Accuracy of Current Body Weight Estimation Methods in Body Condition Categories and Reproducibility Among Trained Professionals in Equine Nutrition Screening

Author

Ashley Self, University of Tennessee, KnoxvilleFollow

Date of Award

12-2023

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Animal Science

Major Professor

Jennie Ivey

Committee Members

Karen McCormick, Lew Strickland

Abstract

Accurately estimating body weight in equids is important for overall health, yet accuracy of available tools to estimate body weight in varying body condition score categories (underweight, ideal, overweight, obese) is limited. Our objective was to determine accuracy of weight tape (WT) and morphometric measurement (MM) weight estimations compared to scale weight (SW) in underweight (BCS-U: 1-3), ideal (BCS-I: 4-5), overweight (BCS-O: 6-7), and obese (BCS-Ob: 8-9) body condition score categories. We collected BCS, SW, WT-A and MM from light breed, adult (> 2 years), non-pregnant horses (n= 136) recruited from local barns, local horse shows, and horses admitted to an academic hospital (UTK-IACUC Protocol #2699). Within BCS-U, SW was significantly lower than MM, overestimating by 43.3 kg (95% CI: 23.3, 63.3) (p

Recommended Citation

Self, Ashley, "Accuracy of Current Body Weight Estimation Methods in Body Condition Categories and Reproducibility Among Trained Professionals in Equine Nutrition Screening. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2023.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/10128