Fat horses

SilverLinings

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I see so many natives and cob types near me in full necked rugs up until very recently even when the weather was lovely.

Lightweight (as in light weight for the owner to handle, but full of insulation) and very warm rugs have only really been around for the last 20-25 years, and this does seem to coincide with an increase in very fat leisure horses. In the 1990's most horses just had a canvas New Zealand for the field with a thin wool lining, and the early synthetic rugs weren't very thick so you had to layer blankets (with a surcingle) if you wanted to make it any warmer.

Nowadays you can just throw an easy-to-handle 450g rug with neck cover over the horse in one go with minimal effort. Personally I have never owned or needed a rug over 250g (I know some horses do though), but a lot of people seem to think that if it exists/is for sale then they need one for their horse, even if that horse is an unclipped, overweight cob/native type.

Horses are very effective at using their long hind gut to generate heat, and they have a much wider thermo-neutral range than humans, so over-rugging obstructs weight control (aside from being unpleasant for the horse).
 

MotherOfChickens

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When you do manage your own land you also can’t afford to let it get stressed and/or overgrazed-you will end up with a pasture full of docks and moss or a bog in winter, it will take longer to recover in the next season.
I am lucky to have unimproved pasture full of different types of grasses and wildflowers, I am over 1200ft up-overgraze it and it’s unusable oct-May (my grass is still not through here).
 

Horses_Rule

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Such a frustrating subject but will common sense ever prevail? When I was a YM on a large full livery yard there were two particular fatties that are ingrained in my mind. Both too old and broken to do much to shift the pounds and they were hugely obese. Despite the vet and farrier guidance the owners were killing them with love. One in particular was just enormous and could barely walk yet the owner wanted him fed weight gain mix. The other had the rspca come to the yard to speak to the owner after being reported at a dressage show yet nothing changed and she just cried and denied it all. It’s so sad. There are a lot of young horses (1-3) that are being hugely over fed too and seeing an overweight 2 year old is so saddening. I would rather see them lean than fat!
 

suestowford

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I did once let a pony get too fat and he got laminitis. It was a hard lesson - for me - and I've kept him slim ever since.
I was ashamed that I'd let that happen.
He weightapes in at 200kg these days and looks like a mini-racehorse. When he was at his biggest he measured in at 283kg, so he has lost a lot of fat and is much healthier for it.
 

I'm Dun

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I don’t just think the issue is down to just over feeding but also over rugging. When i had my Sec d the only rug she wore was her fly sheet. The amount of comments I got about her being cold. She was retired and a good doer so winter was my friend ( of course if she had shown signs of being Cold I would have rugged her :) ). There is this push to believe thickier the rug the better for horse.

I see this said a lot. I have managed good doer for years. Rugging makes zero difference. Manging their intake and keeping their work load high does
 

Squeak

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I would rather see them lean than fat!

The majority seem to feel the other way unfortunately. If you have a lean horse you are made to feel terrible and like an awful owner yet a horse has to be really really obese to get the same reaction.

Until this perception changes and people prefer and normalise lean rather than fat I don't think we'll see much change.
 

scruffyponies

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This is my best doer, taken around a month ago. Other than the odd 'tacking up' haynet, he has had nothing but grass all winter. Now imagine what he'd look like if I'd fed him. He's not even a cob!

I can see how it happens, when people are told that they need 'a bit of chaff' to add balancers and minerals, and ad-lib hay as a minimum.

I would also say that the 20% rule on rider weight is also a contributing factor. How many realise that the extra weight he is carrying is burden, not capacity :(
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Polos Mum

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On the thin vs. fat debate - if you have people who will listen around you, there is a great article by one of the charities I think it was BHS (happy to be corrected on that).

They had 2 case studies :
one 20% overweight - looked like an average chunky show horse (before I started being fatest)
one 20% underweight - looked like a Brook advert

The underweight one was carefully fed and 3-4 months in was totally fine and suffered no ill effects.

The overweight one took 2 years very hard management to get the weight off and had permanently damaged joints / had to be retired.
 

Kaylum

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I hate the coming out of winter they should be looking fat thing. They shouldnt be looking any different especially going into spring. We keep our horses in a controlled environment and they don't need to put on and take off weight like that.
Most horses are in lightwork, doing an hour a day if that. We were doing an hour and a half fast work hacking with the eventers everyday and that wasnt even classed as medium work. Horses couped up in stables not moving around is a big problem as well.
Giving them a day off because they have done 4 hours work that week why I just don't understand. You dont have to ride to work your horse and get them moving. Our shetlands get walked out in hand everyday. If you don't have time don't have the animal.
 

LegOn

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We've normalised fat horses and we've near-on normalised fat people too. At a 100-horse livery yard I'd hazard a guess that 75% of horses are overweight (to varying degrees). Fundamental issue is that most horses are simply not being worked enough.

