Condition Scoring - How Is She Looking?

[Gentle_Warrior]

in my opinion, for that amount of work or even just schooling every day for an hour solid she does not look fit. My 22 year old semi retired not ridden for 18 months looks like has more muscle from living out 24/7 and he has only been ridden for 20 mins in the last week for the first time in 18 months,

 

[splashgirl45]

This photo shows her white hairs quite well.

I must be seeing something others aren't...I see a pony about the right weight for a leisure horse but doesn't need any more, how can you all say she is too fat????
I think she does need a bit more topline but this was said in the first post...the photo taken from behind makes her look fat in the hindquarters but this one doesn't. you are very brave (or foolhardy) to put a photo up and ask opinions. sounds to me that you are trying very hard to do the right thing...good luck

 

[ester]

I don't think that is a current photo?

 

[EquiEquestrian556]

I don't think that is a current photo?

Yes ester, it is a current photo. It was taken the same day I took the others last Friday), but I didn't think it was the best photo to use as she wasn't standing straight and she was looking at the camera. That is how she really looks in person though.

 

[EquiEquestrian556]

Deleted as posted twice.

 

[Rosesandhorses]

I thought I may give you some eventing advice- I know you haven't asked for it but I would have found it helpful in your position If you are planning to do a few one day events I would say you probably need to alter her exercise slightly. My event horse hacks out approx 3 times a week- twice for an hour doing lots of road work in work and trot to condition his legs and once for a few hours where we'll do hill work and some strong canters/gallops up hill. I will then school him twice a week for about 45 mins- an hour doing supplying work and mainly staying in trot and canter and then have one jumping lesson on a surface a week. He then has one day off. That is a normal week mid season where he's not eventing. At the start of the season I do some interval training where I trot for so many minutes then canter for some many minutes to build fitness. After an event he gets 2 days off before a slow hack on day 3 to loosen him off and then take it from there. I also feed a good joint supplement and he gets a good dose of a high protein competition mix as the protein helps build muscle. For the first event I do with a horse I prefer them to be not too fit otherwise this can cause issues in itself due to the atmosphere being a lot different to most shows. I hope this is helpful

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Sorry to carp [but that won't stop me], I am not really sure what OP wants, she is the one who can condition score the horse, which is best done with the horse in front of her. There is no right or wrong. A mature fully fit racehorse has an optimum weight plus or minus 15kg, so one can probably suggest a pony will have an optimum plus or minus 10kg.
She suggests the pony does not have the expected/desired muscle tone but does not want advice on either diet or on exercise.

Using a weigh tape weekly will tell her whether weight is gaining or losing, if she continues to exercise in the same way the muscles will remain the same.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

I am watching the racing from Channel 4 and the horses are well covered over their hind quarters, and in the forequarters, they are not carrying any fat, but I put them as perfect ..... 2.5.
At the end of a long season you will see some NH horses running up light, they may even go to condition score 2, but they will generally be below optimum racing weight and in need of a rest, traditionally they will get two to three months at grass.
I used to condition score my standardbred because he was so slow maturing, and I kept him at over between 3 [late summer] and <2.5 when turned out in spring. If he was in light or moderate work he may have altered shape, but not necessarily altered his condition score, I used to hack all the time, and though he changed shape when he was schooled and not hacked, I would say he neither lost nor gained condition.

 

[EquiEquestrian556]

Sorry to carp [but that won't stop me], I am not really sure what OP wants, she is the one who can condition score the horse, which is best done with the horse in front of her. There is no right or wrong. A mature fully fit racehorse has an optimum weight plus or minus 15kg, so one can probably suggest a pony will have an optimum plus or minus 10kg.
She suggests the pony does not have the expected/desired muscle tone but does not want advice on either diet or on exercise.

Using a weigh tape weekly will tell her whether weight is gaining or losing, if she continues to exercise in the same way the muscles will remain the same.

Sorry Bonkers2, I was having 'one of those days' last week. Your advice was very useful, and has been taken on-board. I wanted advice on how she was looking (which I most certainly got - verdict: fat) and will continue the diet & slowly upping her exercise, as well as incorporating some exercises to build her topline & muscle tone.

I am already weigh taping her weekly, and I've noticed she's lost a bit since last week, which is good.

Just a question, is there any particular reason you keep comparing her to TB racers? As to me, they are two completely different horses - TBs are naturally built much finer & skinnier, and these race, and then you have a NF who is naturally slightly more covered & rounded (no excuse for being fat though) and is heavier in build, plus does something completely different than a TB racer. I'm guessing you do something/ work with racers, hence why you mention them a lot in your posts, but it makes me interested to know why you compare my NF to a TB.

