Appropriate weight in horses

Horses come in many shapes and sizes. However, there are some good basic principles that can apply to any horse, donkey, or mule when it comes to telling if your horse is the right weight. When assessing a horse for weight, we want to look at multiple regions:

• Neck
• Withers
• Shoulder
• Ribs
• Loin (lower back)
• Hips and Pelvis
• Base of the tail

For each region, we want the horse to be filled in with adequate muscle and a little fat, but not be excessively fleshy.

This horse is clearly underweight.

The neck is thin with easily felt bones.
The withers are prominent without any fat and with reduced muscle cover.
The shoulder and girth are without any fat.
The ribs are all visible.
The loin has no fat and reduced muscle; the lower back bones are prominent.
The hips and tail are very prominent due to the lack of fat and muscle in the pelvis and thighs.

Compare with this clearly overweight horse.

The neck has a large crest.
The withers are nearly invisible.
It is hard to discern the front and back edges of the shoulder because of the fat surrounding it.
The ribs cannot be felt.
The lower back is well padded.
The point of the hip blends in to the round thigh and buttock.
There is fat above the level of the tail.

Here is a  horse which is normal to slightly overweight. Note that he has neither excessive fat nor is he too skinny.