Condition Scoring a Fat Cob

[Wagtail]

Personally I would be really happy with that! He seems a good weight and only very slightly apple bottomed- but he does seem true to type!

I agree! I think he is about right for a HW cob. You should see the pne that is on a diet at our yard! Some horses always have apple bums as it is how they are built. My mare has always had one even when she was really lithe and competition fit. Yes he has a bit of a crest, but the rest of him looks just right to me.

 

[JFTDWS]

With mixing the hay in with straw, can you use regular wheat straw or do you use oat/barley straw?

oat or barley is better quality and more palatabe, but I use wheat for mine - they eat it happily...

 

[Daisy2]

If you score for each element then take the mean average that will give you the score so yes his crest is quite big so if you were scoring 1-5, I would say a 4.5, his shoulder neck junction shows some definition so say a 3 and the same for his tummy, I say his bottom was a 3.5 and fat pads on the shoulder (difficult to see) so say a 3.5. So he us averaging 3.5 to 4, your aim would be anywhere between 2.5 and 3. I am no expert but have two with similar conditions and always fighting the flab, Marley has PSSM, which is a similar condition so we dont feed any hard feeds at all, muzzled and hay rationed, he is still big but no longer footy. Good luck