Condition Scoring - How Is She Looking?

Is your field long and thin? I can't get past a canter on the welshie round 4.5 acres?

There is also a big difference between doing 10-20 min cantering last week and 15-20 min galloping now.

Fwiw I can't imagine she is getting much out of a coffee mug of the baileys, - the main ingredient of which is oats so they can't make her that bad! I'd also be careful if you are only giving her a small net at night that she isn't too long without forage.
 
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Id be worried about my pony carrying that much weight working that hard, 45 min jumping 1m+ And 20 min galloping daily is a serious work load, her muscles must be covered by... a layer ;) Amazed your ground hasn't compacted too much!
 
ester said:
I'd also be careful if you are only giving her a small net at night that she isn't too long without forage.
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This is the only thing that stood out to me. If she is only getting one small haynet a day then I would definitely look at increasing that and minimising the sugars & cereals she has. Hay is really far superior than manufactured feed (which is essentially junk food for horses in a lot of cases).

I'm sure you've put a lot of thought into her diet and she definitely doesn't look poorly, but I can't emphasise enough the importance of forage (without meaning to sound condescending!).
 
ester said:
Is your field long and thin? I can't get past a canter on the welshie round 4.5 acres?

There is also a big difference between doing 10-20 min cantering last week and 15-20 min galloping now.

Fwiw I can't imagine she is getting much out of a coffee mug of the baileys, - the main ingredient of which is oats so they can't make her that bad! I'd also be careful if you are only giving her a small net at night that she isn't too long without forage.
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Her turnout paddock is fairly long and thin, the main field is quite wide more than long. I know there is, but I've slowly worked to that, I didn't canter for 10 mins on day and then gallop for 20 the next, as that would be silly and irresponsible to expect her to do that. Yes, I forgot to mention that, the Competition Mix does contain oats, which she's (just!) OK on, however oats on their own....No way! She'd be in the next county! :D

OK, perhaps I'll give her two small nets at night, instead of one, so she's not without forage.
 
rara007 said:
Id be worried about my pony carrying that much weight working that hard, 45 min jumping 1m+ And 20 min galloping daily is a serious work load, her muscles must be covered by... a layer ;) Amazed your ground hasn't compacted too much!
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Oh dear, she really is fat isn't she!.... *walks away very shamefully into a dark corner*.
Our ground isn't bad at all, this hard ground & no rain *touches wood* is doing wonders for it.
 
SpringArising said:
This is the only thing that stood out to me. If she is only getting one small haynet a day then I would definitely look at increasing that and minimising the sugars & cereals she has. Hay is really far superior than manufactured feed (which is essentially junk food for horses in a lot of cases).

I'm sure you've put a lot of thought into her diet and she definitely doesn't look poorly, but I can't emphasise enough the importance of forage (without meaning to sound condescending!).
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Thank you SA, will give her more mini nets then, and even less 'sweeties'! I did put a lot of thought into her diet, as she's not always an easy horse (can be spooky & is quite highly strung), and it was a little bit 'saddening' that people (not you) seemed to be making out that what I'm doing for her is completely wrong, so sorry to all posters who commented on this thread if my other post seemed 'defensive'.
 
Well I say it straight working a horse carring that much fat the amount you say is something I would never do .
I would stable during the day and turn out in the evening so the horse is grazing when the there's less sugars in the grass .
I would also have the horse on restricted grazing on a track system ideally .
All my horses are carrying way more muscle than on far less work except the ones just coming back to work are perhaps as fat but have had no work since March .
 
Goldenstar said:
Well I say it straight working a horse carring that much fat the amount you say is something I would never do .
I would stable during the day and turn out in the evening so the horse is grazing when the there's less sugars in the grass .
I would also have the horse on restricted grazing on a track system ideally .
All my horses are carrying way more muscle than on far less work except the ones just coming back to work are perhaps as fat but have had no work since March .
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Stabling during the day & out at night isn't possible, as all the others are in at night, and she doesn't like to be out at night, especially on her own. We did try the tract system, but she didn't like it at all (and neither did I), as she likes to run around in her paddock.

a horse carring that much fat the amount you say. the ones just coming back to work are perhaps as fat
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You say 'that much fat', so what is she to you then, obese, or?... Because I personally don't think she looks that bad, nor does the very 'weight aware' vet, farrier or saddle fitter, so perhaps it's the photos. Yes she can still (and will) lose a bit, but from what you're saying it sounds like you think she's some mortally obese pony?
 
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Do the professionals know how much work she's in? I'm surprised they're not wanting to work it up as she's a bit of a metabolic anomaly isn't she! As some perspective she's in more work than my friends native who does 80Km endurance, and more work than many race horses.... What sort of recovery rate does she have?
 
