Before and afters - Condition

Some of these horses are actually stunning !!
Mine is not quite as good but I think his condition and my riding has improved quite a bit.
He was my first share, i had him in february 2011 and he was sold in September of the same year.
Before:
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After:
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The little rescue I looked after last year:

When he arrived in Jan 2012:
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No butt

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Spot the ribs through the coat

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Nice bit of rain scald

When he left my care in November 2012.
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Don't think I did a bad job :o
 
Allie5 the pic of Bradley lying down made me feel teary. Bless him he's beautiful now.
Well done on some of these fabulous transformations, your horses must be so pleased you found them
 
Am loving the pictures of the thin rescue horses - just amazing & heartwarming to see. Forever Broke, your cob is awesome.

A horse does not get that fat without serious overfeeding and under work. No sympathy from me, I think his condition is a disgrace (though I think the same of many cobs in the show ring). If any of mine looked like that, I would not be proudly posting photos on a forum - I would be mortified.

Sorry to keep coming back, but if everyone keeps having a go, what choice do i have? I absolutely 100% do not overfeed him EVER (in fact, pretty much just do not even feed him EVER!), i honestly promise you that. At that point he was on NO feed, & paddocked with another cob on very little grass. As i've said, (but few seem to be listening) i'm not hugely into showing, although there's no way i'd purposely try to put weight on a cob type even if i was.

I have to be honest & say that i actually misread the title of this post - i missed the "Condition" bit & was kinda thinking it was about how your horses have changed from say example, scraggy youngsters into successful riding horses. I posted that pic because that was his first ever sash, & yes, i was proud that he won it. I was not proud of his weight! And before anyone says it, he didn't take the title off a slimmer cob in better condition - it was merely a tack & turnout class (although the judge does show coloured cobs & he has been placed well up the line in other classes when he has been slimmer). He is not in that second photo in what i'd call good condition (although i think he is looking okay in the third), he is waaaaay too fat, yep, i know it, & i made a bad choice of photo to post (i try not to let him get that fat!) under a thread that says "Condition".

Can we stop having a go now please? :cool:
 
Henry cob... He's 14hh, just, btw.

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6 months later...
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(their first 95cm class- they won! He was amazing SJ, happily popped 1.10m courses, little freak!)

18 months later, down to insane amounts of riding and effort from Al.
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(health and safety taken v. seriously)

He always looked very chunky, and despite being fit enough to hunt all day or to go round a BE Novice track inside the time he always had an apple bum. You can see how he always looked 'solid' if not chubby when not jumping. Trying to keep him slim whilst his chum was an elderly TB who was a poor doer was so difficult!
 
WOW

i am not usually keen on predominantly white but there is something about him thats really eye catching, he is lovelly

Thank you :D
When I went to see him I wanted something low maintenance, no blue eyes and to reach at least 15hh. He's 14hh, two blue eyes, a nightmare to keep clean and costs a fortune in feed and rugs! I just fell for him :o
 
18 months later, down to insane amounts of riding and effort from Al.
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I love this pic, he is a proper little cracker. As you say, it takes a shedload of effort and work to keep a pony like him in that sort of condition, but it certainly pays off :cool:
 
I love this pic, he is a proper little cracker. As you say, it takes a shedload of effort and work to keep a pony like him in that sort of condition, but it certainly pays off :cool:

:D He was awesome, but a little ******! And Al was riding him for up to 3 hours a day of proper hard work to get him like that. He was on that verge of being so fit he was unmanageable, but to have a pony his size and shape doing what he did you had to walk that line. In the stable/ on the ground was where we paid for it- you couldn't open his stable door if he wasn't already restrained!
 
Have posted these before but here is Izzy.

Obese, unfit, bargy cob, just before I got him on loan - July 2009

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Trec orienteering - Summer 2011

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Think this is Spring 2012

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Endurance October 2012

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Hard work but he is in perfect shape now according to the vet and physio. Had some problems with his feet and neck so was only hacked for 8 months last year, but back in tip top form now.





