Ideal weight?

[Sambo]

What would you say is the ideal weight for a 14.2 Welsh D 10yr old gelding?

He currently averages 421kg on the weight tape...

Does he look overweight, just right or under to you??

 

[cobgirlie]

Looks just about right to me! I like chunkier types anyway. He's lovely.

 

[TGM]

He looks about right, might be verging on the tubby side - hard to tell from the photos. Can you feel his ribs easily? Is there a gutter down his bottom? Are all the photos taken on the same day?

You can't really give an ideal 'weight-tape' weight as weight-tapes give an estimate and varies according to horse's conformation - ie whether they have a deep girth, narrow girth etc.

BTW, what is he doing with his head and neck in the last photo? Looks like he is practising rollkur!

 

[JoBo]

I think he looks just right. My 15hh cob weighs 507kg just as a comparision.

 

[Theresa_F]

He looks good - I wouldn't want much more on him.

Stinky my gypsy cob is just under 15.1 and his weight is between 540 and 569k. At 569 (on a weigh bridge) he was given a body score of 5 - 6 by the Spillars representatives - he was in top show condition at the time and I had a little more weight on him as he was doing a lot of showing staying away over the next six weeks and I knew he would drop some.

 

[Sambo]

Thanks

All the pics were taken on the same day - I know, sorry they're not great!!

You can just feel his ribs, and he has a small "apple" bum with a ridge in it...

In the last photo he was being a prat lol! We're trying to get him working lower as normally his head carriage is that of a fresian stallion! So I know it doesn't look great - but he is slowly learning he can carry his head lower!! But now he goes lower and just tries to eat his market harborough! grrrr

 

[TGM]

Thanks
You can just feel his ribs, and he has a small "apple" bum with a ridge in it...

If that is the case he is starting to err towards the porky side and you will need to keep an eye on his weight as the grass starts to come through.

 

[Sambo]

Thanks... he has just moved fields into one that has been rested for 3 months and he's going mental on the grass!

Currently I feed him a scoop of happy hoof and the water from the top of the sugar beet to soak it in (about 1/4 scoop) twice a day with a large haylage net (meadow grass) over night.

He is schooled 4 times a week - for about 45 mins and gets in a sweat each time and hacking once a week too - this is just walking at the moment though (till we sort brakes out!)...

Any suggestions? Is this too much?

Thanks.

 

[TGM]

If he has just gone onto fresh grass then I would cut his bucket feed right back or out completely. If you need to give him something whilst others are fed then I would literally give a small handful of Happy Hoof. If you are having trouble with his brakes then I wouldn't be adding sugar beet water either, as if it is normal molassed sugar beet it will be full of sugar!

If you find he is gaining weight on the new grass then you need to reduce the calories he gets overnight from the haylage as well. Things you can consider are switching to soaked hay, mixing the haylage with some straw, or reducing the amount of haylage slightly (which might mean giving two smaller nets, one late at night).