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But she hunted, so hasn't really been 'soft'?
Galloping for 20 mins is a long time and not something I'd want to do on all but good ground.
 
ester said:
But she hunted, so hasn't really been 'soft'?
Galloping for 20 mins is a long time and not something I'd want to do on all but good ground.
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Oh OK, I see what rara007 means. I don't tend to gallop for 20 mins unless the ground is firm and not slippery - seen far too many horses fall out hunting because of slippery ground. If the ground is wet, I tend to substitute the galloping with hacking with hill work. And yes, she has hunted last season and the beginning of this year, but had a short holiday in late March till early April.
 
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by good I do mean with some cut in it.

TBH it just reads a bit odd, those eventing on the yard would not consider jumping for 45 mins and then doing more fast work on the same day.
 
ester said:
by good I do mean with some cut in it.

TBH it just reads a bit odd, those eventing on the yard would not consider jumping for 45 mins and then doing more fast work on the same day.
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But I'm not on an eventing yard. I'm on my own yard, I compete a bit but just have fun. I'm not a professional rider, just someone who enjoys riding & horses. I'd like to do BE on her one day, but at the moment we just have fun. The things I do aren't because she's a 4* eventer keeping fit, it's just a bit of fun for us both.

ETA, she has a 10 mins break after jumping a course, then jumps the course three times, then has a 20 min break, so all in all, including the jumping and breaks it's about 45 mins. So basically all she does is have short energy bursts, then has a rest, then does it again etc. And I add it up including the breaks, e.g jumping, rest, jumping again etc, gallop, rest, gallop rest etc. I'd never dream of jumping non-stop for 45 mins! :)
 
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I think Ester was trying to make the point she should look fitter than an eventer, regardless of the reason for the intense workload.
 
I think you misunderstand me. I am suggesting that most people would not do that amount of fast work in a day every day (jumping/galloping every day as you say), for the longevity of their horse, even if they are competing at a relatively high level. That and you have to consider her current muscular capabilities.
 
ester said:
I think you misunderstand me. I am suggesting that most people would not do that amount of fast work in a day every day (jumping/galloping every day as you say), for the longevity of their horse, even if they are competing at a relatively high level. That and you have to consider her current muscular capabilities.
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I don't do it everyday. Grr, I've really written by OP wrong.

OK, lets try again...
One day, let's say Monday, she does schooling to start of with, then jumping for 45 mins (including all her breaks she has) That is normally 2.5 hours, as she has a good few rests, I stay on her back watching my sister ride, then she stops and I go again etc etc. The following day, she does schooling for 30 mins, then I watch my sister, adjust jumps etc, get back on, pop a small jump, walk again etc, again, added all up is about 2.5 hours. The day after that galloping for 20 mins, then help my sister do things (whilst on Sunny). You get my drift :D (I hope). It all equates to 2.5ish, but a lot of the time she is just standing and walking around etc, not doing galloping or jumping without stopping.

I could of said this in my OP, but to me it sounded too complicated to write. What I should of said was ridden 6 days a week including blah blah blah on these certain days. So sorry everyone, I think I've confused you all (I thought you'd all understand what I meant...).

Also, she's jumped about 2 to 3 days a week, not everyday.
 
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EquiEquestrian556 said:
Thank you SA, will give her more mini nets then, and even less 'sweeties'! I did put a lot of thought into her diet, as she's not always an easy horse (can be spooky & is quite highly strung), and it was a little bit 'saddening' that people (not you) seemed to be making out that what I'm doing for her is completely wrong, so sorry to all posters who commented on this thread if my other post seemed 'defensive'.
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No one is saying you're doing it all wrong. It's just been suggested to you that you re-think the horses diet. We all get stuff wrong and learning is a life long thing. Your choice but why come on here and ask the question and then stamp your foot when you don't like some of the answers. Would you prefer it if everyone said, yes, it's weight is perfect, your exercise regime is perfect and you're feeding it the optimum diet.
 
PoppyAnderson said:
Your choice but why come on here and ask the question and then stamp your foot when you don't like some of the answers. Would you prefer it if everyone said, yes, it's weight is perfect, your exercise regime is perfect and you're feeding it the optimum diet.
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Sorry PA! :) Part of me is saying yes to that, and the other half no. It's just that I was asking how her weight was to others (got the answer), not on her feed/ exercise - the only reason I added them was because I thought people may want to know what she was doing and on. :)
 
EquiEquestrian556 said:
I don't do it everyday. Grr, I've really written by OP wrong.

OK, lets try again...
One day, let's say Monday, she does schooling to start of with, then jumping for 45 mins (including all her breaks she has) That is normally 2.5 hours, as she has a good few rests, I stay on her back watching my sister ride, then she stops and I go again etc etc. The following day, she does schooling for 30 mins, then I watch my sister, adjust jumps etc, get back on, pop a small jump, walk again etc, again, added all up is about 2.5 hours. The day after that galloping for 20 mins, then help my sister do things (whilst on Sunny). You get my drift :D (I hope). It all equates to 2.5ish, but a lot of the time she is just standing and walking around etc, not doing galloping or jumping without stopping.

