Horse owners are often warned about the dangers of equine obesity and encouraged to help overweight horses drop a few pounds. But to solve this problem they must be able to acknowledge it in the first place. According to the results of a recent study completed by a group of researchers in the U.K., one of the biggest challenges posed by equine obesity could be that owners don’t recognize their horses are overweight.

"Obesity is a problem in horses; as horse owners we need to be aware of this and learn how to recognize it," said Sarah Freeman, BVetMed, PhD, CertVA, Cert VR, CertES, Dipl. ECVS, MRCVS, associate professor of Veterinary Surgery at the University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, in Leicestershire.

Freeman worked with Helen Stephenson, BVMedSci, and other colleagues to examine the prevalence of obesity in a population of U.K. horses and ponies (specifically horses in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire that were not in a professional training program) along with the owners’ perceptions of equine obesity.

The researchers reviewed owner-completed surveys that included individuals’ perceptions of their horses’ body condition scores (BCS) according to the Dodson and Horrell feed company body scoring chart. Then each of a random selection of horses was examined by a researcher that provided his or her assessment of the horses’ BCS. Each researcher examining the horses was blinded to the owners’ perceived BCS