Wishfilly
Well-Known Member
I know this comes up a lot, so apologies for the repeat thread!
I'm in a few different groups on Facebook, mainly from when I was looking to buy, but I stay in them because sometimes interesting things come up!
Recently, in a couple of the groups, I've seen some very fat horses come up- mostly cob/coloured types. These horses (to me) look genuinely obese- big, cresty necks, big fat pads on the shoulders, etc etc- but seem to be rewarded in the show ring (relatively low level stuff, but still).
I know people might be doing stuff behind the scenes, but what bothers me the most is all the approving comments these horses get- I mean, again, I suppose people are trying to be nice, but still.
It just feels like we are in danger of normalising horses that look abnormally fat to me- and all the health problems that come with that! Especially as these horses seem to still get rewarded in the show ring.
I know a lot of equine charities try to do education around this, but I think people look at cobs especially and think they are meant to be a bit chunky and then let them get fat, which is really not fair on the horses!
I'm in a few different groups on Facebook, mainly from when I was looking to buy, but I stay in them because sometimes interesting things come up!
Recently, in a couple of the groups, I've seen some very fat horses come up- mostly cob/coloured types. These horses (to me) look genuinely obese- big, cresty necks, big fat pads on the shoulders, etc etc- but seem to be rewarded in the show ring (relatively low level stuff, but still).
I know people might be doing stuff behind the scenes, but what bothers me the most is all the approving comments these horses get- I mean, again, I suppose people are trying to be nice, but still.
It just feels like we are in danger of normalising horses that look abnormally fat to me- and all the health problems that come with that! Especially as these horses seem to still get rewarded in the show ring.
I know a lot of equine charities try to do education around this, but I think people look at cobs especially and think they are meant to be a bit chunky and then let them get fat, which is really not fair on the horses!