Is it better for a horse to be.....

[horsegirl]

please no "neither" answers this is if it HAS to be one or the other

 

[Clodagh]

Oooh I'm first!
My ned gores mental if over rugged, my pone has had lami from being too fat but I can't abide lazy!!

 

[Patches]

I put too hot, too fat and too forward going.

 

[dwi]

too cold, they can move around to get warm but its much harder for them to take their own rugs off

too fat, a tricky one as both can kill but there is really no excuse for starving your horse to death

lazy, too forward going and they could cause an accident, lazy rarely injures people, they might die of boredom but they would still have their spine intact

 

[Patches]

Oh poop!!!

I am so sorry. I read it wrong. I meant that it was worse for them to be too hot, too fat and too forward going.

I'm so blonde. Sorry Horsegirl

I was thinking too hot is bad....horse can move about as you say to keep warm.

You can kill a horse far quicker over feeding it than under feeding it and I'd rather have one with too many brakes than not enough!

I need more coffee....I'm soooooooo off it tonight!

 

[kirstyfk]

Better to be cold - they can move about to warm up
thin - a horse has never died from being thin, malnutritioned(sp) yes but just too thin no! Far to many horses die from being obese.
Third one is tricky - i can handle forward going but if its spooky and sharpas well then i would rather lazy.

 

[madgirl]

too hot to fat too lazy

 

[clipclop]

I chose cold as horses cope with cold better than heat.

I put too thin as a horse that spends it's life on the "Lean" side will probably suffer less health issues than a horse that spends it's life on the "Fat" side. (Although I would rather see my horses a tad on the fat side rather than the lean side)!!

I also put "Lazy" as for me personally I would rather stick a rocket up a lazy horse's butt than try and wind down a hyper one!! LOL.

 

[JustKickOn]

cold- they can warm up by moving
fat- they can lose weight with the correct diet and exercise
forward going- use a stronger bit to bring them back instead of loads of kickign and smacking

thats only my opinion though

 

[TGM]

I'm amazed that so many people have voted that it is better for horses to be too fat than too thin! (Interesting though that the people who have commented so far seem to be in favour of thin rather than fat!) Being too fat brings associated problems of laminitis and Equine Metabolic Syndrome and stress on the legs. Being too thin (unless totally starved) seems to bring no long term health issues, although it doesn't look 'nice'. I would prefer a horse to be in perfect condition, but failing that I would rather the horse was a one condition score lower than perfect than one condition score higher

.

 

[nomini]

[ QUOTE ]
I put too hot, too fat and too forward going.

[/ QUOTE ]
Same!

 

[Tia]

Too cold.
Too thin.
Too lazy.

 

[0]

Too cold.
Too thin. I'm shocked how many people can see the dangers of the horse being too thin but not those of being too fat.
Definately too fast - lazy horses bore me silly - i'd rather watch paint dry than ride them. Forward, spooky and sharp is fine (as that is what i've got!!). And I do not think this is particularly dangerous so long as you understand that the horse is hot headed and treat it accordingly - just common sense.

 

[PapaFrita]

Too cold
Too thin
Personally, too forward going (being used to PF and A)

 

[Baggybreeches]

Far better to be too cold as after a short time they adapt, whereas with rugs etc they cannot adjust their body temperature to cope. I have seen so many obese ponies rugged like they are on an artic expedition that are so stressed that someof them had stress induced laminitis!

Much better to be thin and cold but not ideal! On the sharp/lazy front, I put lazy because I have people queuing up to ride my lazy horse, but they just laugh if I ask them to ride Sov!

 

[Allykat]

Too cold, too thin and too forward going

 

[rrose]

too cold
too fat
foward going

the horse can run around to keep warm, loose weight from working and feed it less, and must be foward going

 

[Patches]

Which is exactly what I meant to put but when I got to the poll for some reason I was thinking what I DIDN'T want to see!

Ie what's worse.....

I'm so blonde.

 

[teapot]

too cold, too thin, too lazy

Cold - can move around to keep warm

Thin - obviously can help condition

Lazy - can be safer. I'm getting better with sharper, more spookier horses (like today) but if I had the choice I'd be on something that was as close to bombproof & off the leg - maybe not in the school, but definately out hacking

 

[the watcher]

Too cold, too thin and too lazy are best..they can keep themselves warm by moving about, there are less health risks in being below the average weight, and you can usually wake up a lazy horse, calming down a mad one is a biger challenge

 

[Theresa_F]

Better to be too cold - you can easily add more hay and rugs to keep them warm. Cairo hates being too hot and has to be hosed off on hot summer days.

Too thin - again easier to feed up and I hate fat horses.

Too lazy - this is my option now, as you can often get them going, you should have seen Cairo on Thursday with his blood up. Years ago I would have preferred forward going. I still prefer a forward going but not daft horse.

 

[lydiaandmiffy]

too hot - alot easier to cool them down then warm them up
too fat- usually easier to lose weight than put it on bad doers (exept of course in the case of lami)
too lazy- a good rider, right combo of feed, exercise and fitness can always quicken a lazy beastie

This is my opinion, everyone is free to have conflicting opinions and it is v interesting to see

Lydia
PS i also own an overweight lazy usually way to hot Highland so i guess im biased

 

[Bossanova]

Too cold, too thin and too forward going.
A hot horse is an etremely unhappy horse. A cold horse can eat, move around and warm itself up. A fat horse puts strain on its joints. A slightly thin horse is acceptable I think, so long as it is receiving enough nutrients.