Fat Scoring - anybody else confused?

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BeBopTalulah

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I've fat scored my 4 year old cobx mare, and I'm confused. I would say looking at her at the moment, that she's obese. She has a marked firm crest, I cannot feel her ribs and she's round. BUT, she has no guttering on her back, and no 'apple bottom'. Does she have to present with all of the obese criteria to be obese? Or is she just fat?

My current weight loss plan for her - She is kept off of the grass for about 6 hours a day, and often overnight. She gets a half and half mixture of barley straw and haylage in one large net. She WILL NOT eat straw on it's own, I've tried, and I'm concerned that she would go for the whole 6 hours and eat nothing! She has no hard feed at all, although I'm considering a balancer. She also has a mineral lick in her stable. Teeth are good and have been checked. How does this sound?

As for exercise, she's backed but not broken. We have a 25 minute lunge session (walk, trot and canter) 3-4 days a week. I also try to walk her as much as possible. I've started taking her for walks on a quiet road to get her used to traffic at the same time, but she's barefoot and I don't want to overdo the tarmac.

Anyone any further suggestions?
 
If she has a crest and it is hard,I would be worried that is a sign she is getting dangerously fat.Sometimes the younger ones are less likely to gutter as still maturing.
If you have to give her some haylage soak it well .
I would not give any feed she should not need it.
I am sure it will be suggested that you muzzle her,I dont like to but they are often the only option.
 
be positive said:
If she has a crest and it is hard,I would be worried that is a sign she is getting dangerously fat.Sometimes the younger ones are less likely to gutter as still maturing.
If you have to give her some haylage soak it well .
I would not give any feed she should not need it.
I am sure it will be suggested that you muzzle her,I dont like to but they are often the only option.
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I've just looked and we do have muzzles of various sizes, I think I will put one on her. So is the crest the most definitive way to be sure she's obese?
 
Fat scoring is the definitive way,I have just always felt the neck it is easy to do daily and you can sometimes notice a change overnight,you get to know your own horse and how the neck should feel.I can then take action if required.
Good luck with the muzzle.
 
BeBopTalulah said:
I've fat scored my 4 year old cobx mare, and I'm confused. I would say looking at her at the moment, that she's obese. She has a marked firm crest, I cannot feel her ribs and she's round. BUT, she has no guttering on her back, and no 'apple bottom'. Does she have to present with all of the obese criteria to be obese? Or is she just fat?
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If she has all the signs of condition scoring as a 5, except one (e.g. no guttering) she is not technically a 5 on the condition score, but this doesn't mean she isn't fat. Some schools of thought say to average it - so if she's well covered over her back and that part of her would score 3, her overall score with be 4.8, which is near enough 5. Others disagree with that, but would classify her as something or than a 5. Ultimately, her exact score is trivial - if you think she's too fat, she probably is.

I agree with the above about soaking haylage if she won't eat straw. I presume you weigh how much she gets to ensure it's sufficient, but not excessive? If she were mine I would leave her just with straw - if she needs to eat, she almost certainly will - if she doesn't, six hours isn't the end of the world. But of course, that's your choice. I would also suggest double netting in hayalge nets. She shouldn't need any hard feed, balancers or rugging (if you are).

I would be concerned about the amount of lunging too if she's overweight - this will put a lot of strain on her (immature) joints. Can you get her long reining and do more straight line work, allowing you to increase how much she does.

Re barefoot and tarmac, if her feet are good, I wouldn't worry too far. I do a lot of roadwork on mine, who are unshod, without problems. Assuming you're walking, not belting along in trot with you running beside her!

It's much harder to get rid of a crest on a horse who has been allowed to become obese than it is to prevent one being laid down. The sooner you can get rid of it, the better. Good luck!
 
If she has a crest and you can't feel her ribs she is definitely fat possibly obese.
Agree about the stiff hard crest... it is often a sign of sugar problems as well as level of fat. I check crests/top of necks daily for the wobble factor. :D
The apple bum can be deceiving if a horse is obese ime of my previously obese horse. If she's 'round' as you say I think you need to look at a serious diet and exercise plan. I like the neck to shoulder one. Run your hand down the neck... does it bump into the shoulder or slide onto it? The shoulder should be clearly defined not a smooth continuation of the neck.
I'm in the fifth month of one for my horse and doing well. Don't expect overnight changes but you must be strict, mostly with yourself, not to say 'oh one day wont matter'. lol One day can soon lead to more...
 
amandap said:
If she has a crest and you can't feel her ribs she is definitely fat possibly obese.
Agree about the stiff hard crest... it is often a sign of sugar problems as well as level of fat. I check crests/top of necks daily for the wobble factor. :D
The apple bum can be deceiving if a horse is obese ime of my previously obese horse. If she's 'round' as you say I think you need to look at a serious diet and exercise plan. I like the neck to shoulder one. Run your hand down the neck... does it bump into the shoulder or slide onto it? The shoulder should be clearly defined not a smooth continuation of the neck.
I'm in the fifth month of one for my horse and doing well. Don't expect overnight changes but you must be strict, mostly with yourself, not to say 'oh one day wont matter'. lol One day can soon lead to more...
Click to expand...


There is a 'bump' to her shoulder when I run my hand down, which was another reason I was confused. But I can feel pockets of fat behind her shoulder too though so I'm pretty sure she's fat, if not obese :)
 
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