Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T03:55:59.989Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 July 2017

T. Martin-Gimenez ,
C. N. Aguirre-Pascasio  and
I. de Blas
T. Martin-Gimenez*
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Universidad de Zaragoza, c. Miguel Servet 177, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
C. N. Aguirre-Pascasio
Affiliation:
Teaching Veterinary Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Murcia, Campus Universitario de Espinardo, 30100 Espinardo, Murcia, Spain
I. de Blas
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Universidad de Zaragoza, c. Miguel Servet 177, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
*
†E-mail: tamara.martin.gimenez@gmail.com
Get access

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.

Keywords

morphometric measurementsmorphometric ratiosbody conditionregional adipositycresty neck
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 12 , Issue 3 , March 2018 , pp. 597 - 605
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Argo, CM, Curtis, GC, Grove-White, D, Dugdale, AH, Barfoot, CF and Harris, P 2012. Weight loss resistance: a further consideration for the nutritional management of obese Equidae. The Veterinary Journal 194, 179–188.Google Scholar
Bailey, SR, Habershon-Butcher, JL, Ransom, KJ, Elliott, J and Menzies-Gow, NJ 2008. Hypertension and insulin resistance in a mixed-breed population of ponies predisposed to laminitis. American Journal of Veterinary Research 69, 122–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bosy-Westphal, A, Geisler, C, Onur, S, Korth, O, Selberg, O, Schrezenmeir, J and Müller, MJ 2006. Value of body fat mass vs anthropometric obesity indices in the assessment of metabolic risk factors. International Journal of Obesity 30, 475–483.Google Scholar
Brooks, SA, Makvandi-Nejad, S, Chu, E, Allen, JJ, Streeter, C, Gu, E, McCleery, B, Murphy, BA, Bellone, R and Sutter, NB 2010. Morphological variation in the horse: defining complex traits of body size and shape. Animal Genetics 41 (suppl. 2), 159–165.Google Scholar
Carroll, CL and Huntington, PJ 1988. Body condition scoring and weight estimation of horses. Equine Veterinary Journal 20, 41–45.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carter, RA, Geor, RJ, Staniar, WB, Cubitt, TA and Harris, PA 2009a. Apparent adiposity assessed by standardised scoring systems and morphometric measurements in horses and ponies. The Veterinary Journal 179, 204–210.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carter, RA, Treiber, KH, Geor, RJ, Douglass, L and Harris, PA 2009b. Prediction of incipient pasture-associated laminitis from hyperinsulinaemia, hyperleptinaemia and generalised and localised obesity in a cohort of ponies. Equine Veterinary Journal 41, 171–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Catalano, DN, Coleman, RJ, Hathaway, MR, McCue, ME, Rendahl, AK and Martinson, KL 2016. Estimation of actual and ideal bodyweight using morphometric measurements and owner guessed bodyweight of adult draft and warmblood horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 39, 38–43.Google Scholar
Čoudková, V, Sachello, V, Štěrbová, H, Kleinová, A, Papoušková, Z, Maršálek, M and Kovanda, J 2016. Bodyweight estimation from linear measures of growing warmblood horses by a formula. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 36, 63–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dugdale, AH, Curtis, GC, Cripps, P, Harris, PA, Argo, MM and Argo, CM 2010. Effect of dietary restriction on body condition, composition and welfare of overweight and obese pony mares. Equine Veterinary Journal 42, 600–610.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dugdale, AH, Curtis, GC, Cripps, PJ, Harris, PA and Argo, CM 2011b. Effects of season and body condition on appetite, body mass and body composition in ad libitum fed pony mares. The Veterinary Journal 190, 329–337.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dugdale, AH, Curtis, GC, Harris, PA and Argo, CM 2011a. Assessment of body fat in the pony: Part I. Relationships between the anatomical distribution of adipose tissue, body composition and body condition. Equine Veterinary Journal 43, 552–561.Google Scholar
Fleiss, J 1986. The design and analysis of clinical experiments. John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, USA.Google Scholar
Frank, N, Elliott, SB, Brandt, LE and Keisler, DH 2006. Physical characteristics, blood hormone concentrations, and plasma lipid concentrations in obese horses with insulin resistance. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 228, 1383–1390.Google Scholar
Giles, SL, Nicol, CJ, Rands, SA and Harris, PA 2015. Assessing the seasonal prevalence and risk factors for nuchal crest adiposity in domestic horses and ponies using the cresty neck score. BMC Veterinary Research 11, 13.Google Scholar