I could of said this in my OP, but to me it sounded too complicated to write. What I should of said was ridden 6 days a week including blah blah blah on these certain days. So sorry everyone, I think I've confused you all (I thought you'd all understand what I meant...).

Also, she's jumped about 2 to 3 days a week, not everyday.
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This is far clearer and shows she is not doing so much as it seemed, it also explains to a degree why she is not as trim as expected despite a heavy work load, instead of standing around resting she would benefit far more from marching about in walk until she recovers/ cools down so the muscles continue to work but to a lesser degree.
Getting a horse fit usually entails short bursts of energy followed by actively walking then repeating, racehorses will gallop, walk back to the start and go again several times, they will not actually stop moving until they are back in their box.
It doesn't sound as if she does much hacking, I would be concerned about jumping any equine on grass more than once a week now the ground is hard let alone galloping the same day they have jumped unless it is xc schooling, it is very easy to overdo the faster work and risk damaging them in an effort to get the weight reduced, you need to keep the weight off but not at the detriment of their feet and joints.
 
Thank you bp. Glad this cleared things up. Re. the short energy bursts, that's exactly what I'm trying to do with her. Unless the ground is 'perfect' (does such a term exist in England?!) I don't jump more than twice a week, and if I did it would be a lot smaller than 1m. We do hack, but not a lot atm, but will be going hopefully every other day in the next week or so.

I'm really sorry, I must of confused so many of you, me saying in my OP the work she does and then saying she only does medium work!
Sorry for making a mountain out of a mole hole everyone, I sincerely didn't mean to! :)
 
EquiEquestrian556 said:
Stabling during the day & out at night isn't possible, as all the others are in at night, and she doesn't like to be out at night, especially on her own. We did try the tract system, but she didn't like it at all (and neither did I), as she likes to run around in her paddock.


You say 'that much fat', so what is she to you then, obese, or?... Because I personally don't think she looks that bad, nor does the very 'weight aware' vet, farrier or saddle fitter, so perhaps it's the photos. Yes she can still (and will) lose a bit, but from what you're saying it sounds like you think she's some mortally obese pony?
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I am saying what I wrote , the horse is too fat to be doing the work you describe .
 
I think some people are being a bit harsh here and looking into things far too much.

When I was the same age I did all sorts of silly things. I had two Bs who never looked quite right - one was older and suffered lami, the other was always incredibly lean, impossible to keep weight on & was highly strung. During the holidays I was always messing around; cantering a lot on hard ground, jumping with my yard friends etc. etc. and they both miraculously survived.

The pony looks absolutely fine and I'm sure has a nice life doing lots of varied things! They are never going to be or look perfect.
 
No, I too have one that will always look to have a belly unless he looks like a welfare case- he happens to have a wide ribcage.

But I know what his condition score is and would expect a certain amount of crit/helpful advise if I posted on here. As it is I am happy he is fit and healthy and confident in my assessment of him so I don't need to.

Sorry OP but I don't think you can post asking about condition score and then expect people not to suggest management ideas to improve it. I have certainly changed my management and feeding regime a lot over the last 10 years as I have learned things along the way and picked things up from others. It would be much better to just take things in to consideration rather than dismiss everything out of hand and getting quite antagonistic. Or just say thanks very much but I have changed her management a bit recently and think she will improve with that. It was probably unfortunate that all the times you posted about did add up to about 2.5 hours hence the confusion.
 
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As a complete aside that I know you didn't ask about but :p in the first pic she looks quite upright through her pasterns, matched by her shoulder angle. More upright = more susceptible to concussion as more of the force transmits up through the bones so I would advise you are bit careful on hard ground.
 
She may have energy to do the work, but my mare is worked once or twice a week.. she's not very fit, she could easily do that workload and not come back too puffy or sweaty as she's a powerhouse who switches on "flight" mode, she is a very forward pony! She would however, end up with a tendon tear or muscle injury as she hasn't been conditioned properly- be careful with your pony as injuries are a pretty heart sinking reality! I'd expect your horse to look more toned and fitter, my own horses including super fatty good-doers look like racehorses with a bit more bone when they are hunting fit. I'm sure your pony is happy and healthy but just a warning here from someone with first hand experience, my pony was in a similar workload and shape when she tore her tendon from repeated hammering (I was not very old so didn't understand what I was doing) and I couldn't ride for months. I've learnt that a few days off do a horse a lot of good in the long run

ETA- same as the poster above, I also picked up on that conformation and worried a little!
 
Yes, I noticed that her conformation looked strange on the photo. It's the ground, it's very un-level, hence her pasterns & shoulder look upright, but they aren't really. I asked my farrier about that years ago when I bought her, when she was standing on unlevel ground, and he moved her to a level bit and showed me that they weren't upright at all. Will try and find a photo of her standing on a level surface when I have a moment.
 
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