Keeping horses at a healthy weight is a common concern for horse and yard owners, with both underweight and overweight horses presenting potential health and welfare issues.
For yards caring for multiple horses, particularly livery yards, spotting gradual changes in a horse’s weight can be challenging. Owners and yard staff see horses regularly, but small changes can easily go unnoticed until they become more significant.
World Horse Welfare has highlighted how portable weighbridges can provide an accurate and practical way to monitor equine weight, helping owners and welfare professionals identify changes and have informed conversations about a horse’s health, diet and management.
While body condition scoring and weigh tapes are useful tools for monitoring horses, a weighbridge provides an accurate measurement of a horse’s actual bodyweight. This can be particularly valuable when monitoring weight loss or gain over time and assessing whether changes to management are having the desired effect.
World Horse Welfare Field Officers now have access to additional portable weighbridges, allowing them to reach more horses and owners across Britain.
Field Officer Penny Baker explains that offering to weigh a horse can help build trust with owners and open up conversations about condition and management. Seeing the number change over time can also give owners reassurance that their efforts are working.
The information can be particularly useful where there are concerns about overweight horses, which can be at increased risk of weight-related health problems, as well as horses that are underweight or losing condition.
For yard owners and managers, weight monitoring can also form an important part of wider welfare management. Where a horse’s weight is changing, it may be an indication that something needs further investigation — whether that relates to diet, exercise, dental health, underlying illness or management.
Accurate weight information can also be important when veterinary treatment is required, as medication doses are often calculated according to bodyweight.
Importantly, weight monitoring isn’t simply about reaching a particular number. Tracking changes can help owners, yard staff and veterinary professionals build a clearer picture of an individual horse’s health and welfare and decide when further investigation or changes in management may be needed.
For livery yards, where horses may have different diets, exercise regimes, ages and health requirements, having practical ways to monitor condition can be a valuable addition to routine welfare checks.
World Horse Welfare provides free advice on assessing body condition and managing equine weight:
Is your horse the right weight? – World Horse Welfare
For yard owners, regularly keeping an eye on weight and condition can be an important part of identifying potential welfare concerns early — whether a horse is carrying too much weight or not enough.