An investigation made in Scotland has shown the prevalence of obesity in domestic horses, it means horses which are not trained to run in horse races, but to be ride by pleasure. This is the first time this study is made in England, where 500 horses owners answered the questions.

These owners were not competition horse breeders or worked for racing stables, they all had horses because of the pleasure of riding them. The study proved that 1 of 5 horses is either overweight or obese.

The investigation was supervised by Dr. Sarah Freeman, a specialist in veterinary surgery who said: “This gives us a first view about the prevalence of horses obesity in Great Britain and a look to its owners management about the obesity in horses. The obesity is associated to several diseases such as: arthritis, laminitis and equine metabolic syndrome”.

The increasing obesity is a problem at all species and affects both humans and their companion animals. Facing and taking care of the problem is very important to eliminate equine obesity. Obesity is an actual problem affecting humans and animals as equals. A first step to find a solution is to realize how important and how badly it is affecting everybody’s life.