HRH The Princess Royal visited The Horse Trust recently to find out about the Weigh To Win Healthiest Body Condition Awards—a pioneering initiative promoting healthier body condition in show horses and ponies. Over 50 shows are set to host the awards this year, marking a significant expansion of the programme.

The Princess Royal joined 40 guests, including judges, vets, riders, and showing organisation representatives, to hear how the programme originated and evolved.

The Horse Trust’s #WeighToWin Initiative

The initiative began after a conversation at BEVA Congress inspired Jeanette Allen, CEO of The Horse Trust, to rethink how equine obesity is addressed. “I thought, if society is recognising a higher body condition score is OK, how do we shift that?” said Allen. “It occurred to me that we should stop chastising people for the wrong thing and start rewarding them for doing the right thing”.

The Horse Trust went on to fund a PhD by Dr Tamzin Furtado, which focused on managing obesity in horses, leading to a 2019 pilot of these Awards. Horses with healthy body condition were rewarded with big, distinctive green and gold rosettes, offering a positive incentive for change.

Jan Rogers, Head of Research & Policy at The Horse Trust, explained, “We recognised that overweight horses had become ‘normalised’, particularly in a showing environment. We worked with the University of Liverpool and BEVA and introduced a hefty dose of behaviour change science to help us figure out how we could make this work.”

“Scientific methods and evidence support the programme, which helps widen the understanding of the health risks associated with obesity in horses,” Rogers added. Alongside the awards, the programme offers seminars and weight awareness days for owners, producers, judges, and stewards.

“To expand that outreach that underpins social license to operate—and the challenge that exists in the world of the wider public, giving us permission to carry on what we are doing with our horses—we need to make sure that all showing organisations have tools in their toolbox and they use them,” said Rogers.

Its Impact

An annual forum at Hickstead during the Royal International Horse Show helps stakeholders explore practical strategies for change. The programme has also attracted international interest, with shows in New Zealand and Canada expressing interest in adopting Weigh To Win.

“And it is indeed an award-winning programme,” said Rogers. “In 2024, we were very proud to be awarded the BEVA Equine Welfare Award at the BEVA Congress.”

Dr Tamzin Furtado described how body condition scoring (BCS)—assessing the neck, midsection, and hindquarters—is the most accurate way to assess a horse’s weight.

“An absolute measure such as putting a horse on a weighbridge doesn’t tell us whether they’re the right weight or need to gain or lose a little bit, but body condition scoring does,” she said. “Horses are quite deceptive because they put on fat in places where we want them to have muscle.”

“Whilst it is still early days, findings from the body condition score data that is collected at shows where the awards have been presented are showing signs of an improving trend, both for horses and ponies.  In particular, the data shows that crests on ponies are reducing year on year” said Dr Furtado. “The data showed a significant improvement after the first year and the overall signs are encouraging.”

Effects Of Obesity In Horses

Dr Alison Talbot, MRCVS and Senior Lecturer at the University of Liverpool, outlined the effects of obesity in horses, stating, “As vets, we are worried about the strain that this can put on the various systems in the body—the feet, resulting in laminitis, and the excess load put on the heart and lungs.”

“As well as the structural changes, there are physiological effects.  Fat is a highly metabolically active tissue, and some fat, for example in the crest, appears to be more dangerous than others,” she added.

“Fat contributes to reduced insulin sensitivity and we all know that overweight horses are at risk of laminitis, but the increased inflammatory response in the blood sets off other things within the body—more insulin, more damage within the joints, more damage within the ligaments. So everything becomes interlinked.”

Dr Talbot also explained how fat in the upper airway—including the base of the tongue and under the larynx—can cause breathing difficulties. “We presumed that fat was just present around the larynx, the trachea, and the pharynx… but CT images revealed fat in the base of the tongue and underneath the larynx and the supporting tissues”

She highlighted that a Horse Trust-supported study using scans before and after weight loss showed “a significant, measurable improvement in opening up the airways.”

During HRH The Princess Royal’s Visit

During the visit, the royal party saw live demonstrations of body condition scoring, weighbridge and weigh tape use, and ultrasound scanning to show the difference between fat and muscle—particularly fat buildup along the crest.

HRH The Princess Royal spoke with many of the guests about their involvement with Weigh To Win and reflected on the challenge of keeping horses at a healthy weight, sharing some of her own experiences and anecdotes. Her Royal Highness, as Patron of the charity, was enthusiastic about its positive impact and thanked the delegates for their support in driving the Awards forward.

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Learn more about The Horse Trust’s #WeighToWin Initiative

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