A concerning relaxed attitude to fat ponies...

[guesstimation]

I work in Pets At Home so you can imagine my view on dog obesity!

I also get sick of seeing fat Caviler King Charles Spaniels

LOL just made a comment about dogs myself, hadn't seen this, I just can't believe the state of some of the animals you see yet if you could see a rib the RSPCA would be called!

 

[Clodagh]

On dogs - maybe its the same with horses - if they are fat it shows you love them...twisted IMO!

 

[zaminda]

Wetook a horse to the vets a few years ago, and were amazed because everyone said how fit he looked, and kept commenting on it. The the daughter of one of the vets turns up with her eventer, who was so grossly overweight I asked someone how long it had been on box rest. Apparently it had been out competing that weekend, and had damaged a joint. No wonder to be quite frank the think had fat pockets everywhere!
One of ours is semi retired, and is quite large, however, she pales into insignificance when I compared her to a few at the local livery yards.
Sadly until the welfare organisations start prosecuting people who allow there horses to be overweight to the degree that so many are, nothing will change.
Incidently, I dare say if 2 pics were on here, one of a horse 80kg overweight, and one 80kg underweight, only the underweight one would have people threatening to ring the charities.

 

[Moobucket]

I genuinely don't think people appreciate how much damage they are doing. I'm a yard owner and I've been tearing my hair out all season. They also told me they were going to be short of grass !

The thing is, I think in a lot of cases the same cuddly cute attitude applies to humans . Try saying... look you're just huge...sort it out !!! to someone.

My horse is over weight and its a battle to get it sorted but the consensus on the yard is still that he's totally fine, if a little underweight. It makes me want to weep. Head and brick wall! I was like the vet scored him as a 5. That is almost obese!

 

[Moobucket]

Oh no.. that is obese. Christ! Still.. He's lost a lot since then. It just takes sooo much work to get the weight off.

 

[FionaM12]

I really don't see how maintaining a horses weight will break the bank balance?

I don't think anyone said that? It was a seperate discussion I think.

 

[honetpot]

Whilist people equate giving food as a sign of love/caring and restriction of food as being bad we are fighting a losing battle. I have a pony who now has Cushings who has lived for food all her life but only once had laminitis when she was on loan, they simply over fed her thinking they were being kind. People where shocked when she spent most of the winter living on barley straw and unrugged but until last winter she has never needed any extra feed. This summer because she can no longer tolerate dust of any sort so can not be stabled over the winter I decided to let have one last good summer and if she got lammitis to have her PTS. Even with good grass she has coped and her summer is coming to its end with her friends.
Having a 'good doer' is hard work, you have to be a head of the game at all times as getting the weight off is so much harder in summer. So long as being slim is classed as uncaring I doubt if we will ever win, but saying that at Equifest the judge in the training cob class did tell someone off for the horse being too fat.

 

[kate79]

I'm in this situation with my mare.. I have 2 horses and get fed the same hay same feed and my older mare is very overweight ! She has always had problems with her weight and came through winter slightly porky ... Sadly she had to retire pretty much in the last year as she has spondylitis of her spine and athritic

 

[kate79]

Pressed send to early... And arthritic hocks.. So where I can usually keep on top of her with exercise we can lightly hack once a week and I lunge most days.. This has had a big effect to her life,. She now comes in for 8 hours a day with a small net , we have restricted her grazing but just can't shift that weight.. When I do ride her girth is going to the same hole but the fat is all going to the back end and belly .. We are trying everything to get the weight off but it's not shifting ! The fact that we can't exercise her like we use to has had a massive effect obviously but this has been a massive wake up call to be careful next winter

 

[CBFan]

I agree with this. Mollie's a bit fat, but she's got no known health problems and is sound. She's an anxious mare and I think muzzling and the other measures mentioned above would add to her anxiety and affect her quality of life.

She's out in a field with not much grass, she comes in most days and has a handful of food, just enough to put her suppliments in, and a little hay. She doesn't work very hard but is ridden often.

I am concerned about her weight, but at the moment, not enough to want to change a routine which suits us both.

Here's a very recent photo of my fatlass:

You see, that doesn't look like 'not a lot of grass' to me... it's up past her corronet, making it 3 -4 inches high...

I'm most confused and concerned that you are 'concerned about her weight' yet unwilling to address it?!

