Fat Horse

jodie3

jodie3

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I have just taken on a cob who I knew was overweight but I am worried as he has a large pad of what I assume is fat either side on his girth area, just behind his elbows. They are both quite large and I would like to put him into gentle exercise to help the diet but I am worried about the girth rubbing on the fat lumps. They are so big that the girth slides off them and ends up too far back.
Also, his weight seems to be concentrated more on his front end - neck, chest, shoulders. His bum is big but doesn't have the gutter you would expect given the size of the rest of him. Could this be the result of being allowed to go on his forehand most of his life and any muscle going flabby?
Anyone else had this problem or got any ideas?
 
if i were in your position i would def start with gentle lungeing that way you can help your cob lose the weight a bit before putting a saddle and girth on him. i would also consider starting to put surgical spirit on the girth area to prepare the skin for when a girth is used. Anything of ours which is rather round we use a breastplate to stop the saddle from slipping.
not much but hope it helps.x
 
Cobs just have a tendency to be heavily set on the front end, so alot of fat will sit in this area.
I would lunge and get this new horse walking up lots of hills, then trotting up then if you have hills that is
 
I bought a cob who was showing 640kg on the weigh tape - hes now 540 and had fat pockets all over his body. We opted not to lunge as it was considered to be too exacting on his joints and not the best way to go. He has done lost of hacking out, small rides building up to longer ones. We use a NuuMed girth sleeve and this stops any rubbing, dont forget that most horses are changing their coats at the mo so any rubs could look temporarily worse than normal due to the old coat falling out and the new one coming through.

He is doing really well and is a lot fitter. We have been doing a little trot work up hills and his body has firmed up a lot. I dont think he will be super thin but I would like to get a further 20kg off him. He will be stabled at night through the early summer and may get 24hr turnout later, we will see how it goes.
 
He had them all over, even on his face. People commented on the fact that he had cheekbones after a while lol!! Its a bit like us really, lose it slowly and steadily and it will come off. Lunging to me is a bit like doing a fast keep fit class whereas hacking out is like going out for walks (us) and has the best value to the body. Dont forget its not just the outside but whats going on inside the body i.e heart and lungs. Steady exercise is better than a mad burst going in circles. Just my opinion but its worked for us and the proof is in the pudding as they say.

We now do a little work in the Pessoa and he looks fab. A stunning looking boy and temprament to die for which is why I bought him. Only 8yrs old and is truly coming into his own now. Good luck with yours.
 
If he is sensible enough why not ride bareback? If he is overweight you are not going to be much more than walking for awhile any way. Trotting an overweight horse will only put extra strain on the leg joints. I wouldn't lunge him at the moment. Lots of walking up and down hills.
 
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