Way out Weigh Tapes

[AdorableAlice]

Proof of how way out weigh tapes can be. Almost 100kg out, the implications for under dosing wormers, feed balancers etc is significant. Little wonder worms are becoming resistant to the current drugs.

 

[SEL]

My Appy was 575 on the tape vs 620 on the bridge. It's my chunky build ones that always seem to come in under on the tape. The Dales x was 350 on the tape and 400 when the vets weighed her.

 

[Floofball]

I’ve always used a weigh tape on Floof and had him at about 620 but it’s a guestimate over 600kg. Weigh bridge came and lady said ‘about 680’ I was quite offended saying ‘I don’t think so!!’ He was 678 - immediately back on his diet

Edited to add that I do find the weight tape a useful tool, measure girth/widest part of belly and base of neck. It shows well any gains/losses in cm’s but you can only get an accurate weight with a machine

 

[JackFrost]

My chunky cob at 3 years old 372Kg on tape, 416 on weighbridge.

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

Heavy horse was measured using a weight tape by my first yard before they wormed him. They told me they gave him a whole tube as the tape said he was 750kg.

I rang them straight away as he was weighed at his vetting a few weeks earlier (weighbridge was available at that yard so when the vet asked if the owner knew what he weighed, they put him on it) and he was 926kg!!

Out by 176kg, nearly 20%

 

[dottylottie]

i was very impressed that mine were 405kg and 488kg on the bridge, and 398kg and 475kg on the tape! (side note that the vet said little miss 405 was 5kg away from perfect!! just because i’m still so chuffed considering she was 500kg when i got her)

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Weigh tapes are good for keeping an eye on gain and loss but they aren't an accurate guide as to what your horse actually weighs.

 

[AdorableAlice]

Weigh tapes are good for keeping an eye on gain and loss but they aren't an accurate guide as to what your horse actually weighs.

You can do the same with a bit of string.

I have 4 tapes, accumulated from various sources, won one, feed rep gave me one etc etc. Everyone of them show different weights. There is a Lincoln one, a D&H and a Spillers. One of them doesn't even go round the big horse who is 980kg and not fat. None of them carry a printed caveat explaining they are not remotely correct. Obviously more experienced owners are aware of this, but less experienced owners will trust the tapes.

I am very fortunate as I can easily weighbridge them, but the bigger picture is worming and the worrying resistance that is being seen. Surely the tapes need to carry information explaining they cannot be used to calculate drug administration.

Adorable Alice was mortified at being weighed in public when she and her big sister visited Solihull Riding Club. After much prodding by the ladies of the BHS Welfare Unit, she was pronounced as a perfect 3 and won a huge rosette for being perfect. Her big sister was deemed overweight and won nothing, somewhat bemusing as big sister is a Clyde cross and is fitter now than she has ever been, she looks like a racing snake without a scrap of fat on her. We all celebrated with a huge slice of cake from Solihull's rather lovely new cafeteria.

 

[criso]

My weight tape is consistently 25-30kg under over several horses, compared it to the weighbridge at horsepital on multiple occasions, so I adjust for that.

However the same comparison with a portable weighbridge from a feed company had that come out equally inaccurate in the other direction.

 

[SEL]

My Ardennes on the other hand - legs like tree trunks - was expected to be miles out on tape vs bridge.

Just 20kg once we'd persuaded him the bridge was safe to stand on.

 

[Jambarissa]

I do think weigh tapes are intended for the TB shape. Bloody useless for anything with a big bum or chunky legs.

I was musing recently though, all of my horses are very big boned. Wormer dose is by body weight but again is that assuming standard TB type bones? It's probably really a dose per kg of flesh/blood. I swear one of mine is 50% bone!

 

[Dave's Mam]

My weigh tape has a calculation on it that uses the heart girth & body length & a formula to get weight. I'll try it when we have the weighbridge in January.

 

[criso]

My weigh tape has a calculation on it that uses the heart girth & body length & a formula to get weight. I'll try it when we have the weighbridge in January.