Giles, SL, Rands, SA, Nicol, CJ and Harris, PA 2014. Obesity prevalence and associated risk factors in outdoor living domestic horses and ponies. PeerJ 2, e299.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Glucksmann, A 1974. Sexual dimorphism in mammals. Biological Reviews 49, 423–475.Google Scholar
Harker, IJ, Harris, PA and Barfoot, CF 2011. The body condition score of leisure horses competing at an unaffiliated championship in the UK. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 31, 253–254.Google Scholar
Henneke, DR, Potter, GD, Kreider, JL and Yeates, BF 1983. Relationship between condition score, physical measurements and body fat percentage in mares. Equine Veterinary Journal 15, 371–372.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jensen, RB, Danielsen, SH and Tauson, AH 2016. Body condition score, morphometric measurements and estimation of body weight in mature Icelandic horses in Denmark. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 58, 59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lawrence, LM, DiPietro, J, Ewert, K, Parrett, D, Moser, L and Powell, D 1992. Changes in body weight and condition of gestating mares. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 12, 355–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, S, Bacha, F, Gungor, N and Arslanian, SA 2006. Waist circumference is an independent predictor of insulin resistance in black and white youths. The Journal of Pediatrics 148, 188–194.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lin, WY, Lee, LT, Chen, CY, Lo, H, Hsia, HH, Liu, IL, Lin, RS, Shau, WY and Huang, KC 2002. Optimal cut-off values for obesity: using simple anthropometric indices to predict cardiovascular risk factors in Taiwan. International Journal of Obesity 26, 1232.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martin-Gimenez, T, Blas Giral, I, Aguilera Tejero, E, Diez de Castro, E and Aguirre Pascasio, CN 2016. Endocrine, morphometric, and ultrasonographic characterization of neck adiposity in Andalusian horses. Domestic Animal Endocrinology 56, 57–62.Google Scholar
Martin-Rosset, W, Vernet, J, Dubroeucq, H, Arnaud, G, Picard, A and Vermorel, M 2008. Variation of fatness and energy content of the body with body condition score in sport horses and its prediction. In Nutrition of the exercising horse (European Association for Animal Production Publication Number 125, eds. M Saastamoinen and W Martin-Rosset), pp. 167–176. Wageningen Academic Publishers, Wageningen, The Netherlands.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martinson, KL, Coleman, RC, Rendahl, AK, Fang, Z and McCue, ME 2014. Estimation of body weight and development of a body weight score for adult equids using morphometric measurements. Journal of Animal Science 92, 2230–2238.Google Scholar
McGowan, CM, Dugdale, AH, Pinchbeck, GL and Argo, CM 2013. Dietary restriction in combination with a nutraceutical supplement for the management of Equine Metabolic Syndrome in horses. The Veterinary Journal 196, 153–159.Google Scholar
Mottet, R, Onan, G and Hiney, K 2009. Revisiting the Henneke body condition scoring system: 25 years later. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 29, 417–418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinto, LFB, de Almeida, FQ, Quirino, CR, de Azevedo, PCN, Cabral, GC, Santos, EM and Corassa, A 2008. Evaluation of the sexual dimorphism in Mangalarga Marchador horses using discriminant analysis. Livestock Science 119, 161–166.Google Scholar
Purzyc, H, Kobryńczuk, F and Bojarski, J 2011. Sexual dimorphism in Hucul horses using discriminant analysis. Animal 5, 506–511.Google Scholar
Rastija, T, Baban, M, Antunovic, Z and Mandic, I 2004. A comparison and development of morphometric characteristics of stallions and mares on the Lipizzaner stud of Dakovo. Acta Agriculturae Slovenica (suppl. 1), 195–200.Google Scholar
Sadek, MH, Al‐Aboud, AZ and Ashmawy, AA 2006. Factor analysis of body measurements in Arabian horses. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 123, 369–377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stud breeding book of Andalusians, Orden APA/3319/2002, de 23 de diciembre, por la que se establecen las normas zootécnicas del caballo de Pura Raza Española. Boletín Oficial del Estado (Spain), 31 December 2002, 313, pp. 46330–46333.Google Scholar
Thatcher, CD, Pleasant, RS, Geor, RJ and Elvinger, F 2012. Prevalence of overconditioning in mature horses in Southwest Virginia during the summer. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 26, 1413–1418.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wagner, EL and Tyler, PJ 2011. A comparison of weight estimation methods in adult horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 31, 706–710.Google Scholar
Wray, H, Elliott, J, Bailey, SR, Harris, PA and Menzies-Gow, NJ 2013. Plasma concentrations of inflammatory markers in previously laminitic ponies. Equine Veterinary Journal 45, 546–551.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wyse, CA, McNie, KA, Tannahill, VJ, Murray, JK and Love, S 2008. Prevalence of obesity in riding horses in Scotland. The Veterinary Record 162, 590.Google Scholar