How big should a cob's bum be?

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Olderrider

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Well, I know they should be rounded, but is it acceptable for them to have an apple bum if the gutter isn't too deep. I feel my 14.3 mare should lose a bit of weight (570kg with weigh tape), but I'm told she looks good, she's clean over her shoulders and not gross on her neck. Definitely can't feel her ribs though, and I feel she would be a bit more active carrying less weight. Any suggestions to the ideal weight for her size and type gratefully welcomed.
 
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This a tough one as they vary so much and a lot depends on her build. My 14.2 highland is about that weight ATM and he's looking quite trim (for him!). Generally, apple shaped bums aren't great though!
 
I'm honestly not sure breed should make much difference, fat is fat at the end of the day - I was told last weekend that welsh D with classic apple bum and quite cresty neck was 'fine' because that is the shape his breed should be. I don't know much about the breed but if he lived with me he'd be 100kgs less !
 
If you can easily feel ribs, there's no crest and everything else is trim bar the apple bum, then that should be fine. The Anticob has an apple bum and is generally podgy all over (diet and exercise programme in effect) but as a skinny, ribby two year old, he had an apple bum. No way was that fat related. However, now he is lardy, the areas either side of the dip are firm and a little bit lumpy, which is not good!
 
Can you post a picture? Ribs are key to me...being able to feel them without applying much pressure at all and if you can't, it's a very good indicator. If a layer of fat exists over the ribs, it will be everywhere. Looking at one part of the body isn't really a safe way to assess it, so if you can post a pic, that would help a lot.
 
I'll just add that when lean, said apple bum wasn't wide, nor did it appear square, which it does when there is too much podge going on.
 
From the trad cob breed standard.

Hindquarters:

Deep, lengthy and powerful and displaying an apple shape. Second thighs well muscled and let down. Tail should be well set on – not too high, nor too low.
 
I do think it breed specific too. My two would look like xylophones before they lose their apple bum. I have never seen a single Mérens without a crease down the croup - even the ultra fit driving ponies.
 
Up to a point, an 'apple bum' is dependant on the relative angle of the sacroiliac bones (the height of the croup bones relative to hip bone)- a TB with long sloping ones, however fat, will never get one, while a cob or pony, with shorter and more horizontal ones may have one even if they aren't particularly fat. The ribs are a better guide to weight, and they should certainly be able to be felt.
 
My traditional cob also has a big apple bottom.......hence why we always sing "applebottom jeans with the fur....." to him everytime we see him lol.

Regardless of how trim he is (currently not - and has a massively wide applebottom atm :/) that shape never seems to shift
 
Horses are built differently, some especially some drafts (a young American Percheron I'm currently working with) will never lose an apple bum before losing muscle mass, like some late cut horses have to lose a lot before their crest goes. It's all about how all the parts fit together.
 
This little chap is hoping his mum has kept her lard arse and furry feet to herself. He is hoping he has inherited his dad's tall, dark and handsome looks.

2013foal021_zps56586a44.jpg
 
my welsh cob and belgian draft both have big apple bottom doesn't matter what weight they are on. It is all about fitness with them. the fitter they get the bigger the apple bum gets. we do lots of trotting up hill long and lower and their bottoms are hard like rocks. all muscles.
So depeding on the breed a big apple bum is a sign of a healthy and strong horsie!
 
my mare has no crest and last 2 ribs can be seen-she is fit, she has an apple bum. As a 2yr old coming out of winter she was very very lean she still had an apple bottom.
If you cannot easily feel ribs she is fat though-any crest is an indicator of carrying too much weight in my book unless the crest is on a mature stallion
 
Some horses do have a slight apple bum, but you can check if it's fat or just natural shape by giving each side of the tail head a good kneading with your fingers :) fat feels different to muscle. On a fit horse the whole area from the buttocks to the tail head is equally firm when pressed, on a fat horse the buttocks feel quite firm but the area around the tail head quickly becomes quite soft and easily dimpled with thumbs or fingertips.
 
seen some hunting twice weekly fit cobs with an apple bum still so I would go on the other indicators, not just gutter! If my welshie starts to get an apple bum I know it is fat but not the same for all IMO.
 
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