Beyond scoring systems: usefulness of morphometry considering demographic variables, to evaluate neck and overall obesity in Andalusian horses

Abstract

Morphometry has proven to be a useful tool, both for the clinician and horse owners, for evaluating the body condition in equids due to its objectivity, easiness and capacity for detection of important metabolic disturbances. However, limited information is available on the use of morphometric ratios to characterize regional and overall adiposity and much less about their application in different genders, ages and horses with different levels of obesity. The objectives were to evaluate body and neck absolute measurements and ratios; factors affecting them such as the influence of gender, age, appearance of the neck crest and overall body condition and; relationships among these measurements. A total of 154 Andalusian horses classified according to their gender, age, body score status and cresty neck condition were evaluated in this cross-sectional study. Two evaluators assigned a body condition score (BCS, 1 to 9) and a cresty neck score (CNS, 0 to 5) to each horse. Horses were divided into males and females; young (2 to 5 years) and adults (6 to 15 years); obese (BCS⩾7) and non-obese (BCS<7); cresty neck (CNS⩾3) and non-cresty neck horses (CNS<3). Morphometric measurements (cm) included were: height at the withers (HW); body length (BL), girth (GC) and waist (WC) circumferences; neck length (NL); three neck circumferences (NCs), over the first (NC25%), the second (NC50%) and the third part (NC75%) of the NL and neck crest height (NCH). These measurements were also used to calculate the following ratios: GC : HW, WC : HW, GC : BL, WC : BL, NC25% : HW, NC50% : HW, NC75% : HW, NC25% : BL, NC50% : BL, NC75% : BL, NC25% : NL, NC50% : NL, NC75% : NL, NC25% : NCH, NC50% : NCH and NC75% : NCH. The results showed that most of the absolute measurements and ratios were greater than those described in other light breeds. In addition, most neck ratios were higher (P<0.050) in males than in females, however, all body ratios were greater (P<0.001) in females. Among the absolute measurements, WC in obese horses and NC25% and NC75% in cresty neck horses highlighted as higher. Either GC : HW or WC : HW and NC75% : BL were alternative surrogates for the appraisal of overall and regional adiposity in Andalusians. Several interactions were observed between the gender and adiposity scoring systems affecting the morphometric evaluation. This study establishes absolute morphometric measurements and ratios in Andalusian horses. It also highlights the variability of morphometric values and how the outcome of these can be influenced by demographic variables and the breed analyzed. Further studies are necessary to set morphometric reference values in other breeds.

Welfare assessment of slow loris (Nycticebus spp.) at an Indonesian primate rehabilitation center: Development and validation of body condition score

“…Abdominal and hip circumference indicate fat accumulation (Martin‐Gimenez et al, 2017; Streicher & Reinhardt, 2020). The accumulation of fat can also be seen clearly on the torso shapes in Figure 3 on their dorsal presentation and Figure 4 on their lateral presentation.…”

“…Measurement or visual assessment of body circumferences is simple, cheap, noninvasive, and requires only simple tools (Cavedon et al, 2020). Body circumference has been commonly used as an anthropometric tool to assess body composition and health risks in obese individuals (Cavedon et al, 2020; Chun et al, 2019; Martin‐Gimenez et al, 2018). Body circumference, which is indirectly reflected through BCS, can also be used as an alternative predictor for several diseases (Chun et al, 2019; Pinho et al, 2018; Tran et al, 2018).…”

Are Horse Owners Able to Estimate Their Animals’ Body Condition Score and Cresty Neck Score?

“…This could be due to the type of breeds included in the Baroque and FB groups. In particular, Arabians and Spanish horses showed higher CNS because of their morphology [ 29 , 30 ] and owners that buy this type of horse, especially for showing and breeding, tend to be more aware of this inherent trait. Furthermore, the Baroque and FB breeds can be used for show, and they are therefore usually bred or bought for their specific morphologic characteristics, which are assessed by focusing the attention on the body areas usually evaluated for BCS.…”

Development of a body condition index to estimate adiposity in ponies and horses from morphometric measurements

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