490kgs on weight tape

[pistolpete]

He’s only 13.2 but chonky. He’s actually lost about 60kgs over winter. Can anyone turn him right way please?

 

[Michen]

If he was mine he’d be in a muzzle 24/7 on grass going into spring.

My 15.3hh is the same weight!

 

[ponynutz]

I was always taught their hands = their weight in hundreds.

So 13.2hh should be 350kg, 13.3hh 375kg etc. So yeah I'd have him in a muzzle and on a bit of a weight loss programme if he was mine.

Cute pony tho bless him.

 

[rowan]

 

[Pippity]

Mine was weightaped at 490kg (by a vet, as part of a weight-management demo) and weighed in at 590kg on a weighbridge, so be aware that weightapes may be massively understating the case. Mine's 15hh and on a weight loss regime.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Weightapes are good for keeping track of what they gain and lose but they aren't actually accurate on current weight and they can vary quite a lot from a weighbridge.

 

[chaps89]

Weightapes are good for keeping track of what they gain and lose but they aren't actually accurate on current weight and they can vary quite a lot from a weighbridge.

This, I use a weightape to gauge if weight is going up or down, but I don’t set much store by what weight it actually gives.
I was a bit horrified today by the vet who said my fat pony isn’t fat. I’d love to believe her and if he was going into winter at his weight I’d be thrilled but we have spring grass so it’s going to be a battle to keep him the same weight.

OP, are you able to restrict his grazing in anyway at all? I seem to recall he lives out in a big field in a small herd so it may not be possible but I’d be concerned about his weight for the time of year, sorry

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

OP, a weigh tape at friends yard had B Fuzzy as 415 two weeks ago, put her on the scales afterwards and actual weight was 440, which is absolutely fine as shes a full up 14hh, pretty fit registered native.

Def some weight to be lost there x

 

[Tiddlypom]

Erm, sorry OP, but he's still obese. Waay to go.

 

[I'm Dun]

Erm, sorry OP, but he's still obese. Waay to go.

This I'm afraid. I know photos can be deceiving but he looks to have gained a fair amount of weight pretty quickly compared to the last photos you posted of him.

 

[Peregrine Falcon]

For comparison weight wise. We had a weighbridge last year. My son's slighty plump 13hh was 375, my mare is 14.1hh, scored "perfect" for condition was 357. Friends overweight 14hh fell was 480. Personally I'd be getting some weight off him.

 

[SEL]

My 13h Dales was weighed at vets at 400kg and tape says about the same. She's been on box rest and needs to drop 30kg ish (fortunately can start light work). She's stocky

I can't feel fat pads but her neck is bigger than it was last spring. I'm paranoid because my friends cob has just come down with lami

 

[Kodak_TBT]

The difference between my tape and the vets weigh bridge is 8kg. My 14.2hh is 420kg on bridge and is still on a strict regime as needs more off, sorry but your pony is grossly obese.

 

[shortstuff99]

Yes unfortunately OP he does still look pretty fat. For comparison my 16H drum horse/cob is 600kg. My 15.1 PRE is 480kg.

ETA those weights were on a weigh bridge

 

[silv]

Weightapes are good for keeping track of what they gain and lose but they aren't actually accurate on current weight and they can vary quite a lot from a weighbridge.

You are so correct, my 17hh warmblood weighed in at 550kgs on a weight tape which I knew couldn't be right. A week later a feed rep was doing a demo and had a weigh bridge so I took him along, he weighed in at 650kg, so a
massive difference. Also important if you are measuring drug dosage etc. This is the horse.

 

[pistolpete]

I agree he’s too fat. I’m relieved that he’s lost some over winter and yes smaller herd that just got smaller in large field. We discussed today reducing the size of the field as they are all rather too well. Most are retired too. Think we can cut it nearly in half hopefully soon before any further damage is done!

 

[Kodak_TBT]

I agree he’s too fat. I’m relieved that he’s lost some over winter and yes smaller herd that just got smaller in large field. We discussed today reducing the size of the field as they are all rather too well. Most are retired too. Think we can cut it nearly in half hopefully soon before any further damage is done!

Sorry but that won’t be enough, he needs muzzling or putting on a dry lot with well soaked hay

 

[criso]

You are so correct, my 17hh warmblood weighed in at 550kgs on a weight tape which I knew couldn't be right. A week later a feed rep was doing a demo and had a weigh bridge so I took him along, he weighed in at 650kg, so a
massive difference. Also important if you are measuring drug dosage etc. This is the horse.

