Assessment of Body Condition Score of Horses and Associated Risk Factors in Maiduguri, Nigeria

This study was conducted during the dry and rainy season to assess the body condition score (BCS) of horses (Equus equus caballus) and its associated risk factors in Maiduguri-Nigeria.One hundred and sixty horses (80 each from the dry and rainy seasons) were assessed.The horse ownership and management practices were determined using structured questionnaires.In both seasons horse management was done by either the owners or horse managers and in the dry season horses were managed under the intensive system while the semiintensive used during the rainy season.However, there was no statistical association between horse ownership, management practices and BCS (p>0.05;X 2 = 0.2017; CI = 0.2545-8.847).Most of the horses assessed during the dry season had body condition scores of 3 (thin), while during the rainy season they had body condition scores of 5 (moderate).BCS of paired horses were mostly below ideal in the dry season but ideal in the wet season, however, for the unpaired most were below ideal in both seasons.There was no significant association between sex and BCS (p>0.05), but horses had a significant association between their age groups and BCS (p<0.05).There was also a strong statistical association between caretaking and BCS with ideal body condition scores significantly higher in horse manager caretaking than in horse owner caretaking (p<0.05).