Beware of weight tapes

[thegaffer]

Hi,

I have been using a weight tape on a regular basis for the past 12 months.  Today I have been to the vets for boosters and teeth etc and asked if I could use the computerised weigh bridge.  My horse is 130kgs heavier than I thought  .  He is actually 800kg and I thought he was 670kg 

On getting him home I used the weigh tape and found it to be out by the 130kg.  As for the weight loss it is all relative, as he was 130kg heavier to start with, if that makes sense.  (Sorry forgot to say he is a cleveland bay 17,3 -18hh).  But it does have serious consequences for worming, feeding and towing.  Had I taken him and my friends 16.2 hunter to the vets I would have been over the weight limit for the trailer and possibly my 4 x 4.

So if you can get your horse weighed properly to check the accuracy of your tape. 

Heather 

[flintfootfilly]

Interesting.  I went to a WHW weigh day last year and they compared weighband weights to true measured weights on various horses and ponies.

They gave away a free weighband to everyone who attended - I think it was a Dodson & Horrell one, but I'll check that later today - and they said that was the only weighband which has plenty of research behind it to make it as accurate as reasonably possible.

When I swopped to using that one, all my gang had "put on weight" too!!!  It did mean that I could no longer compare weights from previous years as they were on a different scale, but I feel happier that it's more accurate for worming, like you say.

I've never had my own gang weighed accurately but will if I have the chance!

Sarah

[jenb]

That happened to me too.  I always weight taped Cosworth at around 560kgs - 16.3hh tb x wb.  He ended up at Bransby Home of Rest for Horses on box rest at one point (I worked there at the time) and I put him on their weigh bridge towards the end of his box rest when he was skinny and lacking in muscle.  He weighed 626kgs!!

[Mandeigh]

I can totally believe that....

Last year when I first weight-taped Fidge he came out lighter than Roh   Baring in mind that Roh is a 15.2hh (and small framed) TB while Fidge is a 16hh PRE.   Roh has a short rib cadge and Fidge has a long back....the tape doesn't have built in variation for that.

[sandpiper]

I've always wondered how accurate they are and have got two weigh tapes which give different readings - so always use the one which reads more to err on the side of caution.  I hope that one isn't out by too much as it says some of my ponies are 500kg plus!!! 

[Diane Smith]

I knew they were only a rough guide, but I didn't realise they were quite THAT rough a guide!

[DollysMum]

I've always over-wormed as I'm aware that weigh tapes aren't always accurate and I'm wary of building up worm resistance by under-dosing. Scary though just how out some of them can be!

[flintfootfilly]

Just checked and my new tape is Dodson & Horrell.  Here is a link to a leaflet which gives a contact number for buying one of their tapes: http://www.dodsonandhorrell.com/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/laminitis-support.pdf

I've just compared my new tape with the old one and this is how the weights varied between them:

                                          
D&H horse tape            400kg               500kg         600kg
D&H pony tape             390kg               490kg         590kg
Lincoln BHB tape           380kg               475kg         560kg

The D&H tape is a twosided one - ponies up to 14.2 on one side, and horses over 14.2 on the other.  At the weigh day they weighed horses for real, and then checked which side of the weighband was closest to the real weight in order to decide which side of the tape an owner might choose to use from then on.

So for my gang, those I thought were 560kg have actually come in at nearer 600kg....... quite a difference!

(Edited so that the table of figures displays correctly)

Sarah

[ChrissieW]

I've always known tapes are a bit variable, but that is scary indeed - 130kgs difference!

I think I have the Lincoln yellow tape, but might invest in the D&H one.     I do tend to overworm for weight anyway, but its still scary.

What else can you do though, as its impossible to weighbridge your horse every 5 minutes.

[Cloud_cirrus]

PMG was telling me the other day that he is potentially linking up at some events with Spillers and that they have a portable weighbridge that they can take to shows.  Apparently they have done this in the past and had 100's of horses over it during the course of an event.  They also link this to nutritional information and condition scoring, so teaching owners how to accurately condition score.

It sounded like a great service and I think something that Spillers didn't charge for.  I reckoned they should, even if they then made a charitable donation.  I think they may be at Peter's event at Wellington next week, maybe not with the weighbridge though, I will ask them for more info.

[ChrissieW]

We had one of those Spillers days at a yard I was at years ago when Mins was a baby, it was great, really helpful, but haven't seen or heard of any round here being done since then and have always been on smaller yards.

[Louise C]

I went to WHW weigh day at my friends yard - they have a portable weighbridge.  I didn't take Flynn but everyone who did take horses along ended up with the horses weighing more than we thought.  The weightape was a D&H one as well - it is more accurate than any other according to WHW.  The only thing it doesn't work for at all is Shetlands - they were very variable!  I think it's a bit more difficult as far as 14.2's are concerned as well.

[Woody]

i read an article recently saying that when the weigh tapes were designed the horses they looked at were all 2.5 - 3.5 condition score and that when you use a weigh tape on a condition score 4 and over they are hugely inaccurate because of the amount of fat that surrounds the organs but is unmeasurable. beware using then for finite weights but useful to see if hos or pone is getting bigger or littler

[Mandeigh]

Also tapes just can't handle the difference in horse depth...geez its quite a dilema isn't it.

[thegaffer]

Hi,

Thanks everyone, it really is a problem isn't it.  I will be ordering a Dodson and Horrell tape and will check it against my old tape and let you know