View attachment 90773

I'd be a bit wary of feed company portable bridges too. I weighed mine on one and he weighed about 40kg more than the one at my local horsepital.

My weightape measures about 30kg lighter than his actual weight but i don't even look at the kg, just the cms. I have the opposite problem and am always trying to get weight on.

 

[Sossigpoker]

Weight alone won't tell you if the horse is overweight. Sadly looking at this photo , your pony is really quite overweight.
He seems to have a crest , his shoulder isn't easily defined ,.he has a fat pad under his shoulder and I'd hazard a guess that his ribs can't be easily felt.
I'm afraid he needs to go on a serious diet.

 

[Cob Life]

Weightapes are good for keeping track of what they gain and lose but they aren't actually accurate on current weight and they can vary quite a lot from a weighbridge.

This, hes weigh taped to keep an eye on how much he goes up/down but they are incredibly inaccurate
the best indicator is to body condition score

 

[cbmcts]

It's very hard when they are retired and living out. Yes, he is very fat and as a native, he will be a very good doer.

I had two native types - Welsh D and Haffie - at a retirement livery for many years. Their field mates tended to be old TBs, summer resting hunters, youngsters and warmblood types with the odd truly geriatric pony. All of whom needed a lot more food than mine! The welsh had always been pretty good at regulating his weight - fat in summer, dropped in winter so came into spring fairly slim. Always been unshod, never had lami and I'd owned him since weaning. The haffie however was a porker. He'd has lami before I got him and I had to work him hard all year to keep him at an acceptable weight - driving in the winter, riding in the summer and stabled during the day all summer. He did a tendon at 20 and the box rest to heal that caused real issues with his arthritis plus his food had to be restricted to manage his weight without work. He was retired unsound as I couldn't justify another stretch of box rest after the tendon reinjured once he came back into work on welfare grounds and sent to the same place as the welsh.

The first summer he was there I was horrified by his weight - they all lived out, just hay, no bucket feed for him in winter, no rug but moved fields once a month or so and spent the summer on large water meadow - he was FAT. One year there were Charolais cattle in the next field and I remember thinking that if he was in with them, he would blend right in. I had spent years stressing about every kg he put on and it was incredibly difficult not to swing into action. This lad could remove any muzzle on the market - all had been tried - would either go through or over a fence if on a small/bare paddock and was sore if stabled for more than a few hours due to his arthritis and while field sound, his leg would not stand up to work. I made a decision that many would criticise me for, that quality of life was more important than the length at this point. He had been broken to drive at 2, competed in a 4 in hand team, spent many years at working livery at a riding school and been a busy R&D before he came to me to slow down at 17. He could be happy living out with no restrictions in a herd and at the first sign of lami, he would be PTS. He lasted another 5 years or so and was PTS for something else altogether. The welshie was there for over 10 years and was PTS when even with bute, his arthritis meant that he couldn't comfortably stand for the farrier. Neither of them ever showed the slightest sign of laminitis, no raised pulses or warm feet, no abscesses, nothing in that time although looking at them, they really should have. In all that time, they only lami case I saw was a pony, who with hindsight had EMS, got acute lami the first spring he was there.

I don't regret my decision and was quite prepared to PTS on diagnosis if need be.

 

[I'm Dun]

I made a decision that many would criticise me for, that quality of life was more important than the length at this point. He had been broken to drive at 2, competed in a 4 in hand team, spent many years at working livery at a riding school and been a busy R&D before he came to me to slow down at 17. He could be happy living out with no restrictions in a herd and at the first sign of lami, he would be PTS. He lasted another 5 years or so and was PTS for something else altogether. The welshie was there for over 10 years and was PTS when even with bute, his arthritis meant that he couldn't comfortably stand for the farrier. Neither of them ever showed the slightest sign of laminitis, no raised pulses or warm feet, no abscesses, nothing in that time although looking at them, they really should have. In all that time, they only lami case I saw was a pony, who with hindsight had EMS, got acute lami the first spring he was there.

I don't regret my decision and was quite prepared to PTS on diagnosis if need be.

