Crests- conformation or fat?

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throughtheforest

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As the title says really. Is it possible that a horse gelded at 4 has a (slight) crest as conformation rather than fat? Especially as he's slim everywhere else?!
 
could be that hes prone to metabolic disease and puts fat up at the crest first. watch out of laminitis
 
Downton Dame said:
could be that hes prone to metabolic disease and puts fat up at the crest first. watch out of laminitis
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It may go down with correct work, crests often form out of tension although they also develop in more advanced horses, it can be conformation or at least a genetic tendency I have had some that get a cresty neck naturally others that are always weaker in the top of the neck even if they get fatter than ideal elsewhere.
 
My two of my geldings have impressive crests .
But unless they are doing a lot of dressage type work if your horse has a large crest it's safest to proceed on the basis that the horse is at risk from lami and get him moving and on a diet .
 
My horse has an enormous crest, even when I get him very skinny (the vet will back me up on this). It obviously gets larger if he puts on weight too - he's a high risk for lami sadly.
 
I had a pony that was cut at 4, and he always had a slight stallion-like crest, everybody thought he was a stallion when I took him out. Fortunately he had no stallion behaviour !
 
Well yes he's EMS positive. But, his dad had a crest and he windsucks so it is difficult to say. He has lost a lot of weight. He's New Forest so it's not a characteristic of the breed especially. I'm just not sure it's an accurate measurement of how his EMS is. Particularly athe the moment.
 
throughtheforest said:
Well yes he's EMS positive. But, his dad had a crest and he windsucks so it is difficult to say. He has lost a lot of weight. He's New Forest so it's not a characteristic of the breed especially. I'm just not sure it's an accurate measurement of how his EMS is. Particularly athe the moment.
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it could be a combination of both things I have an Arab that was cut at 4 his neck is huge compared to my other gelding but not cresty, the muscle that is below the crest is what is big not the actual crest there is a difference, so to me it sounds like it's more to do with the ems magnesium oxide can help with fat pads and crests it's fairly cheap to feed natural horse supplies sell it online.
 
My Belgian boy hangs onto his crest even when his ribs are showing. Winter 2015/16 was a bit of a wake up call in how to manage him. Dropped too much weight & looked awful from withers backwards - but that neck hung on in there!
 
It depends almost entirely on the breed/type of horse. Thoroughbreds have very thin, low set necks as a rule (there are exceptions to everything of course), PRE's, Lusitanos, cobs, Friesians, etc. have much higher set necks with pronounced muscling and shape, and stallions should have a crest. A good crest is one of the things I look for (thus ruling out most modern breeds :-), but there is a world of difference between good muscling and fat deposits.
 
Being cut late means he's had time to develop a crest as a stallion...add mag ox, should help dissipate the crest...if he's ems positive, exercise is pretty crucial to helping him not develop lami as is his diet and grazing..the laminitis site has lots of info if you're interested..
 
Thanks for your input guys. It sounds like it could be either.
Thanks Micky, the horse is very much a living off every recommendation off that site ha! He's also doing very well in full work.
 
there is a very good video somewhere on youtube that shows the difference between a crest and a cresty fat deposit, its something to do with where the muscle sits within the crest
 
This is interesting. I have a native who was a stallion until his late teens. He still has his crest, but it flops to one side. He's in good shape otherwise.
 
my friends new forest always has a crest, he's had lami a few times in the past, so she keeps him really restricted, even now, I'd say he was too thin, his neck it still slightly cresty
 
Pinkvboots said:
You can normally tell if a crest is fat or not fat deposits tend to be lumpy when it's muscle it has a much smoother appearance.
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WelshD said:
there is a very good video somewhere on youtube that shows the difference between a crest and a cresty fat deposit, its something to do with where the muscle sits within the crest
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Thanks for the suggestions. I will have a look and test him out.
 
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