 

[EquiEquestrian556]

I thought I may give you some eventing advice- I know you haven't asked for it but I would have found it helpful in your position If you are planning to do a few one day events I would say you probably need to alter her exercise slightly. My event horse hacks out approx 3 times a week- twice for an hour doing lots of road work in work and trot to condition his legs and once for a few hours where we'll do hill work and some strong canters/gallops up hill. I will then school him twice a week for about 45 mins- an hour doing supplying work and mainly staying in trot and canter and then have one jumping lesson on a surface a week. He then has one day off. That is a normal week mid season where he's not eventing. At the start of the season I do some interval training where I trot for so many minutes then canter for some many minutes to build fitness. After an event he gets 2 days off before a slow hack on day 3 to loosen him off and then take it from there. I also feed a good joint supplement and he gets a good dose of a high protein competition mix as the protein helps build muscle. For the first event I do with a horse I prefer them to be not too fit otherwise this can cause issues in itself due to the atmosphere being a lot different to most shows. I hope this is helpful

RAH, thank you very much for that advice, it was indeed very helpful! Will definitely incorporate some of the things that you do with your eventer - it's always very useful to know what people who event are doing with their eventers. She was on a good joint supplement in the hunting season, but for some reason stopped adding it to her feed. I was going to start feeding it to her again anyway, so will start doing it again.

Thank you for the advice!

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

The reason I refer to the work done to condtion racehorses is that they are exercised to build muscle in the right places and they are very fit, they don't get as much work as your pony, they get as much as they need for their job.
Also it is easy to imagine what is the ideal musculature for a fit animal as they are on TV every day.
I did hve a NF and he was very much a mini TB rather than a large shetland.
I don't think she is fat, a term which equates to a health risk.

 

[Nudibranch]

I don't think she is fat, and my comment referred to her lack of muscle given what appears to be quite a heavy exercise regime. I would not up her work if she is doing everything you say she is. I would decrease the charging round small fields and increase hill work and hacking at an active walk and concentrating on a rhythmic working trot. Give her at least one day off a week so her body can recover and build muscle.

 

[EquiEquestrian556]

The reason I refer to the work done to condtion racehorses is that they are exercised to build muscle in the right places and they are very fit, they don't get as much work as your pony, they get as much as they need for their job.
Also it is easy to imagine what is the ideal musculature for a fit animal as they are on TV every day.
I did hve a NF and he was very much a mini TB rather than a large shetland.
I don't think she is fat, a term which equates to a health risk.

Thank you for explaining that. So what would you consider her as, a large Shetland or Mini TB? (The latter I think).

 

[Nudibranch]

Bear in mind a racing TB will not have the correct neck muscles for a riding horse; they build up too much underneath and lack topline between withers and ears.

 

[EquiEquestrian556]

Bear in mind a racing TB will not have the correct neck muscles for a riding horse; they build up too much underneath and lack topline between withers and ears.

I was thinking that Naduibranch. They are all 'weedy' on their necks.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

http://frankel.juddmonte.com/


http://www.stallionsonline.co.uk/advancedsearch.php?b=210&d=328&h=n&ch=&x=43&y=6

I think you will find a good strong horse will not be weedy, the weedy TB s I see are generally in the hands of people who don't know how to condition them.

 

[Goldenstar]

A racing fit TB in top shape will not be weedy .

 

[Nudibranch]

Not weedy but incorrectly muscled on the neck for the job of a leisure horse!

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

I think most people think all TBs in racing are the same, they are not, to ride a top NH horse or a flat sprinter, you will be sitting on top of a lot of horse, and the musclature of the neck will be robust not weedy. Quite often the colts will not be cut till they have muscled up anyway.

Some of them actually have a natural balanced carriage and are broken and have basic schooling before they are put in to training, not all are broken quickly and put in to training with no schooling, many are, but by no means all.

If you go to the top NH yards you will find them being loose schooled in order to teach them to jump freely, they may be ridden in draw reins when they first enter training or not, yes they will be asked to walk out on a loose rein at trot and walk, but they generally will work on the bridle [ie contact] in the canter.

The flat horses which are described on here as weedy, are of the slimline type, but they are not all like that.

 

[sonjafoers]

I think she looks great for a leisure horse, I agree with you that the pics give different impressions as she looks fine in the facing one but some of the others make her look like she's carrying more than enough weight - I'm guessing probbaly camera angles.

Just a question - why are you feeding Baileys Lo-Cal alongside Benevit Advance? They will both provide the vits & mins you need albeit in a different format but you are doubling up which could eventually be dangerous to her but is also costing you money which you don't need to spend. One or the other would suffice depending on whether you feel you need the protein a balancer provides.

 

[sonjafoers]

I think she looks great for a leisure horse, I agree with you that the pics give different impressions as she looks fine in the facing one but some of the others make her look like she's carrying more than enough weight - I'm guessing probbaly camera angles.

