The International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH) has a new podcast, which is now available for downloading via their website. The podcast is part of the ILPH's comprehensive educational effort to increase horseowners' awareness of the problem of obesity in horses. The audio program coaches owners through the weight tape evaluation to determine both weight and relative condition of horses.
Obesity and irregular body fat storage have been linked to a high risk of laminitis in horses; with spring on the way, now is the time to identify horses that may be at high risk for laminitis when spring grass increases carbohydrate intake in many horses.
The fat scoring podcast brings an expert (via ear buds) to the barn with owners while they "fat score" a horse for the first or the twenty-first time. By downloading this podcast onto an iPod (or any mp3 player), owners can follow steps correctly; then the audio helps them interpret the weight of their horse.
Project leader Samantha Lewis said: “We already have a body condition video on our website as well as a leaflet but we realized something was missing. We felt that if you could listen to someone while actually having a go at fat scoring, owners would be able to understand exactly what we were talking about and how this relates to their own horses.”
To download the free podcast go to www.ilph.org and follow the instructions.