The utilisation of morphometric measurements to estimate horse body weight: Application to the Lusitano breed

The morphometric measurements - body weight (BW), withers height (WH), thoracic circumference (TC), cannon circumference (CC) and forearm circumference (FC) - were made in 13 Lusitano foals during two years, every 15 days after foaling and up to 120 days of age. Average values of measurements at birth were, 52.7 +/- 6.64 kg for BW, 100.7 +/- 0.03 cm for WH, 84.8 +/- 0.04 cm for TP, 13.3 +/- 0.01 cm for CC and 22.7 +/- 0.02 cm for FC. An average daily gain of 0.84 kg/d was observed during the 120 days of the study period. A strong correlation was found between BW and WH and between BW and TC, and the following regression equations were calculated: BW = 4.1646 WH - 367.64 (R-2=0.95; RSD=8.79), BW = 2.8235 TC - 190.58 (R-2=0.94; RSD=9.27). Both equations seem adequate to predict BW on suckling Lusitano foals from birth to 120 days of age.