Table 1.
Pony health examination parameters, assessment methods, and measurements.
| Parameter | Assessment Method | Measurement |
|---|---|---|
| Breed | Visual assessment | |
| Height | Visual assessment of wither height | Centimetres |
| Weight | Visual estimation based on pony build, height, and body condition score | Kilograms |
| Age | Visual assessment of incisor morphology (the Brooke [32]) | Years |
| Sex | Visual assessment of genitalia | Mare, stallion, or gelding |
| Behaviour | Pony response to approach by researcher | Friendly: ears forward or turned out, turned head towards researcher, did not step away |
| Anxious: stepped away from researcher, turned head away, swished tail, ears slightly back | ||
| Aggressive: pinned ears, attempted to bite or kick researcher | ||
| Body condition score | Visual assessment (Carroll and Huntington body condition scoring [33]) | 0 (very poor)-5 (very fat) |
| Heart rate/rhythm | Thoracic auscultation over 15 s (3MTM Littman® Cardiology IIITM stethoscope) | Beats per minute |
| Respiratory rate | Visual assessment of flank movement over 15 s | Breaths per minute |
| Hydration | Skin tent test using left-side neck, 10 cm cranial-to-cranial border of scapula, over the musculus serratus ventralis cervicis (Pritchard, Barr and Wray 2007 [34]) | Time taken (s) for pinched skin to return to normal position |
| Capillary refill time | Maxillary gingival mucous membrane assessment (Popescu et al., 2014 [16]) | Time taken (s) for gum colour to return after blanching maxillary buccal gingiva with a finger |
| Mucous membranes | Visual assessment of colour and moisture of maxillary gingival surface | Pink/pale pink |
| Moist/dry | ||
| Wounds | Visual assessment | 1: Superficial (hair rubbed off and skin broken) |
| 1–3 scoring system for wound severity modified from Sells et al. 2010 [15]. Wounds were also categorised by anatomical location: head (including lips and oral cavity), body, limbs; and size (wounds >1 cm2) | ||
| 2: Medium (subcutaneous tissues visible and damaged) | ||
| 3: Deep (muscle or bone visible) | ||
| Hoof pathology | Visual assessment and scoring of each hoof | 0: No pathology |
| 1: Mild deformities, cracks, or overgrown hooves | ||
| These were summed to give cumulative score | 2: Severe disease, major cracks, or excessive overgrowth | |
| Ocular health | Visual assessment of eyes in direct sunlight without use of eye drops or ophthalmoscope Blindness was assessed using visualisation of external eye disease or injury, and the menace response | 0: No abnormalities |
| 1: Mild abnormalities (discharge or mild inflammation) | ||
| 2: Severe abnormalities, inflammation, discharge, or blindness | ||
| Ocular pain | Visual assessment of presence or absence blepharospasm without assessment of severity | Present or absent |
| Respiratory health | Visual scoring of each nostril for discharge, and observation for coughing | 0: No discharge or small amount of serous discharge |
| 1: Moderate amount of serous discharge | ||
| 2: Large amounts of serous discharge or any mucopurulent discharge, and/or dried material around nostrils | ||
| Gastrointestinal health | Visual assessment of defaecation if this occurred or evidence of diarrhoea on pony | 0: No diarrhoea |
| 1: Moderate diarrhoea (evidence of diarrhoea around anus) | ||
| 2: Severe diarrhoea (loose faecal material visible around anus, tail, hindlimbs; observation of defaecation) | ||
| Locomotor | Assessed at walk as ponies entered or exited examination site | 0: No lameness |
| 1: Mild lameness in one limb (lameness evident at walk, animal walking at normal pace and weight bearing) | ||
| 2: Mild lameness in two or more limbs, or severe lameness (still weight bearing) in one limb | ||
| 3: Severe lameness or non-weightbearing lameness in one or more limbs | ||
| Rectal temperature | Digital thermometer (Vega Technologies Inc SurgiPack Flexitip digital thermometer) | Degrees Celsius |