You may have seen horses around the barn, on neighboring farms, or quite possibly in your own barn that are a little obese. But you may wonder, what defines obese? For that matter, what determines if a horse is too skinny? Of course, it’s simple to point out those horses at either end of the spectrum, but for horses in between there can be gray areas.

This free poster is based on the Henneke Body Condition scale. The Henneke Body Condition scale is used to determine the overall health of horses. It contains descriptions and illustrations of body condition scores for horses on a scale of 1-9, ranging from poor/emaciated to extremely fat/obese. It takes into consideration the look and feel of ribs, withers, shoulders, tail head, back, and neck.