What do YOU want to see happen with Wild Horses & Burros?
Tell the Obama Team!
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Newly revised & expanded!
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For more information about the BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Program, please call (866) 4MUSTANGS or Click HERE
This website is owned and created by Nancy Kerson, a private citizen - I am not the givernment Information about BLM adoptions is offered as a service, to help mustangs find homes and to promote public appreciation of wild horses and burros. And I sure as heck am not a Mustang car dealership! I have NO horses or burros for sale and not interested in buying or listing your sale animals! |
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 Download, Print & Share this Petition for a U.S Postage Stamp to Save Mustangs |
Feeding at either extreme (too much or too little) is dangerous, even life-threatening to your horse.
EVALUATING HORSE CONDITION USING HENNEKE SCALE STANDARDS | ||||
Body Score | Ribs
| Spine | Pelvis and | Withers, Shoulder & Neck bones |
1 (emaciated) Look how prominent the spine, pelvis and ribs are. This horse has already used up its own muscle tissue over the rump, just trying to survive. | very prominent | very prominent | very prominent | very noticeable |
 Note: Horses in this dire state of malnutrition require specialized care in rehabilitation. They are prone to developing ulcers and colic, and their survival is not guaranteed just because feed improves. Such animals may also have an underlying medical problem (such as cancer) that is contributing to their extremely poor condition. The paint above was euthanized by Animal Control, as being beyond help. | ||||
Ribs
| Spine
| Pelvis and | Withers, Shoulder & Neck bones | |
2 (very thin) _small.JPG) | prominent | prominent | prominent | noticeable |
3 (thin)_small.jpg) | very noticeable | tops of vertebrae | pelvic bones | faintly noticeable |
4 (light)1_small.JPG) (Same horse as #2 above, after a month of good care) | faintly | slight ridge | pelvic bones | not obviously thin |
5 (moderate/ideal)_small.jpg) | not visible | back is flat; no | pelvic bones well | rounded withers; |
6 (moderately fleshy)_small.jpg) | spongy fat over | may have slight | pelvic bones well covered; soft fat | some fat deposits |
Mustangs are notoriously "easy keepers." Having been naturally selected over many generations to thrive on sparse desert grazing, they "blow up like blimps" on good quality hay, green pastures, and (gasp!) grain supplements. Owning a mature mustang means taking on "the Battle of the Bulge." | ||||
7 (fleshy) ohioline.osu.edu | obvious filling | may have crease | pelvic bones well | fat deposits on |
8 (fat) | hard to feel ribs | crease down back | very soft fat at | fat fills withers area |
9 (obese) www.sciencedaily.com Photo George Clerk  photo: www.vet.utk.edu A horse in this condition is just as at-risk for early death as an emaciated one. | dimpled fat over ribs | obvious crease down back | bulging fat at tail head & inner thigh; flank filled with fat | bulging fat on withers, neck, & behind shoulders |