If you are against muzzling and want to turn her out on pasture like that, I'd suggest you need to work her harder!

 

[ClobellsandBaubles]

I've always seen fat ponies as a form of cruelty. Horses -unlike humans- don't have to ability or choice to say "Right, I really need to watch my weight as it's unhealthy". A good friend of mine has a warmblood who is obese, yet she continues to let him gorge himself on lush grass because "he deserves it" - makes me so annoyed.

Frankly I'm a bit amazed that people think it's OK to have fat horses, and for it to be reasonable to let them be fat and then just PTS when they get laminitis. A fat horse is poorly cared for, just as a thin horse is. Most horses are fat because they are overfed and underworked: feed less, or manage their grazing and provide the correct level of work, THAT is responsible, intelligent ownership and horsmanship.

I agree.

I like to eat ice cream it makes me happy but I know its not good for me to stuff my face with it 24/7. I am sorry but the argument that their quality of life is reduced is rot. We, humans, created the situation in which horses gorge on rich sugary grass and barely move horses have evolved to forage on scrubby grass with barely any nutritional content and walk miles everyday. Saying you are reducing their quality of life by taking steps to reduce their weight is like saying I am not going to stop my child eating chips whenever they want because they look said who cares that you are putting them at risk of multiple long term health problems.

Oh and as for, well they don't have any known disorders well you're creating the perfect environment for them to develop metabolic disorders surely prevention is better than a cure and the trauma of pain and suffering.

Mind you I doubt there is much hope for the poor overweight horses what with the obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemic people can't even look after their own weight

Apologise for being a bit emotive have just been doing a vascular surgery rotation if you've seen the insides of someones arteries or watch them have their leg cut off due to diabetes etc. you start to feel quite strongly about prevention and health.

 

[FionaM12]

You see, that doesn't look like 'not a lot of grass' to me... it's up past her corronet, making it 3 -4 inches high...

Erm... that's not her field.

I'm most confused and concerned that you are 'concerned about her weight' yet unwilling to address it?!

I didn't say I wasn't addressing it.

If you are against muzzling and want to turn her out on pasture like that, I'd suggest you need to work her harder!

Nor did I say I'm against muzzling in general. It's just this mare's particular problems. As for the pasture, see above.

Okay, I've had enough now. I'd rather take the advice of my vet, farrier, instructor and YO. I realise now it was silly of me to post her photo here.

However, I've regularly posted photos of Mollie here, and not one person has ever expressed concern about her weight before. In fact, I recently said I thought she was fat and was reassurred here she wasn't!

That's internet forums for you.

 

[eriskaydales]

There's two cobs where my daughter keeps her horse, they are massively overweight, i thought the spotted pony was a mare and was in foal with twins. They are both fed, good doer, cool mix and sugar beet! lots of it. I am amazed she has not been prosecuted as she looks like shes riding a mare that just about to drop her foals. They are on good grass from 7a.m. till 4p.m. and then fed haylage and lots of that too. Shame as they could be really lovely cobs. Reckons the spotty is so fat because its full of wind. Never heard of that.

 

[Megibo]

Absolutely hate fat horses when it is due to poor management. I used to let my welsh D get fat in summer up until May 2011 when i got a sharp wake up call from my horses physio and I realised I am more than old enough to manage her weight. She has not been allowed to get fat since, and my new welsh D is getting the weight worked off her as she kept on grass, rugged (not clipped), not worked and given hard feed over winter... I cannot abide fat horses and once even heard one of my college tutors say I would rather have a fat horse than a thin one. Sorry, both are bad management. Letting a horse get obese is cruelty.

 

[ShowingWelshCobs]

I guess some people are killing their horses with kindness! There's such an uproar about it yet, people continue to overfeed horses.. THEN wonder why they have crippling lami! I see it a lot in the ring as I show section D's.
Yes I have been told my horse lacks condition, and I do wonder whether that attitude will ever change. But people are entitled to their opinions and they will not alter mine, I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who would be shocked at the amount I feed my horse and his workload, and several will think he's overweight. But everyone has their own opinions and you just can't win!

Maybe we should have one of those 'fat camps' for horses where all the part bred hippos go and work off a few hundred kilos

 

[Taisypops]

When they have to deal with laminitis and witness a pony in agony they might change their attitude. A shame the ponies have to go through that before some people pay attention though.