I do agree that most people on my yard only ride about 3/4 times a week if that and horses are still on hard feed with ad lib forage at night and turned out during the day - peoples understanding of the amount of work a horse does is skewed, people think hard work is doing riding club level when that is actually professional-level of work. Most leisure horses that are even ridden 6 days a week are still in light to moderate work - feed accordingly! Marketing is also to blame from feed companies though, it is pushed as a 'must' rather than a 'if its needed.'
 

Polos Mum

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I hate the coming out of winter they should be looking fat thing. They shouldnt be looking any different especially going into spring. We keep our horses in a controlled environment and they don't need to put on and take off weight like that.
Most horses are in lightwork, doing an hour a day if that. We were doing an hour and a half fast work hacking with the eventers everyday and that wasnt even classed as medium work. Horses couped up in stables not moving around is a big problem as well.
Giving them a day off because they have done 4 hours work that week why I just don't understand. You dont have to ride to work your horse and get them moving. Our shetlands get walked out in hand everyday. If you don't have time don't have the animal.


I need to 'use' winter to keep weight off. I try and copy how they were evolved to be - which is to lose weight in the winter and put it back on in spring. If mine came into spring looking spot on weight, I know 2 months later I'll have a problem.
So mine do look different - I aim to have them looking like someone would raise an eyebrow just as the grass turns. This winter has been so mild I've failed and they all look good so now I have a problem to deal with.
Many aren't in a controlled environment as they have no grass from Nov to Feb then (depending on how far south you are) March to July and a grass festival !
 

southerncomfort

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The other problem is bringing in the minute it starts drizzling.
Horses don't dissolve in the rain....or snow for that matter. Sticking them out in all weathers helps keep weight down as they're using their fat reserves to keep warm.

So what if they're standing at the gate?They're standing there because they know someone will go and get them, not because they NEED to come in. They are outdoor animals. Imagine farmers bringing the sheep in every time it rains. ?
 

palo1

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We have 3 good doers in work over winter and this year I have struggled to get them properly slim by March. However, we CAN increase the work and for me the best way to use calories is hills and fast work which I try to do 3 x a week with each horse. They are also schooled and turned out on limited grass They are mob grazed on tiny patches and given time out off grass but with hedges to nibble. They are not without food for hours ever and my native has to wear a muzzle as needed but all of them are healthy. It is hard work!!
 

palo1

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When you do manage your own land you also can’t afford to let it get stressed and/or overgrazed-you will end up with a pasture full of docks and moss or a bog in winter, it will take longer to recover in the next season.
I am lucky to have unimproved pasture full of different types of grasses and wildflowers, I am over 1200ft up-overgraze it and it’s unusable oct-May (my grass is still not through here).

Yes, this!! We work to look after our land, the fertility, sward, biodiversity and horses are a part of that. Keeping them on very short grass is not what we want for our land so in the winter they have a good area of grass free turnout and then we mob graze them on small 'cells' of grass through summer. It works for us but is quite hard work management wise. We also cross graze with sheep and cattle but for a livery yard, really good land management at the prices that people are prepared to pay is extraordinarily difficult. It is another environmental cost that we are going to have to learn to accept I think.
 

babymare

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I see this said a lot. I have managed good doer for years. Rugging makes zero difference. Manging their intake and keeping their work load high does
Her intake was very carefully managed and was unfortunately retired so keeping work load high was out question but keeping her rugless with her thick dense sec d coat did. Worked great for a number of years ?
 

ycbm

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I hate the coming out of winter they should be looking fat thing. They shouldnt be looking any different especially going into spring. We keep our horses in a controlled environment and they don't need to put on and take off weight like that.

It's my personal belief that at some point there will be some evidence that bringing horses into spring looking a bit ribby resets a metabolic switch that makes it a lot safer for them to eat spring grass and provides some protection for the following summer.

It has certainly been proven that you can switch off insulin resistance by stripping off every ounce of fat that isn't strictly necessary for life, and you can then allow horses to put some weight on and even eat some grass.

Weight fluctuation is what nature intended and I like to mimic that with my horses.
.
 

scruffyponies

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Rugging DOES make a difference. It's possible to keep a slightly poorer doer on the same rations as the others if they're rugged through winter.
It's a combination of not needing to burn calories to keep warm and (probably more important) keeping them as comfortable as possible so they settle, graze and digest their food, and don't get stressy.
 

I'm Dun

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Rugging DOES make a difference. It's possible to keep a slightly poorer doer on the same rations as the others if they're rugged through winter.
It's a combination of not needing to burn calories to keep warm and (probably more important) keeping them as comfortable as possible so they settle, graze and digest their food, and don't get stressy.

