Abuse and Neglect

Horses are completely dependent upon their owners and their owners are responsible for their quality of life.

Pokey once lived with 3 other beautiful Saddlebreds in the hills of San Jose. One of them was his mother. Then one day their guardian died and Pokey's new guardian did not think that horses required any care. She turned the four horses out to pasture on 40 acres. After the grass was gone, they received no other food or care.

Two of the horses died of starvation. The third, Pokey's mother, was starved and emaciated when she became entangled in the fence. She was too weak to free herself and she laid tangled in the fence for a few more days until she also died. During this time, Pokey, who is almost totally blind, stood over his mother.

This is how the Humane Society of Santa Clara found Pokey, a few months later, standing over the body of his mother. Pokey was also covered from head to tail with thousands of ticks. Despite all this, they found that Pokey was a sweet and gentle horse that craved human attention. It is amazing to think that Pokey, despite the fact that he is blind, was able to survive by himself in the 40 acre pasture without any care. Redwings of California sent trainers, Julie Carpenter and Karen Schwingel, out to trailer Pokey to Miracle Mountain Ranch where he was bathed, and bathed, and bathed to remove all the of ticks. Now Pokey has a permanent home at Redwings with his new best friend Sedonna.

After Pokey's guardian died, there were no provisions made to ensure that Pokey and the other three horses had a safe and loving home. Although she took care of them while she was alive, Pokey's original guardian could have taken steps to provide for Pokey and the other horses after her death.

If you have horses or other pets, think about what would happen to them if you were gone, and make adequate provisions for then now. Find a friend or relative that would be willing to provide them with a loving home, and provide for them financially.

Henneke Body Condition Scoring Chart

A Scientific Method For Judging A Horse's Body Condition

The Henneke System is an objective evaluation of a horse's body condition. Developed in 1983 by Don R. Henneke, Ph.D., of Tarleton State Texas University, it is based on both visual appraisal and palpable fat cover of the six major points of the horse that are most responsive to changes in body fat.

Description of the Condition Score System
Score Description
• Poor:
  Emaciated. Prominent spinous processes, ribs, tail head and hooks and pins. Noticeable bone structure on withers, shoulders and neck. No fatty tissues can be palpated.
• Very Thin:
  Emaciated. Slight fat covering over base of spinous processes. Transverse processes of lumbar vertebrae feel rounded. Prominent spinous processes, ribs, tail head and hooks and pins. Withers, shoulders and neck structures faintly discernible.
• Thin:
  Fat built up about halfway on spinous processes, transverse processes cannot be felt. Slight fat cover over ribs. Spinous processes and ribs easily discernible. Tail head prominent, but individual vertebrae cannot be visually identified. Hook bones appear rounded, but easily discernible. Pin bones not distinguishable. Withers, shoulders and neck accentuated.
• Moderately Thin:
  Negative crease along back. Faint outline of ribs discernible. Tailhead prominence depends on conformation, fat can be felt around it. Hook bones not discernible. Withers, shoulders and neck not obviously thin.
• Moderate:
  Back is level. Ribs cannot be visually distinguished, but can be easily felt. Fat around tail head beginning to feel spongy. Withers appear rounded over spinous processes. Shoulders and neck blend smoothly into body.
• Moderate to Fleshy:
  May have slight crease down back. Fat over ribs feels spongy. Fat around tail head feels soft. Fat beginning to be deposited along the sides of the withers, behind the shoulders and along the sides of the neck.
• Fleshy:
  May have crease down back. Individual ribs can be felt, but noticeable filling between ribs with fat. Fat around tail head is soft. Fat deposits along withers, behind shoulders and along the neck.
• Fat:
  Crease down back. Difficult to palpate ribs. Fat around tail head very soft. Area along withers filled with fat. Area behind shoulder filled in flush. Noticeable thickening of neck. Fat deposited along inner buttocks.
• Extremely Fat:
  Obvious crease down back. Patchy fat appearing over ribs. Bulging fat around tail head, along withers, behind shoulders and along neck. Fat along inner buttocks may rub together. Flanks filled in flush.
• EXCEPTIONS:
  for instance if they are a 3 not all those descriptions written under it would be true
  when in fact they could have a 1 tail head and neck but a 2 rib cage and wither,
  a 3 loin and shoulder which would actually score them at a "2".
  (Or any combination of those numbers)
  I think it is also very important to say that this "scoring" needs to be done hands on
  and that one side of the horse can actually score lower or higher than the other.