Are there any m&m's that arn't fat!?

MissSBird

MissSBird

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I'm now beginning to get to the stage where I don't believe such a thing exists.

I have my fell and my connie on the ultimate low-cal diet. Their feeds are just low-cal balancer and some mollasses free straw based chaff to stop bolting. Their hay is calculated and measured out with pedantic care to be 1% of their body weight (and I have access to a weigh scale so this isn't even a guess) as the new vet recommendations state. They are exercised as much as possible and always wear grazing muzzles in the field. But they're still fat (though not obese).

We have a new livery on our yard who has a section d. We were chatting about this problem the other day, as she is as obsessed with it as I am. Her guy was eventing this year, was as fit as she could make him and coming back from events as you would expect a well-prepared horse to do. But even with all this, he still had that slight love heart shape to his hind quarters.

So an eventing fit m&m kept on a strict diet is still bordering the fat side; I'm beginning to despair! Does anyone have a non-fat m&m? And what is your secret!?
 
I have a non fat section D- but we did buy him in May underweight so he has been allowed as much food as he likes (which he loves) whilst he slowly builds up condition. It is only the past month or so that he has actually started to look more normal and less pointy!
Mind you, by the time it comes to next spring I bet I will be joining the fatty club!
Edited to show some pictures of how he has changed and put weight on- more to show that a skinny section D once existed :P
FRED1.jpg

After about 2 months
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and most recently just after his clip- I think he looks a much more normal weight now but just needs some more muscle on his bum!
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My section c is currently tubby, but then he hasn't been ridden for 4 weeks!!

However, when I had him in full work he wasn't fat and I could feed him PROPERLY!!!!

No secrets, but I do use simple systems feeds which I think are ideal for natives as there is quantity without huge amounts of calories.
 
My friends Welsh D isn't fat. He was last ridden over a year ago, is 29yo and gets a huge bucket of grub (chaff, sugar beet, nuts and mix) TWICE a day and he looks hunting fit! I think he schools himself in the field all day whilst no-one is watching!:D

This is him...

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Genie!

Her feed all year round consists of a handful of happy hoof and half a handful of cool mix, once a day, with added garlic, biotin and a good vitamin supplement.

In the winter she has adlib hay/haylage and is out every day.
In the summer she comes in religiously every day, is out at night, and during the day has 1 slice of hay (2 if very lucky).

She's ridden 6 days a week which is the main thing when it comes to controlling her weight.


April this year
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June this year
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October this year
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I must admit I am VERY watchful with her weight, and despite not being fat she came up as 547kg on the weigh bridge in June!

Of course, if anybody does think that she's fat, feel free to say to me that she is and explain why you think this! :)
 
Neither of mine are fat....in fact the arab is now the chubbiest:o But then he was underweight when I got him.

The highland and the irish cob live on hay (small holed nets, and not much of it) - a scrape of low cal chaff (Hoofkind) and a scoop of pink powder. The mare ( irish cob) always has an apple bum....even at her fittest when she was team chasing - its just the way she is made.

The highland I have to be careful with over winter- he gets soooo hairy he looks fat, but you could lose a hand in his coat....come spring and it all comes out, he's very trim indeed.
 
My welsh a is a stress head and hoons around the field all day like a loony and keeps herself fit :D How she got lami in her last home i'll never know! She entertains herself in the field!
My welsh d x goes up and down but has never been obese, only a bit chubby!
 
my nf is a porker. He's not massive, just a v good doer. There is very little grass in his field but I have only just started putting a little hay out now the weather has got so cold. He is ridden or lunged at least 4 times a week, and when ridden gets a tiny handful of pony nuts and a carrot. He is also extremely hyper!

My connie x is completely different - he is always quite hard to keep the weight on, especially when he was eventing fit. He has adlib haylage and a good dinner :) Luckily he is out on loan and I have my ultimate low cost/low maintenance pony living out through the winter - expecting to save a fortune on last year!!!
 
my pony is a bit fat at the moment but he goes on the snow diet during the winter and slims down. he lives out, I don't over rug him, and I don't feed him very much hard feed, he gets a two handfuls of mix and a handful of chaff, if he has hay it is soaked, unless he has hay in the field which he only gets if it snows or there is no grass and even then he does not get loads of hay. Here he is at the moment too fat but ready for the cold winter, i still feel his ribs though.

