Fat or thin, are they both as bad as the other?

Which is worse? A condition score of 2 or 4?

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i struggle to keep weight off my ponies and they are more a 4, i don't like them looking like that as it can't be doing them any good. that's not to say i want them skinny but certainly as they are i feel they are too porky!

my horse needs to be on the slender side as it helps to reduce the weight/strain on his joints, if he gets heavier (more of a 4) then he is lame and very sore, i prefer to keep him on the lower side so that he is able to move around easier and is happier.
 
It's interesting, isn't it? Being a yard owner, it would be very easy to step in and do something about a horse that was too thin because it wasn't receiving adequate forage, but very few, I would think would step in and tell one of their DIY clients that their horse is too fat and that they needed to restrict its grazing. Yet, as people have rightly said on this thread, being a condition score of 4 has more health implications than being a condition score of two.
 
On a light scale. A little underweight will cause less issues than a little overweight. I hate seeing arthritic horses carrying weight and lami prone etc.
On a major scale both are as bad and both cause irreversible damage. I think that overweight is more dangerous simply because it is accepted more.
 
Previously we have told owners this and most listened to us. We didn't take over on it but talked to them about the risks of being overweight and solutions/ ways to monitor. Most were simply not horsey and needed guidance.
 
I would prefer my horse to be underweight than overweight. I think the main problem is to the general public it is more alarming to see a skinny horse, than a fat one, but obesity causes more problems in horses than being underweight does. (Obviously depending on the scale, I'm not talking about horses that are like living skeletons - that's awful too.)
 
JFTD said:
Shocking :eek: I gave D two whole sections of hay this evening as well as his straw - he didn't know what to do with himself! I reckon he's a 2.5 but I daren't show his photos on here for fear of the RSPCA coming to take him off me :p
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I kid you not, Nitty is getting calm and condition AND linseed. :eek: I have just opened the haylage in the hope that this will put some chub on her. I can only assume she is growing as she is usually a little fatty! I'm not used to having to feed hard feed. It's a shock to the system!!
 
I bought a mare in February this year who had run up light after hunting and frankly less than decent care. I put her at a 1.5-2, she put the weight on in no time with a quality high fibre diet. She evented all summer and is just back in work after her post season break and is a perfect weight for this time of year.

One of my connies went on loan as a 5 year old to a professional showing yard, within 3 months he was totally obese (obviously I took him straight back), he has metabolic issues, suffers from recurrent low grade laminitis and constant abscesses.

In my opinion, obese is far worse than thin, the long term effects are far harder to manage.
 
I voted both are as bad.

My boy is quite a bit slimmer this year than he usually is, we moved grazing last year and he ended up square even in the winter. I worked him hard this year to keep the weight off over the summer but now i'd really rather he was carrying slightly more weight.
At the yard i used to be at the majority of the horses were more over weight than under weight. Where i am now, the horses he shares with are also on the slimmer and it does make me look at him a bit differently
 
Wagtail said:
It's interesting, isn't it? Being a yard owner, it would be very easy to step in and do something about a horse that was too thin because it wasn't receiving adequate forage, but very few, I would think would step in and tell one of their DIY clients that their horse is too fat and that they needed to restrict its grazing. Yet, as people have rightly said on this thread, being a condition score of 4 has more health implications than being a condition score of two.
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It is interesting to see opinions, and the amount of people that delude themselves into thinking their horse is the ideal weight, when actually, they are overweight.

I struggle with my highlands weight and currently put her between 3-4. I would like a LOT more weight off of her, but I've had other liveries/farriers/livery yard owners tell me she is thin for a highland. She may be thin for a highland, but she's still overweight. One actually told me, she'd like to see more weight on my highland. UM, no!
 
I'd rather see a horse with a condition score of 2 than one of 4.

* Most experts say that ideal healthy body condition is a condition score of 2.5 to 3.

* A horse with a condition score of 2 is only 0.5 off a healthy weight, whereas a score of 4 is 1 point above what is deemed healthy.

* A horse with a condition score of 2 is unlikely to suffer any health issues as a result of being a bit thin, whereas a horse that is condition score 4 for a prolonged period of time becomes much more likely to succumb to laminitis.

* Sadly, even though 2.5 is deemed a healthy condition score by vets, a lot of horses in such condition will be criticized by other horse owners as too thin as we have become accustomed to fatter horses being the norm.
 
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TGM said:
I'd rather see a horse with a condition score of 2 than one of 4.

* Most experts say that ideal healthy body condition is a condition score of 2.5 to 3.

* A horse with a condition score of 2 is only 0.5 off a healthy weight, whereas a score of 4 is 1 point above what is deemed healthy.

* A horse with a condition score of 2 is unlikely to suffer any health issues as a result of being a bit thin, whereas a horse that is condition score 4 for a prolonged period of time becomes much more likely to succumb to laminitis.

* Sadly, even though 2.5 is deemed a healthy condition score by vets, a lot of horses in such condition will be criticized by other horse owners as too thin as we have become accustomed to fatter horses being the norm.
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Agree with everything, especially what I have put in bold. My horse is incredibly fit, she is not thin but I know that people comment on it. Why do the comment? Because fat horses are the common sight so they think that apple bottoms etc are normal and acceptable.
 
monkeybum13 said:
Agree with everything, especially what I have put in bold. My horse is incredibly fit, she is not thin but I know that people comment on it. Why do the comment? Because fat horses are the common sight so they think that apple bottoms etc are normal and acceptable.
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I got this too with BH. I ignored it ;)
 
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