her.

Thanks for the input! It must be her mane, because I will say she's actually not cresty IRL. The vet even mentioned that.

I'm hoping this winter she will continue to lose weight and hit her ideal.

[baylady7]

I would say six due to fat pads

[sublimequine]

Can you guys kind of explain to me how/where you are seeing fat pads? I'm not questioning it, I've just never been very good at gauging a horse's weight, especially when they're overweight vs underweight.

[JB]

I'd say 5-6 based on the picture.

You need to put your hands on her to feel ribs. If you can't find them, then she's pushing at least a 7. If you can find them with a little digging, maybe she's a 6.

It's a bit hard to judge her neck since she's turned towards the camera. I can see how it looks like she's got a cresty neck, but I honestly don't think she does - I think she's gifted with a rounder top neck.

How much does she weigh now? 20lb sounds like maybe a bit too much for her. How long has she been in this new situation? If only a few months, she may still be trimming down and maybe 20lb is good for her and her weight will drop a bit more and she'll stabilize.

Being IR, I'd like to see her looking a bit leaner - low 5 at the most.

[sublimequine]

She's been at the new barn about 2 months now. I can feel ribs but I do have to press slightly. Not jab my fingers into her side to seperate the fattyness (LOL!), but press a little.

Here's a pic showing her neck better... excuse the mud!

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/7412/joyfat4.jpg

That photo above was taken just yesterday, so very recent.

And for comparison, here she was at her fattest, I'd say this was around April or May:

http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/6516/joyfattest.jpg

[sublimequine]

Oh, and sorry but not sure how much she weighs now. I don't even bother with the weight tape as it underestimates her weight by usually at least 100lbs!

[deltawave]

6.5

Fat pads in front of the shoulder/withers area. Big fat tummy.

But my "eye" favors lean and even *very* slightly ribby as a preference. Neither right nor wrong, just how one prefers a horse to be.

[Tom Bloomer]

Just from that picture and not putting hands on the horse a guess at 6+ - maybe 7 if there's a slight hollow instead of flat across the top of the spine at mid saddle and/or puffy around tail dock.

[skippy60]

Pshh my horses are all tubby little things so im not going to try...

[grayarabpony]

She looks like she needs to lose more weight and do more work. Based on the pics I'd give her a score of 7.

[S1969]

From the picture I'd say 6. It's really hard to say by one or two pictures, without putting your hands on the horse.

Every area on the Henneke scale is supposed to be scored independently, and then averaged. So I don't see a 7 here but I could be wrong. It's hard for me to judge withers/shoulders here without a feel. She might also be easier to judge maybe with a number of other pictures, e.g. butt shot straight on to see if there is a positive crease over loins...

"Big fat tummy" is not one of the areas that is scored by Henneke. Nor is it specifically related to perceived fitness....

Should be neck, withers, shoulder, ribs, loin, & tailhead....

[Katy Watts]

Your question is moot. As per Dr. Henneke, his system only works on metabolically normal horses. With IR horses, you need to focus on those areas that collect abnormal fat deposits: tail head, neck, udder/sheath, shoulder. Not all IR horse have fat deposits in the same place.

It is best to keep IR horses on the lean side, with a bit of rib showing. Several PhD's in equine nutrition say that this is good condition for an IR horse:
http://www.safergrass.org/pdf/fithorses.pdf

As per measurements developed by EMS researchers, the first horse has a cresty neck.

And yes, your friends who show will say they are too thin.

I think your horse could stand to lose some weight.

[Sansena]

OP: You realize your photo link tries to put malware on your computer, right??

Thanks for that.

[sublimequine]

OP: You realize your photo link tries to put malware on your computer, right??

Thanks for that.

Because it's obviously my fault, right?

Don't have any malware problems on my computer, clicking the link or not. Cannot say about yours, sorry.

Thanks for all of the input folks! I'm giving it all a good read and consideration.

[sublimequine]

Your question is moot. As per Dr. Henneke, his system only works on metabolically normal horses. With IR horses, you need to focus on those areas that collect abnormal fat deposits: tail head, neck, udder/sheath, shoulder. Not all IR horse have fat deposits in the same place.

It is best to keep IR horses on the lean side, with a bit of rib showing. Several PhD's in equine nutrition say that this is good condition for an IR horse:
http://www.safergrass.org/pdf/fithorses.pdf

As per measurements developed by EMS researchers, the first horse has a cresty neck.

And yes, your friends who show will say they are too thin.

I think your horse could stand to lose some weight.

I didn't realize the Henneke scale didn't pertain to IR horses, it makes sense though. Good to know!

I agree, she does need to lose more weight. We're getting there.