JFTDWS
+++ Out of Cheese Error +++
I'm genuinely quite depressed that people are sitting around on the internet trying to judge if horses are fat from photos, especially ridden photos from odd angles. Although if a horse is grossly obese it is reasonably obvious in some cases, how can you possibly judge a horse without closer inspection?
How can you differentiate between a deep, wide rib caged animal with a light covering of fat and a narrower animal heavily covered from a photo where tack and movement obscures your view? Condition scoring is as much about feeling for conformational / skeletal markers and assessing how covered they are as it is about looking at the animal. It's also difficult to differentiate fat in some areas from muscle, in a still photograph - again watching how it moves and feeling the horse is essential to get a true idea of condition.
Weight by tape or by weigh bridge isn't useful, since a well muscled horse will weigh more than a fat animal on a bridge, and a tape can't account for conformation etc.
I have been on yards with show cobs who were genuinely obese, one crippled by lameness (not to worry, it was buted up and competed anyway...), some of whom I rode and found sluggish and unfit compared to my (at the time) happy hack cob. I judged what I saw there to be wrong. I judge horses I sometimes see at shows, whose fat can be seen wobbling. That doesn't mean that every show cob in the country is fat and unfit. I suspect the ones which hunt look largely the same from a distance / in a photograph as the ones I used to know, but in the flesh (and in welfare terms) they are very different animals.
It's utterly pointless to bicker about whether an individual horse is obese when you can't truly make a judgement on the evidence that can be shared on here. Whilst logistically it may be difficult to condition score properly (especially at local shows), there is no reason why a vet could not be employed to score at larger shows, who can differentiate between well muscled and fat, using the standard condition scoring protocol. From that, only horses condition scoring as obese (not well covered, or well muscled, just those which are fat) can be excluded from the ring.
How can you differentiate between a deep, wide rib caged animal with a light covering of fat and a narrower animal heavily covered from a photo where tack and movement obscures your view? Condition scoring is as much about feeling for conformational / skeletal markers and assessing how covered they are as it is about looking at the animal. It's also difficult to differentiate fat in some areas from muscle, in a still photograph - again watching how it moves and feeling the horse is essential to get a true idea of condition.
Weight by tape or by weigh bridge isn't useful, since a well muscled horse will weigh more than a fat animal on a bridge, and a tape can't account for conformation etc.
I have been on yards with show cobs who were genuinely obese, one crippled by lameness (not to worry, it was buted up and competed anyway...), some of whom I rode and found sluggish and unfit compared to my (at the time) happy hack cob. I judged what I saw there to be wrong. I judge horses I sometimes see at shows, whose fat can be seen wobbling. That doesn't mean that every show cob in the country is fat and unfit. I suspect the ones which hunt look largely the same from a distance / in a photograph as the ones I used to know, but in the flesh (and in welfare terms) they are very different animals.
It's utterly pointless to bicker about whether an individual horse is obese when you can't truly make a judgement on the evidence that can be shared on here. Whilst logistically it may be difficult to condition score properly (especially at local shows), there is no reason why a vet could not be employed to score at larger shows, who can differentiate between well muscled and fat, using the standard condition scoring protocol. From that, only horses condition scoring as obese (not well covered, or well muscled, just those which are fat) can be excluded from the ring.
Now when my daughter takes her out she doesn't even get placed - so there is the evidence!
Shame on those who use them and place them at the front on a line-up. The top producers who don't, should be up in arms against those who engage in dispicable practises. Same goes for the other disciplines, too.
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