I had something similar on a spreadsheet. You enter heart girth, body length and height and it calculates weight. Was pretty close to actual weight.

 

[pistolpete]

I weigh taped my pony today. Suffice to say the muzzle will be staying on.

 

[ycbm]

They are also useless for anything very thin. I had a starved horse that I bought back from where he had gone to and on a weigh tape he didn't increase in weight until the tape stopped bridging over the hollows on either side of his spine had filled in so the tape actually lay on his skin.
.

 

[humblepie]

Mine was weighed at a show this summer and was pretty much spot on to the tape. However have had him weighed at other shows in previous years and it’s been around 20 kg out.

 

[Surbie]

My heavy cob was 617kg on the weigh tape.

He was 750kg on the nutritionist's weighbridge. The tapes are useless for anything other than an idea of weight going up or down.

 

[Alibear]

I can't remember where I read it, but I read an article saying weight tapes are generally about 20% under. So I add 20% to what it says and generally use it to check for changes rather than accuracy. Amber tends to end up on a weighbridge every 6 months, so I use that as my baseline. I also don't expect English weight tapes to work for QH. They've got no way of accounting for all the extra muscle.

 

[Rowreach]

I mean, the idea that an accurate assessment of weight can be achieved with a tape measurement of one area of the body is plainly ridiculous.

 

[Surbie]

I mean, the idea that an accurate assessment of weight can be achieved with a tape measurement of one area of the body is plainly ridiculous.

Absolutely. Though I have now heard several of our local vets and instructors advocating their near accuracy - including how I was advised when I first got my horse and was a first-time loaner.

It took putting him on a weighbridge 2 years later to understand that both his previous keepers and I had been underworming for years and his weight had to have been considerably underestimated for travelling him and for sedation & meds throughout lengthy treatment for a nasty abcess.

 

[Ricedance]

Mine was 362 on tape and 386 on bridge, I think if you get chance to do both then remember it’s approx ** out

 

[First Frost]

Two of mine came out identical on the weigh bridge and tape done on the same day. They are both light/middle weight types. My chunky Connie came out 50KG less on weight tape. He has big shoulders and chunky legs!

 

[Peregrine Falcon]

I was 5kg out with one of mine when we had a weighbridge out and 25 with another.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

When our horses ever go to the vet they are always weighed before any treatment, after all your must know the weight to sort out the quantity of medication to give. The vet was also measuring weight with a weight tape as well as the scales to work out how far out the weight tapes are. I know he always found weight tapes to be way out. At hope we never bother with a weight tape, we can tell if the horse is at about the right weight by his condition & also when you run your fingers down his sides across the ribs.

 

[Shooting Star]

Normally mine is within around 5kg either way on weigh tape vs weigh bridge but we had them weighed this morning and the tape was 20kg less than the scales - one of the cobs was 90kg less on the tape

 

[Irish-Only]

Mine was weighed whilst away, and a day or two after my vet tried working his weight out with a weigh tape and another one where you measure the length, height etc and they were between 20 and 45kg's under.

 

[SilverLinings]

Out of interest I just had a look online and you can buy horse scales for under £1k - over £10k, but if you look for ones sold as cattle or livestock scales there are several models available for under £400. At that price I am surprised more large yards and competition centres don't have them. If I owned my own yard I think I would invest in one, especially as I don't know of any in this area under an hour's drive (one way) from me.

 

[SEL]

Mine was 362 on tape and 386 on bridge, I think if you get chance to do both then remember it’s approx ** out

That's what I do. I know where the Appy was on the tape when she stood on the bridge so estimate how much more or less she'll be (usually more )

 

[AdorableAlice]

I really must take Ted's ipad off him, he has seen us discussing Alice's weight on a public forum and has only gone and told her. She has flounced big time. (this will mean nothing to any of you who did not see the Ted project thread that ran for years.

 

[GypsGal1718]

I agree, I tend not to use them if I can, I don’t have access to a weigh bridge so I just use this calculation as it is way more accurate weight (kg) = (heartgirth2 × body length)/(11,880 cm3).