الفهرس 
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Abstract
For estimating markers of overweight or obesity of brood mares used for riding, 17 mares of different body conditions were subjected to blood sampling and ultrasound examination to measure rump fat thickness for 8 consecutive weeks. Also length (L), heart girth (G) and withers height (H) were measured to estimate body weight (BW), body fat %, body fat mass (BFM) and body mass index (BMI). Mares were classified into three groups according to body condition score (BCS) and rump fat (RF). Overweight mares (O) were having BCS > 7 and RF thickness >7mm, moderate body condition (M) mares were having BCS and RF from >3 to ≤7, and emaciated mares (E) were having BCS and RF ≤3mm. Glucose, triglycerides, nitric oxide, insulin, insulin like growth factor-I (IGF-1), leptin, ovarian and thyroid hormones were measured. Results revealed that BCS, G, L, L*G*H, BW, RF, fat %, BFM were significantly (P <0.0001) decreasing linearly from O group to E group. T4 concentrations of E group were significantly high (P =0.04) compared to M and O but T3 concentrations tended to decrease (P > 0.05). Insulin and IGF-1 concentrations tended to be high in O group (P >0.05) and decrease with the decrease of body condition. M group had the highest leptin (P<0.01), but E group mares had the lowest P4 concentrations (P < 0.01). Concentrations of glucose and NO decreased with the decrease of BCS and RF but triglycerides of O group were insignificantly high. In conclusion, exercise could prevent the development of metabolic syndrome in horses, back fat and morphometric measurements were the easiest and simplest assessment of overweight and development of obesity.