It is a pity the photos are gone. Personally, he didn’t look like a three on the color thread. He looked like an underdeveloped (weedy), under muscled horse. I wouldn’t have said a three. He definitely didn’t look like he could win in the ring right off the trailer, this is true. But, that would never have made me want to send him back!
But I think most horses (mine included!) are way, way too fat.
We need a new thread…actual representations of the BCS all breeds…
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We get lots of race horses coming through our recreational barn via a couple of trainers who use it for a break. Some young stock some mid career some rehab some going to new careers. They look good. The young ones are naturally a bit weedy and don’t have developed necks but the war horses are very nicely filled in, as are adult OTTB in second careers if they are well cared for. That said TB can drop weight fast and dehydrate.
My only concern is if she really gets over focused on feeding and fattening and does not ride him she may be getting on a totally different horse when the time comes. Unless he literally was malnourished which does not sound like is the case, I would think she should keep him in work and get to know him and his weight will come along with his muscling and conditioning. (Caveat I may have misread her plan as delaying actually riding him.)(Sp corrected.)
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And that’s fine but a veterinarian with hands on him did say that, so probably a case of flattering angles. For example this is the same horse taken about a day apart:
Now granted he has a lot more hair to cover up what he’s got going on, but someone could definitely see that second pic and argue with the vet’s assessment of BCS 2, I’m sure, but much of the BCS requires palpating the horse, which you can’t do through a photo.
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That horse’s spine is revealing even if he has a long coat. Nobody would mistake that for simply unfit. That top line is telling. Poor horse. Is he doing better now?
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Question, which scale was the BCS from? I’ve had both the 1 to 9 and 1 to 5 scales used by vets. I’m assuming it was probably the former, but just throwing in that the latter exists if OP wasn’t aware on the off chance the vet was using that scale.
I do agree though that people do seem to want their horses a little chunkier than they really need to be. Better that than totally starved though, as long as they aren’t downright obese. If your vet is asking if they are far along in their pregnancy and they aren’t pregnant, your horse might be a bit too chonky 
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You’re so right. This was the photo I was sent of Cat when her trainer offered her to me. She had just raced (turf) a day or two before, but wasn’t winning enough to carry her through the winter to her 5-y-o year. Non-OTTB people would probably be unhappy with her condition here, but the truth is, beyond being racing fit, Cat remained an ectomorph-type TB her entire life, until I lost her to cellulitis at age 16, and never looked hunter-chubby.
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So this is tough but having worked on the track for a decade it kind of needs saying. While I appreciate that some Tb’s are leaner than others, I have seen FAR MORE skinny OTTB’s once they leave the track and fall into the hands of the “Amazing 5* home” that was buying the horse. In short, some people have no idea, nor the budgets, to know how to keep a tb in the correct weight, even when turned out for a bit.
Here are my 3 guys I bought straight off the track, when I first saw them at the track, all within 1 week of having run.
Lad 16.1 4 yr old (He was stabled at a farm 5 minutes from Charlestown Racetrack, hence the grass)
Gin, 16.3 6 yr old at Charlestown
Petey 15.3 4 yr old at Penn National.
Conversely… here are two pics of a Tb that had been off the track 4 years with a younger (and clueless) teenager and was boarded. I’ve never before bought a horse out of pity, but I did that day. $1300 just to get them to let me take him. Way over his value. But I did compete him and found him an amazing home for life with a tiny profit and he was loved dearly. I got updates and pics until the day he died and they reached out to me then too. I was so sad for them but so happy the horse had that amazing life.
Day I met and bought him
4 years after I sold him in his loving home.
Emily
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I 100% agree with you. Race horses are usually just fit, and it’s the type of fitness that does not create a great depth of core. The worst looking ones are the ones that end up in some home after the track that doesn’t know what to do with them
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100% agreement.
I live 5 miles from Charles Town track so I go fairly often.
You can tell the trainers that feed quality food vs the trainers that feed low quality hay and 3 scoops of sweet feed.
I see more horses like your top pictures posted than the bottom picture at the track. But there are some lean horses there no doubt.
Once you hit the local boarding barns the horses look like the last horse you posted and many look worse.
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