What she said, my mare was fat when I got her an came down with lami soon after, didnt get the beef off her quick enough!!! She also abcesse at the same time and trust me anyone who had to live through the torture of the vet poulticing her foot meaning she had to weight bear on her lami foot would not say restricing a fat horses diet is cruel, she was grunting in pain, the sweat was pouring out of her and I actually had to tug of war on her head collar to act as leverage as she was in so much pain she was taking so much weight behind she was falling over!!!!! Some people really need to wise up, you can kill an animal with kindness.

Also the fat pony showing culture drives me nuts, I recived a lecture from a judge about how poor my mares condition was.........x

 

[CBFan]

Erm... that's not her field.

Apologies... it looks very much like she is stood in a field, and is loose, without headcollar etc on and given that it is a very recent photo, one would assume it is hers

I didn't say I wasn't addressing it.

Yes you did. You said you knew she was fat but weren't concerned enough to do anything about it.

Okay, I've had enough now. I'd rather take the advice of my vet, farrier, instructor and YO. I realise now it was silly of me to post her photo here.

However, I've regularly posted photos of Mollie here, and not one person has ever expressed concern about her weight before. In fact, I recently said I thought she was fat and was reassurred here she wasn't!

That's internet forums for you.

Ok... but on this post you post a pic saying that you think she is fat... and then wonder why you get comments on it confirming your observations. You're now getting the hump and throwing your toys out of the pram because of this...???!and I'm not sure why your instructor and y/o are any more qualified to recognise a fat horse than the rest of us... or your vet and farrier for that matter!!

 

[Sophstar]

I guess some people are killing their horses with kindness! There's such an uproar about it yet, people continue to overfeed horses..

The grossly obese horse at our yard is also given a hay net when she comes in to do her 10 minutes of 'work' because the owner has told me she's feeding it to make her poo more solid. How people don't make the connection it's due to the 3 acres of lush pasture she is readily able to eat...drives me nuts! I checked this mare last night as she almost looked exhausted from eating, and her pulses were pounding. I did inform the owner but just got a 'thanks for telling me'. She's so fat there are fat pockets along where her ribs should be, no longer has shoulders and when she attempts to trot everything ripples.

Ridiculously the owner then think she is capable of getting round the next sponsored ride that she feels like going to. I am curious to know what her vet thought upon their yearly check recently. My vet is very to the point when he says 'put it on a diet..NOW.'

 

[Goldenstar]

I also dont understand the he won't wear a muzzle so I can't get the wieght off attitude I had this said to twice this simmer since when was a muzzle necessary for wieght control
My fatty is such a good doer the best or worse depending on how you look at it I have seen since I had a Shetland that what's he's like a 16.2 Shetland.
I never use a muzzle he is stabled during the day gets chopped straw to nibble and goes out into a long strip at night very bare but has a nice hedge along with lots of bits for browseing .
Yes I have to be hard hearted when he turns his eyes on me eyes at me and we work him all year round he hunted all last winter hard hunting and finished the season looks well to weel for the end of a season and I have got him going into the season slimmer this year he' now nearly 120 kilos lighter than when I bought him I have just had him weighted today.
It's plain hard work it taken over two years it's taken to get him to here. I don't think I would get another really fat horse.

 

[LaurenBay]

I also hate seeing fat Horses. At my old yard I was the only 1 to muzzle mine. I had some comments about it not being natural but I had no choice. I moved to another yard, but the grass is very very good there. I muzzled as much as poss and upped her work load (found a sharer to give me a hand) and she looked better for it, but still overweight. So moved her to a different field that has already been grazed down. I can now take her muzzle off 24/7 and she is slowly losing weight. Her workload is about to be upped again.

I think having an overweight Horse is just as, it not crueler then having an underweight one.

 

[LaurenBay]

This is the older field with the lush grass

These are more recent photos

 

[fatpiggy]

I suspect that a large portion of the human race is completely blind to fat. Whether that is fat dogs, fat horses or their own fat children. I saw a child of about 9 the other day who was completely knock-kneed because of the fat around her hips, was well on her way to a double chin and whose upper arms were almost as thick as my thighs. But then one look at the parents and the contents of the supermarket trolley told me everything.