**This is the first part of a longer blog series about Horse weight and why we need one every year on our equine friends.**

So many critical aspects of horse care rely on weight. Without an estimate or actual weight, you could be way off on many things.

There are 2 main ways to get a weight – or at least an estimate.

The first is if your vet actually has a scale that you can weigh your horse on, this is the best it gives you an actual weight – unless you have a monster who maxs out the scale.

The second involves math and a FABRIC measuring tape – similar to a sewing tape or even a rope that you can use a measuring tape to measure will work. We have one of these tapes available at most feed stores or even online – you can get one on amazon for less than $10 sometimes a feed representative will even have some they give away for advertising purposes.

You then use the tape to obtain the following 2 measurements – Body Length (measure similar to how you would for a blanket but you don’t go around the curves) and Heart Girth (follow the path of the girth from where you would measure the height of the horse). For the UMN formula you also need to know how tall your horse is in inches.

Once those measurements are obtained we can ESTIMATE weight. Most formulas FOR POUNDS on a fully mature horse are Heart Girth x Heart Girth x Body Length / 300 = Body Weight in LBS from that number you can divide by 2.2 to get to the KG number. Some formulas use 330 instead of 300, even at the college education level, the University of Minnesota horse program has a couple breed/body type specific formulas located here

Various formulas can result in a wide range of weights, as shown with the 6 horses in our care.

Weights are an important aspect of care for horses, they allow the evaluation of feed programs as well as proper dosing of medications.

BCS – Body Condition Score and how it affects weight.

Saracen Horse Feeds has great pics on scoring with practical real life comparisons – article

There are approximately 100 pounds between each BCS number; MADBARN has a great photo scale; below the table shown below in their article. [MadBarn Photo Scale]