Is my cob too chubby??

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sophiebailey

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Took the old mans rain sheet off yesterday and think he's put on a few pounds!! Weight tape says he weighs the same, but took some pictures to get a second opinion!! Showed a few friends who say he looks 'well' but not fat, but shouldn't be allowed to gain anymore weight. What do you all think??

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Apologies if pics are massive, posting from my phone :-)
 
P.s only asking as I'm paranoid about laminitis!! Have OCD about checking hooves and pulses lol. He is out 24/7 and has half a scoop of sugar free/molasses free chaff every other day to take his medicine. Lightly hacked 2-3 times a week :-)
 
Definitely well covered. Doesn't look like it mid-line but mid line comes with work.. Fat visible on crest, shoulder and quarters...

Muzzle?
 
That's what I thought. He seems to have blown up overnight lol!! Will have to invest in a muzzle and see if I can keep it on longer than his flymask survives :(
 
I'd probably score a 4 there. In agreement re: carrying it on crest and hindquarters, ribcage/barrel looks ok, (3.5 maybe).

I've never heard of the racetrack system but the idea sounds good in principle! Anyone tried it out in practice? seems like a bit of graft initially to set up the fencing.
 
Thanks for ideas all :-) he's naked unless there's period of prolonged rain with no chance to dry out as my field is very open with little shelter, so he has a no full sheet on to keep his back dry, as he is an old man lol.

Am slowly upping his work now vet had given us the ok so will be doing lots of cantering up hills soon :-) :-) xx
 
Just googled paddock paradise, sounds like a very good idea!! How wide do people have their tracks? Thinking my fatty can go on a track round the edge of the field and his lean TB field mate can stay in the middle :-)
 
Good doer, leave off rug. He doesnt need it.
Dont ever starve but its what you feed them. I had a good doer and in spring the best thing was empty calories in form of bland hay, not good hay just fibre of 0 calories. I would give this in summer if you are not going to work him more or restrict. Even with the track system I bet he only has to look at a blade of grass to get fat. Work him work him, even half hour of good hack etc and you will be amazed how he will muscle up.

He just needs a little off(we have seen far worse)! I would stand behind my cob and if I could see a bit of a belly he had too much. Yours has pads of fat. Good luck its worth keeping the weight off a horse like yours as he is kinda heavy build and it will keep any arthristis in his joints off too. Nice horse though. You can post him to me!?!
 
Thanks he'll be 22 this October :-) he struggled with arthritis during the winter so workload was dramatically reduced which seems to have had an effect now the grass has come through :-( but workload is going to increase steadily so am hopeful I can slim him down a little to get rid of the fatty bits. Going to borrow a grazing muzzle from a friend tomorrow and see how we get on :-( lol
 
sophiebailey said:
Thanks he'll be 22 this October :-) he struggled with arthritis during the winter so workload was dramatically reduced which seems to have had an effect now the grass has come through :-( but workload is going to increase steadily so am hopeful I can slim him down a little to get rid of the fatty bits. Going to borrow a grazing muzzle from a friend tomorrow and see how we get on :-( lol
Click to expand...
Well done you he looks great for 22 i personally dont think he is that overweight just keep an eye on him as grass only seems to be coming through now if your going to use a muzzle just do it a little bit at a time till he gets use to it good luck x
 
track system is great if you can, they walk a lot more!

ours is this wide round approx. 3 acre paddock

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So do you just move the fence in here and there ?. we have four all needing different amounts of food so not sure we could make it work
 
yes wiggle the fence in and out a bit and feed hay. (take hay off the middle and our other paddock).

We put it up for the first time last year when Frank (the welshie) had his shoes off and not sound enough to be in much work so was best way to stop him exploding and keep him walking (always strip grazed before). They do still get 2 meals a day so the anglo gets more on that front but she doesn't struggle to hold condition. Could you turn those of yours that need more out on the middle bit for periods of time perhaps?

That pic was from after some of the really wet weather last summer (we do use it summer only). It started a bit greener


and clearly the hay has other uses :rolleyes:

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