Now THAT'S an amazing transformation! Huuuge congrats on that one! In the first pic he looks more pregnant than my broodmare due April. In fact if I'd seen him then I'd have wanted a vet to have a look to check there wasn't anything nasty going on in the abdomen. He looks amazing now!
 
my dolly when i first got her and after 6months

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After her first clip this winter
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excuse the mud!

and finally arching her neck to get some topline!! (She's never worked in a proper outline before but after putting side reins on for a lunge she now wont stop standing like this, even will no pressure!!)

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I think she would if you relaxed your hands and used your leg....?
 
Not really about condition, more about growing up, but I love my hairy teddy bear!

Nov 2011 -first outing at approx 7 months old looking gawky
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Nov 2012 - same show a year later
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Edgedem
A horse working like that or standing like that is not correct and would suggest a training issue. She is not on the bit, her stance doesn't look balanced nor square and her jaw looks tense.the arched neck should be a result of the entire topline working not side reins bringing her head in.
 
Tiga71-I am not a cob 'person' but my goodness,your horse is lovely! Congrats on such a transformation and you plainly enjoying each other and doing fun stuff.:) (My apologies to any other posters with lovely horses-I have not read the whole thread.)
 
I'm sorry but scientifically speaking you are just wrong. Many horses in work do get laminitis, particularly if they are obese. Furthermore, obese horses have higher risks of numerous health issues from osteoarthritis to heart disease. Cobs are not subject to a different condition score - if they are as fat as that cob, they are fat - it is relative to conformation, but not to breed. It is people like you who are holding back the revolution in the understanding of the general public that fat animals are not healthy. Feel free to do a little research, either in the appropriate vet journals, or if you can't hack those, on the charity websites where they desperately try to educate people like you.



A horse does not get that fat without serious overfeeding and under work. No sympathy from me, I think his condition is a disgrace (though I think the same of many cobs in the show ring). If any of mine looked like that, I would not be proudly posting photos on a forum - I would be mortified.

And yes, I would (and have) said this to people's faces, I do not use the anonymity of the internet, and I do actually have a HW cob and two highlands myself so I do understand the issues keeping weight off good doers. None of mine have ever looked like that though :mad:

And to prove it:

3 year old last week:
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6 year old this morning:
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Don't have an unrugged shot of the cob. They're not perfect, but they're not welfare cases either :cool:


eta the chestnut 2 posts up looks fab :eek:

I totally agree with you here, but that three year old looks most unhappy... :S

My first pony was a champion highland stallion in his youth (he was about 30 and long since gelded when I had him haha, so nothing to do with me really) but the stud he came from didn't break them in until they were four or five, because they felt they took that long to reach maturity? Just a thought anyways, as your lad is lovely, but if I saw that pony in a field I would guess it was much younger than three!
 
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This was Bradley the day he walked off the lorry. Bought unseen as he was my boys full brother and I couldn't say no! I actually cried when I got his headcollar off and saw the mark it had left. Added into the lice, rainscald and being so underweight I was absolutely heartbroken for him

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You can see the headcollar mark in that pic where he's lieing down.

These pics were taken about 3 months and major surgery later.
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Jesus!! :eek: Poor little soul, what a wonderful thing you have done in rescuing him!!
 
There are some AMAZING transformations here!! And it just makes you realise that any ugly duckling can be made beautiful with the right care :D

Some truly beautiful horses! It's the skinny rescues that break my heart, there are some lovely people out there turning their lives around!
 
So many great transformations here, so great to see.

Some of mine, Appy Gilmore when I bought him

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and 2 years later

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Raven when I bought her

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and 6 months later

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Bert before and after

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And last, my darling Ace

when she arrived

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and a year later

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Wow,BB! You have done a lot of good work there! This thread is changing my opinions on some breeds! I was never particularly a cob fan until I saw Tiga's,nor particularly an appy fan but yours is lovely! And such a great name.:D
 
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