Its never made a significant difference to any I have ever had, including one who on vets advice wintered out fully clipped and never lost an ounce
 

YorkshireLady

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We've normalised fat horses and we've near-on normalised fat people too. At a 100-horse livery yard I'd hazard a guess that 75% of horses are overweight (to varying degrees). Fundamental issue is that most horses are simply not being worked enough.
Exactly...i think work level is most definitely an issue - coupled with over rugging and over feeding. Horses do less now and are pampered more. I interesting have had people say to me don't let him lose anymore.....Ive rarely heard someone be told their horse is fat. To be fair I have said it to people I know....I am seen as somewhat obsessed.

I have a horse that does need feed and adlib to stay at a fighting weight - but would also say he prob does more work than nearly any of the others at my yard and I wouldnt say he was in hard work!
 

RachelFerd

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Exactly...i think work level is most definitely an issue - coupled with over rugging and over feeding. Horses do less now and are pampered more. I interesting have had people say to me don't let him lose anymore.....Ive rarely heard someone be told their horse is fat. To be fair I have said it to people I know....I am seen as somewhat obsessed.

I have a horse that does need feed and adlib to stay at a fighting weight - but would also say he prob does more work than nearly any of the others at my yard and I wouldnt say he was in hard work!

I've never had a fat horse. But mine have always worked fairly hard, and I've always gone for TB-types. I ride mine 6 days a week, week-in, week-out. No time off for bad weather or laziness. I feed ad lib haylage, hard feed at manufacturers recommendations, turn out daily on rich ex-dairy grass ... and they don't get fat, because they are working.

Problem is a yard full of cobs and ponies also getting all of the above... often without the working part.
 

dorsetladette

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It's my personal belief that at some point there will be some evidence that bringing horses into spring looking a bit ribby resets a metabolic switch that makes it a lot safer for them to eat spring grass and provides some protection for the following summer.

It has certainly been proven that you can switch off insulin resistance by stripping off every ounce of fat that isn't strictly necessary for life, and you can then allow horses to put some weight on and even eat some grass.

Weight fluctuation is what nature intended and I like to mimic that with my horses.
.


Mine come out of winter a little leaner than they go into winter. That way we don't need to restrict grazing through summer. I to think this is a more natural way to do it. I hate having to strip graze and move fences every couple of days too.

And! driving the to show on Sunday I was admiring Robin in the camera's (I wasn't driving) and thought to myself what a little chunk of a pony he is turning into. He's really starting to fill out and get a lovely set of shoulders on him. But, in the ring the pony stood next to him was only a couple of months older than him and looked a millions miles away from where Robin is now. For a C he was clearly already over height and was very mature for a pony supposedly only 2 years old. The difference in how the 2 were kept was very obvious. Little Robin is out 24/7 with his partner in crime, they get adlib hay and 2 feeds a day. They have been rugged over winter as I wanted everything I fed them to go into growing and not just keeping warm. But rugs were only 200g or less. The other pony was stabled apart from a leg stretch twice a day :(
 

suestowford

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I interesting have had people say to me don't let him lose anymore.....Ive rarely heard someone be told their horse is fat.
The only time I would listen to anyone telling me 'don't let him lose any more' is if it came from the vet or the farrier. And that's only happened twice in many years!
They are both good doers so it's easy for them to gain weight, and it can happen very fast if I don't watch out. I am happy that the farrier is not shy of telling me if he thinks they have put on weight since he last saw them. Neither is the vet, but we don't see her as often.
 
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I was stewarding in the Ridden horse section at a show yesterday. Hunters, Riding Horses, Hacks and Cobs. Most Royal International qualifiers. I would say 80% of the horses forward were a very good combination of fit and muscled whilst having a nice covering on them to round the edges. I would not class them as too fat or obese. They were more than fit enough to do their jobs with ease. 2 of the cobs thought they were racehorses the way they were powering round the ring! Of the other 20% I would say 2 would have been classed as a perfect weight fat wise but lacking all muscle and top line. 2 were plenty fit enough to do the job but were far too fat on top of the muscle. The others were just obese and unfit. One horse (that I would put in the 80%) was slightly lame behind in its hocks. Of the obese unfit ones one was a hunter the rest were cobs.

I didn't really see any of the other classes or rings as I was pretty much on my own running the class and legging up all day.

Some judges do drop obese horses down the line. Some don't because - and here is where showing excels itself - if you drop that horse down the line but you are showing under that rider/producer yourself later in the season you will be dropped to return the favour regardless of how your animal looks or goes. So quite a lot of it, but not all of it, is back scratching at the higher levels.

I have also seen a few yearling Shetlands (can't even be a full year old yet!) So disgustingly obese they could almost pass as 3yo's if their body was a bit longer and the tail wasn't a foal fluff! It's not just Shetlands either to be fair, it's quite a lot of native ponies but I obviously notice Shetlands more.
 
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