Does she sound underweight ??

M

Megibo

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 April 2011
Messages
4,233
Location
usually on my bum ...
Visit site
I've got a 4 1/2 year old heavyweight irish cob mare (legs like tree trunks!)

I'm confused about her weight which probably sounds strange but she's just under 15.3, and weightaped at about 434 kg! I know my tape weighs light by about 40 kg but sounds skinny compared to my welsh D who's 13.3 and 353kg... When she's working you can see her ribs but when she is resting you have to use slight pressure to feel them. I think she looks quite slim and she doesn't really have any topline yet as not had her long. Trouble is she has a great big neck a shire would be jealous of so I'm not sure if she's too slim, just right or still a bit fat!
What are yours like?

I'll get a picture of her stood up tomorrow to put on as I don't have any just yet.
 
Mine will weigh tape much less than she actually weighs as her ribcage isn't huge - it's easier to tell by her neck and backside and any fat pads. When her weight is right her ribs are visible, so I can't even go by the ribs should be felt but not seen thing!
 
It sounds like your weight tape is inaccurate! Everyone knows they're next to useless to give an accurate weight reading, they're only useful to measure changes.

Condition score her. You should be easily able to feel but not see her ribs, she shouldn't have a huge crest of fat, her tail head shouldn't be fatty and she shouldn't have shoulder patches.
Where exactly she carries her fat varies with each horse, which is why you need to take all areas into account. Some will still have a massive crest but be ribby. If her fatty deposits seem excessively odd then think about EMS or IR.
 
Some weigh tapes have a pony side and a horse side, there is a lot of difference, you can measure your horse for a more accurate weight, but the average horse is not built like yours!
 
So here is my Kali Bear :) What do we think? Just right? Could still lose some?? Excuse the mud..I had just dragged her in from the field. Believe it or not she was wearing a rug!
kali1_zps521620f2.jpg

kali2_zpsbff1e1e0.jpg
 
Well to my eye just a little fat but not so fat to make me worry .
However I'd the horse where mine I would be trying to get a bit off before the spring.
 
I would say about right, for a 15.3 cob. Personally I think she looks medium weight looking at her legs, but if you have measured her bone as she is a HW I stand corrected. I think she looks perfect weight for a cob though, we have not even had the hard bit of winter yet.

I wish my cob was as trim! :)
 
Thanks for the replies so far :)

MrsD123 said:
I would say about right for time of year, looks as though she could do with a bit more work which would remove a bit of fat and build her bum up, love those ears!
Click to expand...

Yes we have plenty of hills around us so going to crack on with hacking! :)

Inthesticks said:
I would say about right, for a 15.3 cob. Personally I think she looks medium weight looking at her legs, but if you have measured her bone as she is a HW I stand corrected. I think she looks perfect weight for a cob though, we have not even had the hard bit of winter yet.

I wish my cob was as trim! :)
Click to expand...

Yes I'm finding it hard to battle horse weight as winter has been so mild!! How much bone does a medium/heavyweight cob have then as not measured her bone yet! So would be good to know :) She just has very chunky legs compared to my 13.3 who's got 8 inches :)
 
Out of interest, could she be shown as anything??

My plan for her is do a mix of dressage, showjumping and cross country. Not a flashy mover so wont expect much on a dressage viewpoint but has a great jump-just needs to learn to tuck her feet up so avoid the poles! As she is only 4 though and hunted in Ireland as a 3yo (what the dealer told us) I am taking it slowly and going to get her schooling up to scratch before even thinking of jumping. :)
Might do a little bit of hunting, if I'm brave enough!
 
She's a great sort for hunting and it's great for wieght control.
Can't say about showing I keep my horses too slim for that so know diddly squat about it.
 
I think I might be wrong actually. I think a min of 8.5 bone for a lightweight and min of 9 inches for a HW. I dont think there is a MW. So maybe measure but I would think a LW poss, my HW cob is proper tree trunks legs at 10.5 inches

Does look like a nice hunter type, very much my type of horse:)
 
She's still growing at the moment so looking forward to seeing her in a another couple years when she's filled out etc !
And me too Goldenstar, am always trying to keep weight down, would only be the show experience!
I've never been hunting and she's a fairly laid back sort to ride but then so is my welsh who went crackers at a hound ride...
And thanks Inthesticks, will measure her cannons :)
 
It shows how inaccurate weigh tapes are- there's no way on earth she could weigh that amount with her physique. Smokey weighs in, on the weigh bridge, at 435kg. He's a 15.1hh very fine TB!
 
