Comp report (with pics)- I am such a numpty!

Welldone on how much you have bonded with him. I think he is a sweetie and will come along nicely. He has a nice kind eye :)

I am sure using calm and condition/blue chip will help him out with his weight gain and also spring grass will help too!

I have tb myself and know it can be difficult keeping weight on them, personally i would stick to light work for now hun and get that muscle on him, doesnt mean to say you cant jump i would maybe avoid competitions until the spring (not far away)

good luck with him im sure you will do well ;)
 
Big pat on the back, he looks quite happy and your position is better than mine!! Sounds like you haven't had him long so well done on the bravery front. He's a sweetie and nice to see you both enjoying yourselves, It seems from other posts like you lost your last one which is sad and this boy appears to have filled some of the hole.

I agree he is thin but if you've not had him long now is a bad time of year to be putting weight on, in the spring it will be alot easier. I think you made a good decision to do 1 class and he obviously coped with it ok, maybe stick to 1 class while he fills out a bit. but HUGE pat on the back (for you) and neck (for him).
 
Yes he's a bit poor but if I've read rightly you have started him on Calm & Condition? I've yet to meet a horse that hasn't thrived on that feed!! I share a yard with a P2P trainer and all his TB's are on that over the winter (plus of course ALOT of other stuff...boy those horses eat!!!) and he absolutely swears by the stuff!!! I gave it to my cob when he was diagnosed with sugar intolerance, he lost 100kg and I thought he was dying!! A few months on C&C and he was back to his weight...plus some more!!!:o

Look forward to seeing more pictures when he's shiney and fit...I bet he's going to be a stunner!!:D
 
I had a very thin tb X. Food and work will soon show in his shape. I fed mine three small hard feeds a day as the horses stomach is quite small, so nothing got wasted and he put on weight within a few months. Good luck with him.
 
Love the pics, esp the last one where he is jumping towards the photographer! You look like you are both really enjoying yourself!

Was going to head down to Summerhouse for a spin around the warmup and cr this weekend for my v green mare and I but I'm glad I didn't if the already small warmup was even smaller! Have never done unaff sj, is there anywhere particular you would or wouldn't recommend? Go aff sj with oh, so know those centers, but not sure which ones have the least scary warmups when they have unaff on (my most scary bit!)?

Sure he'll put on weight in time esp with you keeping a careful eye on his feed, and am with you on the difficulty of blanket clips! Fortunatly my mare is a smidge larger than I'd like, is now in hard work and she runs v warm, so I happily gave her a hunter clip. She really looked dreadful in my rather poor blanket clip, poor girl!!
 
Havent read other post, but calm and condition worked fab on my old Selle Francais when he looked alot like that after being starved for a while under vets advice. (long story)

Well done for doing the course lovely, and at least you know you should be 4th or 5th, so theres always next time. Dont worry we've all made an opps in the ring, I got a clear round and would've got a 1st last time I jumped a course.... had I of gone through the start gate! lol.
 
stroppy said:
I'm sorry but i don't think you should be out competing him when he looks incredibly poor, he looks scrawny and weak , I can't imagine its doing him any good at all to be out and about putting stress on his muscles when he looks so under developed, sorry but that's just my honest opinion.
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree with this.
 
The comments are a bit mean but well done for handling them so well! Regulars on here know how much you are doing to get condition on him slowly and sensibly. I just wanted to share some photos of my old horse who I thinks looks a little like Andy but with not such a kind eye. Although she had a fatter tummy she had a very scrawny neck and her hind quarters had no muscle and were very angular, she had spent the winter out 24/7 on little / no hard food and looked pretty poor when I got her.

Over 4 months its amazing what some good food, some Dr Green and correct work (ours mostly included hacking on hills!) will do. Good luck with him, he looks an absolute poppet! And enjoy watching the transformation as all your hard work pays off.

Before (February)
P1000932.jpg


After (June of the same year)
Daisyconfo.jpg
 
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i would have also stayed at home until he was in much better condition. i dont see how taking him to a competition within the month to see where you stand is helpful but given the benifit of the doubt, hes got a cracking jump and hes a one in a million sort. as everyones said, stay at home, sort the clip out, rug him up and 3 feeds a day, do some gentle exersize lots of hacking and lunging with a passoa on the lowest setting to build up a true topline, get some beet in him and a conditioning mix and then you can jump him to see where you stand. (please give me your jumping position!)
 
Calm & Condition rocks! My boy although not overly thin was in poor condition when he came to me, and with stabling and 5ish hours turnout a day, lots of hill hacking and C&C and the A&P Sustain mix he looks a treat in just 2 months.
And it's great value for money - I rave about it x
 
You asked for comments on his condition and the pics there showed he was underweight, these pictures show he is majorly underweight and very weak. I really think your horse would benefit from not being worked for a while and just allow him to eat as much as he will to put on weight and then once he is in better condition bring him back into work making sure you feed according to what you are doing, and then he will have the reserves to turn tissue into muscle. He does look happy i agree and does enjoy what he is doing but personally i would be wanting to get some weight on him if he were mine.
On the competition side of things, well done and shame about the last jump...we have all done it at some point! You wont do it again thats for sure!
I hope the summer brings you lots of success, please think about letting him just put some weight on tho as hard as it is when you want to ride
 
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Just as a thought, Koko...

Dorey is about twice his size (okay, she's a cob, but as cobs go she's still on the lean side!) and I'm not jumping her until I have leveled out the muscle on her hind-quarters. I don't feel happy putting her joints under the strain until she's fitter and more balanced. This doesn't mean she wouldn't jump if I asked her to. She'd bend over backwards if I asked her to. Even though it's technically impossible...

But thats MY decision based on what I know about my horse (history of being unbalanced, 4 years out of work etc).

Whatever HHOers think they see, and I'll admit I see a very skinny little chap, we don't know Andy, you do. If you are happy including jumping in his routine, thats up to you.

Also, Dorey shares the dumb looking clip look... ever tried doing a straight line on a horse who waits until you apply the clippers to skin before she wiggles?
Next time I'm sedating her just to avoid the shame... LOL!
 
Having read your posts both here and just in general I have no doubt that you are taking the right steps to help your fella get condition on. He looks genuinely happy and chirpy and like he's having a ball and I will stick my neck on the line and say that if jumping has him in such happy and fun form I wouldn't be worried about the odd outing once you don't overdo it. I would actually clip the rest of and add an extra rug or duvet. We do this with the racing TBs that go bit weedy and backwards over the winter and I find it makes a big difference. Their coats are generally better, it is easier to see the true picture of what is going on and you can utilise rugs to keep him snuggly allowing the feed to work on putting weight on. Many people would not agree with this but it works.
 
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