Just a question - why are you feeding Baileys Lo-Cal alongside Benevit Advance? They will both provide the vits & mins you need albeit in a different format but you are doubling up which could eventually be dangerous to her but is also costing you money which you don't need to spend. One or the other would suffice depending on whether you feel you need the protein a balancer provides.

 

[EquiEquestrian556]

I think she looks great for a leisure horse, I agree with you that the pics give different impressions as she looks fine in the facing one but some of the others make her look like she's carrying more than enough weight - I'm guessing probbaly camera angles.

Just a question - why are you feeding Baileys Lo-Cal alongside Benevit Advance? They will both provide the vits & mins you need albeit in a different format but you are doubling up which could eventually be dangerous to her but is also costing you money which you don't need to spend. One or the other would suffice depending on whether you feel you need the protein a balancer provides.

It may be the camera angles, TBH, I doubt I'd ever win a photography contest - my photography is pretty awful! The reason I am feeding both, is because she gets a sprinkle of Lo-Cal, more as a treat to tempt her, when she has her day off (she doesn't get B.'s C. Mix on her day off). With the amount I feed (the Lo-Cal) I'm not really worried, as it's a lot less than the recommended feeding amount from Baileys, even for a horse in light work. The Benevit Advance is the only thing that actually provides her with her vits & mins hard feed-wise, apart from literally about 5 little nuts of Lo-Cal, only fed on her day off. If I were feeding high amounts of Lo-Cal daily, then I'd definitely skip one or the other, as I agree, it would be very dangerous.

 

[Fun Times]

Hi EE. Going off on a tangent here but are there any racehorse gallops near you available for hire? Near us we have one you can hire for ten pound per horse in the afternoons after the racehorses have gone to bed for the day. Its all surfaced and kept in great condition and has a long pull uphill. I use it to keep my eventer fit (often just trotting up the hill mostly) and it means you can still do fast work even if the ground has turned rock hard. I think you and she would find it great fun too.

 

[EquiEquestrian556]

Hi EE. Going off on a tangent here but are there any racehorse gallops near you available for hire? Near us we have one you can hire for ten pound per horse in the afternoons after the racehorses have gone to bed for the day. Its all surfaced and kept in great condition and has a long pull uphill. I use it to keep my eventer fit (often just trotting up the hill mostly) and it means you can still do fast work even if the ground has turned rock hard. I think you and she would find it great fun too.

There is only one, sadly it's about 39/ 40 miles away, so would be an occasional trip, perhaps every 6 months (if that) - not much use for keeping her fit, as that's pretty far for us, especially as our lorry only goes at 20/ 30 miles an hour along the country roads, so would be quite a trip. I'd love to take her to the gallops, think it would keep her fit, plus she (& I) would have lots of fun! Somerford Park's Farm ride is the closest 'gallop' type facility we have near us, which when we're there I go round again after jumping for a fast canter/ gallop. But again, even that is a 2.5 hour trip (30 miles).

We have an arena in the village that you can sometimes hire, however it's quite tiny (you can't really canter in it) and the sand in there isn't great. We'll be doing lots of hacking now, which we both enjoy, so that's a nice substitute if the ground is really hard. Of course it's sodden at the moment, so you can't canter much. If it's not rock hard or frozen it's a swimming pool! Typical British weather!

 

[Kat]

There is only one, sadly it's about 39/ 40 miles away, so would be an occasional trip, perhaps every 6 months (if that) - not much use for keeping her fit, as that's pretty far for us, especially as our lorry only goes at 20/ 30 miles an hour along the country roads, so would be quite a trip. I'd love to take her to the gallops, think it would keep her fit, plus she (& I) would have lots of fun! Somerford Park's Farm ride is the closest 'gallop' type facility we have near us, which when we're there I go round again after jumping for a fast canter/ gallop. But again, even that is a 2.5 hour trip (30 miles).

We have an arena in the village that you can sometimes hire, however it's quite tiny (you can't really canter in it) and the sand in there isn't great. We'll be doing lots of hacking now, which we both enjoy, so that's a nice substitute if the ground is really hard. Of course it's sodden at the moment, so you can't canter much. If it's not rock hard or frozen it's a swimming pool! Typical British weather!

Have you looked at Derbyshire Gallops at Mansfield? I am planning a trip soon......

 

[EquiEquestrian556]

Have you looked at Derbyshire Gallops at Mansfield? I am planning a trip soon......

Those are the ones that our 40 miles away from us

 

[Kat]

Those are the ones that our 40 miles away from us

Oh that's a shame :-(

 

[EquiEquestrian556]

Oh that's a shame :-(

I know.