The Board adopted a new rule involving Body Condition Score which began with the 2021 ride year. The intention is that this will be both an educational opportunity and will give the judges a basis of evaluation if presented with an equine that they are concerned is either very thin or very fat. It is not meant to be judgmental or punitive and is not involved in any way with the judging or point deductions.
The rule is : Body Condition Score (BCS) will be judged using the 9 point Henneke Scoring Guide on every horse, pony or mule that is presented for the initial exam at a ride or drive sanctioned by ECTRA. Any equine judged to have a BCS less than 4 or greater than 7 will be independently scored by the Veterinary Judge and the Lay Judge. The two scores will be averaged to determine the Equine’s BCS. Any Equine with a BCS less than 3 or greater than 8 will be eliminated.
Those of you who also do AERC rides will note that this follows their rule and the new box on the score sheet will look familiar to you.