The Henneke horse body condition scoring system is a scoring system developed by Don Henneke, PhD while at Texas University. It is a standardized scoring system for assessing the body condition of horses without needing specialist equipment. The scale includes numerical values based on the amount of fat gathered in specific areas of the horse ranging from one (extremely poor) to nine (obese). The scoring chart has a description for each score for the six major points of the horse that are most responsive to changes in body fat - neck, withers, shoulder, ribs, loins and tailhead. The average of all of those parts will give a final body conditioning score.

The system is based on both visual appraisal and palpable fat cover of the six major points of the horse. The system is used by law enforcement agencies as an objective method of scoring a horse's body condition in horse cruelty cases.
These condition categories are as follows:

• 1. Emaciated/Poor
• 2. Very thin
• 3. Thin
• 4. Moderately thin
• 5. Moderate
• 6. Moderately fleshy
• 7. Fleshy
• 8. Fat
• 9. Extremely Fat

External links

• http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=7205
• UC Davis, pages 18-20
• University of Tennessee, pages 6-10