A hard keeper or (
British English) poor doer is a
horse or other
livestock animal that is naturally prone to be thin, will lose weight quickly, and has difficulty gaining weight.
A horse that is too thin is not necessarily a hard keeper. The animal may be ill, elderly, or has not been provided adequate
nutrition. Whenever a horse is too thin, it is well-advised to have a
veterinarian give the horse a thorough examination and recommend the best course of action.
The opposite of a hard keeper is an ''
easy keeper'' (''good doer''); an animal that can live on relatively little food and is prone to
obesity and other health problems associated with a too-rich diet. In contrast, a truly hard keeper is almost never fat under any circumstances.
Description
It is extremely rare for a
pony or a
donkey
The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...
to be a hard keeper. The condition is most often seen in light horse breeds that have either a naturally high-strung temperament or breeds that tend to a very lean
phenotype and are then subjected to stressful conditions. Breeds with a higher percentage of hard keepers include race horses such as the
Thoroughbred, and certain types of show horses bred for style and animation, such as the
American Saddlebred
The American Saddlebred is a horse breed from the United States. This breed is referred to as the "Horse America Made". Descended from riding-type horses bred at the time of the American Revolution, the American Saddlebred includes the Nar ...
.
It is natural for a normal horse to require more nutrition to avoid weight loss if it is
pregnant
Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops (gestation, gestates) inside a woman, woman's uterus (womb). A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins.
Pregnancy usually occur ...
,
lactating
Lactation describes the secretion of milk from the mammary glands and the period of time that a mother lactates to feed her young. The process naturally occurs with all sexually mature female mammals, although it may predate mammals. The proces ...
, under stress due to illness or management conditions, or when subjected to hard work. With a normal horse, adjusting the animal's diet to compensate for the conditions it is facing will usually return the animal to its normal condition. Another reason for weight loss in horses that doesn't have anything to do with being a hard keeper is the inability of some group-fed horses to get a fair shake at feeding time due to being less dominant than other horses.
If an animal is truly a hard keeper, proper nutrition requires a calorie-rich diet, but one that will not make the horse "hot" and prone to excess energy that may lead to yet more nervous behavior and continued weight loss.
Forages that are highly nutritious and calorie-dense, such as
alfalfa
Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as w ...
and
beet pulp are often recommended.
Concentrated feeds that are high in fat but low in
carbohydrates, such as
rice bran, ground
flaxseed, or
corn oil
Corn oil (North American) or maize oil (British) is oil extracted from the germ of corn (maize). Its main use is in cooking, where its high smoke point makes refined corn oil a valuable frying oil. It is also a key ingredient in some margarines. ...
are often added to a basic
grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...
or pelleted feed ration to assist weight gain without creating excess energy. High-energy feeds containing significant amounts of sugars, such as
molasses
Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...
, are not usually recommended because they have a tendency to make a horse "hot" or more excitable. However, in cases where a hard keeper also has work with high energy requirements, such as
horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
, an extra, but carefully balanced source of energy may be necessary.
A horse that has not previously had trouble maintaining weight that suddenly begins to lose weight for no apparent reason is not a hard keeper. This type of weight loss is usually a sign of a health problem. In most cases, the horse may require
worming to remove internal
parasites, or it could have a
dental problem that requires
floating of the teeth. Sometimes, weight loss is a symptom of a more serious medical condition. Any horse with an unexplained weight loss usually should be examined by a
veterinarian.
A normal horse may become a hard keeper when it becomes older, particularly when over the age of 20 to 25 years. There are some body weight distribution changes that are linked to age, including a loss of muscle tone along the
spine
Spine or spinal may refer to:
Science Biology
* Vertebral column, also known as the backbone
* Dendritic spine, a small membranous protrusion from a neuron's dendrite
* Thorns, spines, and prickles, needle-like structures in plants
* Spine (zoolog ...
and hip that lead to somewhat more visible
withers, hipbones, and ribs.
However, these areas still should maintain good flesh. It is not natural for an old horse to be excessively thin. Sometimes the
digestive system
The human digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract plus the accessory organs of digestion (the tongue, salivary glands, pancreas, liver, and gallbladder). Digestion involves the breakdown of food into smaller and smaller compone ...
of older horses becomes less efficient, and a change in diet to "senior" feeds that are easier to digest is in order. However, weight loss in an older horse is more often linked to a
dental problem and proper
equine dentistry
Equine dentistry is the practice of dentistry in horses, involving the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures.
The practic ...
can often result in a return to normal weight, provided the horse still has enough functional teeth remaining.
In extreme old age, such as when a horse is over 30 years old, the animal may no longer have any
molars left, and may require a diet of mushy foods such as hay cubes soaked in water,
beet pulp, or other specialized feeds.
In such cases, these horses will appear to be too thin, but if obtaining proper nutrition will still have a healthy hair coat, flesh over bone, and other indicators of good health.
In some
animal cruelty cases where starvation is alleged, the caretakers of such animals often will claim that too-thin animals are "just a hard keeper" as a defense. However, the weight distribution and musculature of a hard keeper, particularly in the neck and hindquarters, is distinct from that of a starving horse, and a
veterinarian can usually provide an expert opinion as to what is normal and what is not.
Horse body condition scoring
The
Henneke horse body condition scoring system
The Henneke horse body condition scoring system is a numerical scale used to evaluate the amount of fat on a horse's body. It was developed in the early 1980s by Don Henneke at Texas A&M University with the goal of creating a universal scale to ass ...
is a standardized scoring table produced by Don Henneke, PhD. The Henneke Chart is a scientific method 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. 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
See also
*
Equine nutrition
References
{{reflist
External links
Equine Facts, Henneke Body Condition Scoring table including photosHow to Condition Score Horses
Horse management