Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on August 31, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
News & Reports
animal health
Equine obesity levels continue to rise RESULTS from this year’s National Equine Health Survey (NEHS) suggest that increasing numbers of horses and ponies in the UK are becoming obese. However, the survey also showed increased levels of awareness and understanding among owners and keepers about how to monitor body condition in their animals. The survey is run annually by the Blue Cross animal charity in partnership with the British Equine Veterinary Association, with sponsorship from Spillers and Zoetis. This year, data were received from 4951
owners or keepers for 14,952 horses. Of these horses, 23.2 per cent were assessed as being overweight, compared with 16.9 per cent in 2014 and 7.8 per cent in 2013. The survey also showed that owners were taking action to try to tackle the problem, with 96 per cent of the respondents who owned an overweight horse saying that they had changed the management of their animal to try to control its weight. About two thirds (64 per cent) of respondents said they used a weigh tape to assess their horse’s weight. This compared to 51 per cent in 2014.
‘While it’s alarming that this year’s data show a rise in obesity, we hope that it might simply be the result of increased recognition of the problem,’ said Clare Barfoot, research and development manager for Spillers. ‘It’s particularly encouraging to see a higher number of people using weigh tapes, which hopefully reflects increasing awareness of the importance of assessing condition, as a direct result of educational campaigns.’ doi: 10.1136/vr.h5751 October 31, 2015 | Veterinary Record | 429
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on August 31, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
Equine obesity levels continue to rise
Veterinary Record 2015 177: 429
doi: 10.1136/vr.h5751 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/177/17/429.2
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To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
News & Reports
animal health
Equine obesity levels continue to rise RESULTS from this year’s National Equine Health Survey (NEHS) suggest that increasing numbers of horses and ponies in the UK are becoming obese. However, the survey also showed increased levels of awareness and understanding among owners and keepers about how to monitor body condition in their animals. The survey is run annually by the Blue Cross animal charity in partnership with the British Equine Veterinary Association, with sponsorship from Spillers and Zoetis. This year, data were received from 4951
owners or keepers for 14,952 horses. Of these horses, 23.2 per cent were assessed as being overweight, compared with 16.9 per cent in 2014 and 7.8 per cent in 2013. The survey also showed that owners were taking action to try to tackle the problem, with 96 per cent of the respondents who owned an overweight horse saying that they had changed the management of their animal to try to control its weight. About two thirds (64 per cent) of respondents said they used a weigh tape to assess their horse’s weight. This compared to 51 per cent in 2014.
‘While it’s alarming that this year’s data show a rise in obesity, we hope that it might simply be the result of increased recognition of the problem,’ said Clare Barfoot, research and development manager for Spillers. ‘It’s particularly encouraging to see a higher number of people using weigh tapes, which hopefully reflects increasing awareness of the importance of assessing condition, as a direct result of educational campaigns.’ doi: 10.1136/vr.h5751 October 31, 2015 | Veterinary Record | 429
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on August 31, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
Equine obesity levels continue to rise
Veterinary Record 2015 177: 429
doi: 10.1136/vr.h5751 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/177/17/429.2
These include:
Email alerting service
Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up in the box at the top right corner of the online article.
Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
