Anyone got a fit lean sports cob?

[GoldenWillow]

14.2, 9 1/2" of bone traditional cob bred from two HW Gypsy cobs, takes around 6 -8 hours of work a week including a lot of canter work to keep his weight like this. Not the best photo of him stood up but the only one I could find, vet was doing his vacs at this time and condition scored him 2.5-3 and thought he was in perfect condition (I had actually thought he could lose a tiny bit more ?)

 

[{97702}]

I had this boy on loan, he transitioned to lean mean sports cob machine very well after a lot of hard work!

 

[Dyllymoo]

Oh god... puts my little tubby to shame....

Can you all share your secrets or is it just lots of exercise and restricting food intake (i.e. muzzle/ hay rations?)

 

[shamrock2021]

Op some cobs are big boned some cobs will never look skinny no matter you do. Most of the skinny cobs are actually mix with a TB so not a full cob .

 

[exracehorse]

Oh god... puts my little tubby to shame....

Can you all share your secrets or is it just lots of exercise and restricting food intake (i.e. muzzle/ hay rations?)

. I think exercise is the key. And hard exercise. I do 14 mile, long distance rides and he’s not even puffing as he’s ridden every day. He has grazing and hay twice a day when the summer grass has gone, which I’m doing now as it’s too soon for autumn paddocks. He has zero hard fees. Just token apples.

 

[exracehorse]

My friend had a fat cob on loan. He went on a track system and worked. He lost 5 stone over the spring!

 

[{97702}]

Oh god... puts my little tubby to shame....

Can you all share your secrets or is it just lots of exercise and restricting food intake (i.e. muzzle/ hay rations?)

With mine it was all done through exercise - he didn’t get much hard feed at all but I never rationed his hay. I have to admit he was on an eventing yard so I’d compare his exercise levels to a 4* eventer and think he probably hadn’t done enough ?

 

[Dyllymoo]

With mine it was all done through exercise - he didn’t get much hard feed at all but I never rationed his hay. I have to admit he was on an eventing yard so I’d compare his exercise levels to a 4* eventer and think he probably hadn’t done enough ?

Unfortunately that's not going to happen poor sausage at the minute. Guess I can only ration his hay (he has a tiny handful of chaff as the whole yard has breakfast)

 

[{97702}]

A couple more gratuitous pics because I’m sad ?

 

[mavandkaz]

Oh god... puts my little tubby to shame....

Can you all share your secrets or is it just lots of exercise and restricting food intake (i.e. muzzle/ hay rations?)

Honestly, work is the big thing.
Last summer, my mare (before I got her) was on restricted grazing, soaked hay rations and no feed. She was in very little work, and was overweight and unfit. (Owner was pregnant and no longer riding).
She started being ridden more, and she quite quickly changed shape. After 4 weeks she was able to be turned out 24/7, although still on 'poor' grazing, and started getting small feeds of chaff and balancer.
She is now on decent grazing, adlib hay and decent sized high fibre feeds. They need to be fed for the work they do, just like any horse. They do take longer to fitten up, but as others have said they are more then capable of doing the work.

 

[rextherobber]

Oh god... puts my little tubby to shame....

Can you all share your secrets or is it just lots of exercise and restricting food intake (i.e. muzzle/ hay rations?)

I can't help, I'm afraid, I am failing to achieve a fit , lean sports horse this year....

 

[mavandkaz]

This was her when I first started riding her (just been for a 40min hack mainly in walk and she was popped)

And then this was just 3 weeks later (getting ready to go to dressage)

The only thing that changed was work load. She was still unfit, but rapidly heading in the right direction

 

[Dyllymoo]

Honestly, work is the big thing.
Last summer, my mare (before I got her) was on restricted grazing, soaked hay rations and no feed. She was in very little work, and was overweight and unfit. (Owner was pregnant and no longer riding).
She started being ridden more, and she quite quickly changed shape. After 4 weeks she was able to be turned out 24/7, although still on 'poor' grazing, and started getting small feeds of chaff and balancer.
She is now on decent grazing, adlib hay and decent sized high fibre feeds. They need to be fed for the work they do, just like any horse. They do take longer to fitten up, but as others have said they are more then capable of doing the work.

Unfortunately he will be rehabbing over the winter, so I don't think we will get the workload we need to. Another winter rehab... fun

 

[Pippity]

Oh god... puts my little tubby to shame....

Can you all share your secrets or is it just lots of exercise and restricting food intake (i.e. muzzle/ hay rations?)

With mine, restricting diet just slows down the weight gain - to lose weight and keep it off, she needs work. Long hacks to keep the fat off, and schooling to increase the muscle. Her hay is soaked, she gets a token hard feed to get her supplements down her, and she still balloons if you don't keep the work up. I'll occasionally pen her off a strip, if they've just moved to a new field that's particularly lush, but I don't muzzle.

This was her at her fittest last year, when we were trotting 4-6km 2/3 times a week, plus one hard schooling session and a couple of easier ones.



She's 15hh on her tiptoes with around 11" of bone, so a definite chunk. Sadly, between being turned away over winter with one niggly thing after another, plus time off over lockdown, she's a long way off looking like this at the moment.

 

[mavandkaz]

Unfortunately he will be rehabbing over the winter, so I don't think we will get the workload we need to. Another winter rehab... fun

I feel your pain. I am rehabbing my TB who has been turned away for nine months, and in the words of the vet 'he looks like he's about to foal'. He's only allowed to walk, and ideally in straight lines. I can't see him shifting the weight any time soon.

 

[DottlebangBandersnatch]

I'm currently looking after a vanner / gypsy cob who's never really been in full work (only 7). I think he still looks really fat (4 on the condition score to my eye) thick neck (but floppy) no sign of ribs, apple bum etc. Someone who's known him years think's he's as thin as he'd ever been and neck etc. is just his breed.

I've never had a proper coloured cob type so I wondered if anyone would have photos of fit, competing, lean coloured cobs so I can get my eye in better for what he could and should look like.

Yes I got this so much with my mare! It's just her type they said. She's in regular work now and is looking so much better! She couldn't pass for pregnant now! Tempted to shave her feathers off after seeing these lovely transformations!