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After being on the snow diet last year, he does still get a bit of a tummy because he is on a fibre diet but he deflates after about an hour off the grass

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in this spring

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Interesting here's Phil at his lowest weight (around 500kg) with no muscle and I'd say little fat too. But still an apple bum! And he generally carries his weight on his neck and shoulders!

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mmm alas my lass is fat and i know it and worry :( with riding restricted due to eyes and damn fine grazing )she puts weight on - in at night during summer and winter but shes NAKED NOW wooo hoooo - hopefully be a tad under weight in spring ready for grass - yay yay :)
 
I had a connie and it was literally impossible to keep weight on him! In the winter he was fed maximum amount of food for his size and had rugs coming out his ears and he still looked poor!! He was such a stress head :p
 
My daughters sec a isnt fat, he gets a largeish haynet at night at the min if hes in he gets a meduim sized hay or hes out with no hay as its a large herd, he gets a large scoop of safe and sound spilt between 2 feeds and bout 4 carrots also a glug of cod liver oil in his dinner. He also gets bout 1/3 scoop of high fibre nuts in the evening in a snack a ball. But to be fair my daughter does canter trot non stop for a good hour a day. He goes XC, showjumping, been to the beach recently and has 11 mile sposered ride in a week fingers crossed weather pemitted.

Hes rounder in the summer but wouldnt sat fat he lives out bar for 3 hours in the afternoon where he comes into a shavings bed and water and doesnt get fed. My daughter rides for a minuimum of hour and half in the summer evenings going to the park in the jumping paddock round the track or a cobination of all!!! LOL and competes most weekend.

Must admit got him in May quite fat but he seem to have evened of think its due to the amount of work and purely my daughter doenst stop when shes on board. Must be doing him good cos even my vet commented on how well he looked overall!!!!:)
 
CuriousYellow said:
Neither of mine are fat....in fact the arab is now the chubbiest:o But then he was underweight when I got him.

The highland and the irish cob live on hay (small holed nets, and not much of it) - a scrape of low cal chaff (Hoofkind) and a scoop of pink powder. The mare ( irish cob) always has an apple bum....even at her fittest when she was team chasing - its just the way she is made.

The highland I have to be careful with over winter- he gets soooo hairy he looks fat, but you could lose a hand in his coat....come spring and it all comes out, he's very trim indeed.
Click to expand...

Ditto my NF (and my WBx NF)get miniscule small hole nets, a scrape of chaff just to put MSM and MagOx in and thats it! I dont fee anything by weight but by look and feel. NF has a small clip but is still turned out in the day unrugged. I am brutal with the feeding as advised by my Vet that they are designed to live on fresh air. NF is not fat on this regime, but has been!!
 
Well, no lightbulb moments unfortunately. But some hope is restored! At least my guys arn't obese, just a bit tubby.

And lovely pictures!

Interesting to note that the majority who arn't fat are welsh ds, who of all the m&m breeds tend to be the stressy ones.
 
This is Pippa when she was in harder work, she's a dales x. Took quite a while to get her to slim down, although she's looking a bit more portly now as she is on box rest...
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My Sec d is on the tubby side - he can stress but only about things that *may* be detrimental to his wellbeing so no chance of him stressing any weight off!

Last winter I delayed rugging him and in revenge he grew a coat of yeti proportions - this year I have given him a high blanket clip (think mini-skirt rather than blanket) in the hope he will burn a bit off. He's on a handful of bog standard pony nuts and a handful of Hi-Fi twice a day just to make him *think* he's had brekkie etc when the others are fed. Out in the daytime and in at night with a well-soaked haynet.

He will lose it over the winter but am resigned to buying a grazing muzzle for the summer as our grazing is pretty rich.
 
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