That would be my choice as well. My old boy is with my friend as a pet for her kids to fuss and do the odd hack on. Hes turned out in a little herd on average grazing. Hes currently doing ok, but I absolutely would not under any circumstances allow him to be muzzled or turned out in a tiny dry lot. Hes done that before. Now he's semi retired basic precautions are taken, ie he is allowed to drop weight and come into spring lean, not fed hard feed etc, but otherwise he is allowed to enjoy his life and if he gets lammi it will be PTS time. He owes me nothing and quality of life is far more important to me than keeping him going another 10/15years.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

Natives are so tricky-they really need movement and putting them in smaller paddocks restricts that-it’s a battle I have every year! Am going to be cutting my paddock into two this weekend-grass is only just coming through here but the last couple of days Ive noticed they aren’t quite so quick to their hay.
is there any way you can promote movement? Even if you can’t do a track as such, putting up a zig zag of fencing etc might help.

 

[Sprogladite01]

Found this thread really interesting, my connie weigh taped in at 470kg (he's 14.1hh) so I asked for him to be weighed while we were at Rossdales a couple of weeks ago and he came in at 410kg, down 7kg from his trip there the month before! So the tapes can misjudge over as well as under.

Unfortunately i don't think that's the case for the OP here and I'd agree with previous posters that he either needs a muzzle or to come off grass completely and switch to soaked hay until his weight is under control. He will be very lami prone and his joints will thank you for getting the weight off. When I initially took my boy in for diagnostics the first thing the vet lectured me on was his weight (even though he was already on a diet - he was a solid 5/5 on the BCS when I got him!!). I was lucky in that I was able to get my 2 off grass completely and give them free roam of the yard with soaked hay, so they had companionship without all the calories. It sounds like you are on the right path if he has already lost a little bit of weight - keep going!

 

[Starzaan]

I have a weigh bridge and am often shocked by how wrong people have their horses weights when using a tape. Generally add 100kg to a tape and that’s your accurate weight on a bridge.
Well done for getting some off him OP but he’s still dangerously obese and incredibly cresty. I’d be massively increasing workload - swimming is the best. I’m lucky to have a pool but most pools will do a bulk discount. Get him swimming and on a water treadmill asap to get that weight off before the spring grass really comes through.

ETA I MUCH prefer managing fatties, EMS and laminitis prone horses with exercise, and proper turnout in a herd on average grazing. The stress caused by starving and muzzling increases cortisol levels which is known to increase chance of laminitis. I have rehabbed hundreds of horses this way and it works well. Swimming regularly, plenty of exercise every day, and they can live a nice normal life.

 

[Goldenstar]

Excellent post above exercise is key preferably twice daily sadly I would say he’s dangerously fat .
Urgent invention needed before the grass really gets going

 

[Tiddlypom]

IIRC OP's pony is retired with stifle issues, so any exercise program or swimming will be out.

 

[criso]

I have a weigh bridge and am often shocked by how wrong people have their horses weights when using a tape. Generally add 100kg to a tape and that’s your accurate weight.

I would be wary of giving such specific advice about how much a weightape is out by as they vary so much. I had one which over estimated. My current tape consistently comes out between 30kg to 50 kg under compared to the weighbridge at vet college. That's on tbs, warmbloods and cobs.

So i would always say just use it to track changes or check your own against a weighbridge but don't make assumptions about how inaccurate it is or even whether it's under or over.

 

[SEL]

I would be wary of giving such specific advice about how much a weightape is out by as they vary so much. I had one which over estimated. My current tape consistently comes out between 30kg to 50 kg under compared to the weighbridge at vet college. That's on tbs, warmbloods and cobs.

So i would always say just use it to track changes or check your own against a weighbridge but don't make assumptions about how inaccurate it is or even whether it's under or over.

Exactly. Mine is 45kg ish under for the Appy and spot on for the other two. That includes one with so much bone that we checked twice because we'd always assumed it would be way out. Plus different tapes give different results.

 

[suestowford]

I've got one here who used to be that shape (albeit a few hands shorter). Yours looks to have a fat pad just around the tail head and also a cresty neck. Mine had those too and despite a strict diet, the fat pads around the tail & neck just would not shift, even though the rest of the pony was slim.
Eventually other reasons meant we tested him for Cushings and he was put on Prascend. After about a year on that the fat pads had gone. I only mention this as you may find there's something else going on besides being a good doer.
I wish you luck, as PP have said a grazing muzzle will help with dieting.