Megibo said:
She's still growing at the moment so looking forward to seeing her in a another couple years when she's filled out etc !
And me too Goldenstar, am always trying to keep weight down, would only be the show experience!
I've never been hunting and she's a fairly laid back sort to ride but then so is my welsh who went crackers at a hound ride...
And thanks Inthesticks, will measure her cannons :)
Click to expand...

Wait till the autumn and go autumn hunting its slower and there will be other horses and riders new to it .
It's a great way to keep cobs trim , and she's a lovely type of hunting cob .
 
Been back and forwards to the vets recently .
So on the wiegh bridge .
Tats 16.3 ASB 549 kilos ( fit and lean )
Fatty 16.2 ID (fit ATM ) 630
J 17 + TB weighing in at an impressive 640 kilos he's eight this year and really laying down muscle but was suprised by that .

Tapes are a waste of time on cobs .
 
I will keep her on her diet and upped workload then!

thanks for the video Soup Dragon, according to that she's a 3 on mid section and bottom, can feel shoulder blade easily and neck is smooth just got that great big crest!
 
She's lovely, mud n all, my 3yr old cob is unrugged and will be an ideal weight come spring, I would have your girl in the lightest rug possible, to bring her weight down a bit, cobs don't suit being ribby, but also I hate to see them fat, she is smashing though
 
She's lovely but most certainly not 434kg! I'd guess at least 100kg more than that. Not only are they inaccurate at the best of times for cobs but she'll still be narrow through the chest at her age.

Her condition looks about right. If she's a very good doer than I'd try to get a bit off her for the spring but if she's starting to work more anyways, I wouldn't worry. Her big crest is part of her conformation and she'd need to be far too skinny before she looses it.

She's middleweight at best. I've got the exact same model but the weight up . Similar size and build but quite a lot more chunk. I'd guess yours is ID cross rather than Clydesdale or Shire x.

She's a hard one for showing and you'll have the same issues as I did with mine in her younger days. Too big to be a cob, too non-coloured to be a coloured, too light and non-hairy to be a traditional and too cobby to be a true hunter. I'd clip the legs, plait the mane and be a hunter. And teach her to jump and be a Working Hunter.
 
flirtygerty said:
She's lovely, mud n all, my 3yr old cob is unrugged and will be an ideal weight come spring, I would have your girl in the lightest rug possible, to bring her weight down a bit, cobs don't suit being ribby, but also I hate to see them fat, she is smashing though
Click to expand...

Thankyou for your lovely comments :) Yes she is in the next weight up from a no fill lol minimally rugged :)
 
Kallibear said:
She's lovely but most certainly not 434kg! I'd guess at least 100kg more than that. Not only are they inaccurate at the best of times for cobs but she'll still be narrow through the chest at her age.

Her condition looks about right. If she's a very good doer than I'd try to get a bit off her for the spring but if she's starting to work more anyways, I wouldn't worry. Her big crest is part of her conformation and she'd need to be far too skinny before she looses it.

She's middleweight at best. I've got the exact same model but the weight up . Similar size and build but quite a lot more chunk. I'd guess yours is ID cross rather than Clydesdale or Shire x.

She's a hard one for showing and you'll have the same issues as I did with mine in her younger days. Too big to be a cob, too non-coloured to be a coloured, too light and non-hairy to be a traditional and too cobby to be a true hunter. I'd clip the legs, plait the mane and be a hunter. And teach her to jump and be a Working Hunter.
Click to expand...

Ah ok thankyou :) As I said, I only wanted to do some for experience-I'm hoping 'our thing' will be mainly cross country, showjumping and hunting!
She jumped up to 3ft with the dealers and scope to do higher but I'm going to sort out her flatwork first and teach her properly :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top