body scoring

F

Fantasy_World

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 February 2007
Messages
2,754
Visit site
Following on from the post about Blacky and about body scoring and that someone posted a link about it. How the hell does it work?
I can understand the gutter bit as I have seen horses with those and about feelingh ribs/hips etc but what the hell does it mean by a crest?
If I post these pics of my daughter's cob ( taken yesterday)who is a 7 year old 14.3 cob ( looks mw to hw imo) could people please tell me if he has crests and is a good or fat on body score.
I personally don't think he is obese on body score though. He does have what I would call a grass belly and all the horses on the yard do at the moment due to the rich grass following sun and rain.
He has a small gutter on his bum but it is only slight on the surface and not the kind that separates the cheeks if you follow me lol.

Any comments would be gratefully received, thanks Cazx

ABCD0002_edited.jpg


ABCD0004_edited.jpg
 
Your cob looks in pefect condition to me.

With a cresty neck you can usually see a line in the coat where the muscle finishes and the fat starts. If you gently pinch either side of their mane with your fingers, a fat neck feels solid, whereas a fit / thin ones feels soft.


Overweight horses often have bulges of fat over-hanging their forearm (top of their front legs on the outside), and fatty padded bottoms as looked at from the side - looks a bit like cellulite!

Not all horses that have cresty necks are fat though- some are just made like that - but when added to huge fat stomach and wobbly bulges, then they are obese.
 
Thanks for your comment Madhossy I will have a feel of his neck and see how it feels. He does a slight bit of weight on his shoulders, bit not much and only about the same I have seen on some racehorses as they are paraded around the ring. His belly is hard to the touch like my other horse's. It feels like wind to be honest and both do pass it lol.
Sorry about large pics everyone in case I get shouted at. Have changed size on photobucket but it hasn't on here.
Cazx
 
if you measure you cob around the cannon bone under his knee it will tell you if he is a light weight(under 9 ins) or heavy weight(over 9ins)there is no medium.he does look porky to me!!!have you got a weight tape to measure him?my mare is 14.3.,light weight(this means she can carry up to 14 stone i think)and she wieghts 470 kgs.
 
This is my cob, Patches, as a comparison.

Now.
DSC01141.jpg

DSC01075.jpg


Not long after I first had her
DSC01219.jpg


I think, comparing the pics of Patches, that her frame her really lightened in the time I've owned her. Especially around her shoulder.

However, my vet and farrier still tell me she's carrying too much weight. That's what makes me wonder what my vet would make of other people's horses, like Blacky, if he thinks Patches is fat.
blush.gif
 
The woolly one was Winter 2005, think the date is on the pic. The more recent ones were about 3 weeks ago. Haven't got any of her standing properly since then.

This is today though
IMG_4808.jpg


And last Monday
IMG_4649.jpg
 
Patches looks great and there is no way she is fat. Sorry but your vet is so wrong on that. She looks in perfect condition to me
smile.gif
In our case though lol Mcfly has gone from a slim version to how he is now. On the other hand though he is still young. He was 6 when we got him and looked like he needed filling out to do and even growing, but think we may be wrong on the latter. It was just that his rear bump was higher than his withers and many people including myself thought he may grow more in height. It doesn't look like that is going to happen though now and I think it's just his conformation to be honest. Am I right in saying horses that are bum high like that and have rounded one's ( don't mean fat) make good jumpers as I'm sure I have read that somewhere?
Basically he came from a welsh stud and has been out a grass for 6 years before being backed and then sold on.
Cahill his cannon bone is def over 9 inches or it was when I last measured it which is why I've had trouble getting boots to fit both my lads. Have not used the weigh tape for a while now. Bit silly really as my aim was to do it regularly and to have an exercise plan for both of them. It didn't work like that for one reason or another though and the weigh tape fell by the wayside lol.
Also had trouble with a rider for him as well as partner will only ride when he feels like it. Daughter can only ride every other weekend as she goes to her dads on the others. Now we have lighter nights it's a help, but I fear that the paddock we can use to ride in on a lunge is being used by other horses as there are social problems within the mares group. We cannot school down the bridle track as it is too dangerous as there is no way I would let partner or daughter ride on him with no lunge or rope yet in case he took off as neither are good enough riders to cope with a bolting horse.
I have not sat on him as I feel I am too heavy at the mo.
Under the circumstances and the present facilities at the yard he was probably the wrong horse to buy at the time. But there is no way we would get rid of him. I would rather stick my neck out and keep trying and eventually with patience we will get there. He is very green as he was only broken in last year by present owners and because he has not been ridden much since I would say he is more like a youngster that has been backed and then turned away. He needs more education but if we can find a way he will be a super horse as his nature is second to none.
Cazx
 
Sorry but I'd say way too fat - pictures can be decieving so ask someone knowledgable that can actualy look at him properly (I mean a vet or instructor that sees a lot of horses, not just a fellow livery!) but the photos show no definition or shape.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top