Fat or fit (horse, not person!)

Cinnamontoast

Cinnamontoast

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What do we think? For a nearly heavy weight, he measures about 520kg, is ridden 4-5 times a week (yay for brilliant sharers!), is 9, 15hh bang on, has no hard feed, and looks like this:

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I would say he was carrying a few pounds and could be fitter (much the same as my mare). This is her a few week back -

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and for comparison a couple of years ago when she was fit as a flea and it had been a dry summer, so we were short of grass!!

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He looks a bit fat to me. This is Mac. He is a Suffolk cross, and this was him when I hadn't had him that long.
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He is arthritic, and with vets advice, needed to get a few pounds off him for his own good, we only hack and go with what he feels comfortable with. This is him now.
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He looks very similar weight wise to my new lad and I am desperately trying to get the weight off him at the moment. From the picture I can see he has a crest which is a sign of being overweight.
 
I'm afraid that I go into the FAT camp on the basis of that photo. My caveat is, that I would really need to get hands on in order to be 100% sure, BUT there appears to be no clear muscle definition anywhere (triceps, hamstrings etc), the last rib is not visible (let alone any of the others!) and his abdominals are about as good as my tummy! :) Sorry if that's not what you were hoping to hear.
 
Not expecting people to say he's Badminton fit, no worries! However, he's dropped quite a bit of weight and has just come back into a decent amount of work and we're working on the muscle toning.

Saying that, for a horse on the cusp of heavyweight, I didn't think he was too bad for heading into winter.
 
Puppy said:
If he were mine I would be quite concerned about how cresty he is :o I'd definitely be aiming to slim him down.
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sorry, fat camp

I have been told by my vet the cresty ones are more a risk of lami too he reckons how they store the fat (crest and topline verses belly) seems to indicate how the body is coping with excess sugars/calories
 
Gunnergundog, would you in all seriousness ever expect a basically hw cob to be showing its last ribs?!
I think before that happens its gonna be basically emaciated!!

Op I love him, like you say you are working on muscle tone and a few more pounds will go off his neck. My lad is a similar build, he has yo yo'd this summer we have had so much grass its been a constant battle! I judge him by his ribs ( I don't want to see them!), my vet said with his type of can run my hand over his ribs and feel them with gentle pressure then he will be just right. I am having to dig in abit more than gentle atm so he's back in muzzle and starvation paddock.
I think good doers are far more of a battle than poor doers!
 
gunnergundog said:
I'm afraid that I go into the FAT camp on the basis of that photo. My caveat is, that I would really need to get hands on in order to be 100% sure, BUT there appears to be no clear muscle definition anywhere (triceps, hamstrings etc), the last rib is not visible (let alone any of the others!) and his abdominals are about as good as my tummy! :) Sorry if that's not what you were hoping to hear.
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This.

I had an awakening when the auctioneer came to check some lambs I thought were fit for the butcher. It was a revelation -- and I thought I could judge condition just by feeling the back and ribs! Very difficult to be accurate from a photograph, in my opinion, even without the wool!:D A very nice pony, though, and a good type.
 
I would say errrrring on the fat side. I have a good doer too and your pony looks much better than mine. I am not brave enough to post a pic! It is a constant battle, he is arthritic and can't do lots of exercise and you can only restrict food to a point. Sounds like you are doing all the right things, keep it up.
 
I agree that it is difficult to assess condition accurately by photos, especially from only one angle. But he does seem to have too much of a crest and I would be interested to see whether there is a gutter down his bottom and know how easily his ribs can be felt. I must say on the strength of that photo I would be concerned about the laminitis risk and would be wanting to reduce his weight down.

I think Theresa's photo of Mac above shows that you can have heavyweight horses at a lean and healthy weight. Well done to her!
 
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Slight gutter bum, ribs easily felt. His hay has been restricted. I'm very vigilant as is my farrier for signs of lami. There's almost no grass in his field.
 
He is like my 3 year old, she is bordering on a hw cob and your boy looks lighter than my girl does but your boy is in work and my girl is only 3 so in very light work having recently been backed.
I think he looks good to be going into winter as he will drop some more weight over winter if his work stays about the same, hopefully the weather will be kind enough to allow it. AS you say your farrier keeps a close eye on his feet for signs of lammi and you keep an eye on his food so keep up the good work.
HW cobs will never look slim and see the last rib like a sport horse and i think some people forget that and instantly shout fat!!
 
cinnamontoast said:
There's almost no grass in his field.
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That's because he's eaten it all!:p

Seriously, I think the amount of grass you can see in a field can be deceiving as it is growing all the time, and the horses are eating it down as soon as it grows, so you can think they are getting less than they really are. But good to hear that you can feel his ribs easily and it sounds like you are doing all the right things. However, that crest is a warning sign so don't let people persuade you that it is OK for cobs to be cuddly!
 
micki said:
HW cobs will never look slim and see the last rib like a sport horse and i think some people forget that and instantly shout fat!!
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Whilst you may never see the last rib, I do think HWs can look slim - I think Theresa's last photo of Mac above proves that very well. Look at a few old horse books and you can see the cobs of yesteryear were much leaner and slimmer (and probably healthier) than they are today.
 
He looks fine - he is a cob and would look ridiculous if he was at all angular. He is supposed to have a large crest and apple arse. ;-)
 
I agree with amymay, also I don't agree with the whole "He is a good weight going into winter" you can get lami in winter just as easily as you can in summer.

The crest would worry me.
 
Another in the fat camp here. The crest would worry me, especially in light of the fact elsewhere he has little muscle tone, which would indicate the crest is mainly fat, not muscle too. I wouldn't panic at this time of year, but I would make sure by spring he'd lost an awful lot. My two good doers are by no means mega slim at this time of year, but not on that scale. And will drop to 2.5 by spring, when the cycle starts again. Hence they can gain weight in summer, without ever becoming fatties.
 
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