Is my horse too thin?

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lcharles

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Hello All,

Is my horse too thin? Or does she need some more muscling up? She's a 9yr old KWPN, 16hh, She goes out for 6hours, 5days a week. She was stabled 24/7 until April when she started going out for a few hours a day. She is on part livery so they feed her and muck her out. Se has 10kg of hay a day and 2 scoops of chaff and 2 scoops of conditioning mix twice a day.

I compete her in showjumping, team chasing and xc. When i bought her she had a big bum and was generally alot chunkier. They did a lot of dressage and schooling though whereas i don't so i would expect her to change shape.

I am now moving her to a different yard where i will be doing her and she'll be out 24/7 unless its bad weather when she can come in with as much hay as she needs :o)

Please can you just give me your opinions, i know its hard just with photos but i'll try ad include as many as possible! If she's underweight, hopefully being at the new yard will help, but if its muscle...then please can you give me some ideas on how i can build this up?

I currently ride her 3 times a week generally, including competing on a sunday.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63754805@N05/5805219573/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63754805@N05/5805219139/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63754805@N05/5805221129/in/photostream/

Her hips stick out more than you can tell in the photos.

All help welcome!

Thanks
 
First of all ... Your horse is beautiful!
I wouldn't say that she is "too thin" but if she was mine i would try bulk her a little bit more.
I have a TB and she drops weight if somebody even looks at her! I have found that Allen & Paige Weight Gain or Calm & Condition have been brilliant. They are totally non heating so no sillyness involved either :)
She does need a little more muscle around her back end so maybe try doing some hill work with her if possible? Trotting up hills is brilliant for muscling up back ends. If that isn't possible even doing some pole work in an arena and making her work correctly and rounding properly should make a huge improvement.
Hope this helps. Good luck xx
 
She could do with abit more weight and more muscle. Are you the only rider or is she schooled as well for you?

The new yard sounds like a good move :)
 
Thanks Toppy,

Lauren, Im the only one that rides her. I think i need to get her working on a outline more and build up her bum a bit. It makes me sad when i think she's thin hence why im moving her. Surely more grass and more movement can only be a good thing!? x Also the stable shes at now is rubbish for hacking but facilities are outstanding. Where im moving her too has 100's of acres of woods, hills, flats, xc courses etc and quiet lanes so hoping it'll encourage me to school her as we hack out and she'll build up muscle wont she? At the moment, if i 'school' er in the indoor, i tend to go round in circles, get bored, then jump her...which is my fault but hoping being able to get out across fields etc will help me and her to work on her muscles better.

Usually dutch warmbloods are chunky, but shes really thin compared to all the horses at the stables....which are riding school riding ponies/horses. Would the little riding school horses build up muscly from being ridden 3times a day and walking, trotting etc in circles?

Its been my first winter with her as ive only had her 8 months so maybe she just didnt do very well and needs more than what she had? Bearing in ming, in the winter she was stabled 24/7! x
 
Needs mroe muscle i.e fittening work-either hacking up hills or schooling or such like. Can't expect her to do a job if you don't keep her fit enough.
 
i agree with the others, yes she is a little lean, but looks healthy. it will prob help to be out all the time as she will be excercising as well as eating. if you are only riding her twice and expecting her to compete the third time you ride i feel you are not getting her fit enough and either need to ride more often or cut out the competing until you have her fitter. even if the competing is not at a high level, it is still stressful for them to be out at a competition and some horses lose weight when travelling/competing. lots of hacking at slower pace and trotting up as many hills as you can should help. she looks a lovely sort who could turn her hand to anything, good luck with her..
 
Hacking will help but will be a lot quicker building muscle if she is working from her back end otherwise you will just end up with her having a huge shoulder.
Hopefully the move will be beneficial and you will notice things getting a lot better. Good luck! :)

x
 
I am dead against fat horses, but I think she is too thin. I would not want to be able to see her ribs so clearly when she is just standing relaxed in the stable. You should be able to feel them easily, but I wouldn't want to see them unless she was moving. I'd say she definitely needs more food.
 
Brilliant, thanks. I dont compete her necessarily every sunday, usually every other sunday. Do you think lunging her in side reins (she works on her back end better, she doesnt lean on them). I did alot of schooling tonight and i was really pleased with her working in a lovely outline and it really gave me a boost to commit to schooling like i did tonight more often. Perhaps i could hack her out but try keeping her in an outline for parts of it? I just want the best for her as we all do for our horses.

You're all brilliant! :o) x
 
Part livery?? not enough turnout time mine go out 9 hrs 7 days a week

I find some yards do this less turnout time when not enough grazing answer take less horses in and give more turnout to the residents

I would say find somewhere where she is turned out for longer

D&H mix flakes good for weight
she could do with more and more muscle
 
Well done for realising there may be a better option than where you are thus moving. I am sure if your new yard has better turnout she will pick up once on grass - schooling whether whilst out hacking or in the school will definately help too. My friend has a similar issue where her wamblood loses weight through the winter but once she is on good grass she picks up very quickly (you may then have to watch she doesnt tip the other way)

She is lovely x
 
In all honesty, I think a lot of your issues are that your mare is losing muscle and she is losing muscle because being worked only for 3 times only per week is not enough. 3 times being worked in weeks days plus the weekend is "just" about enought to keep mine ticking over - really better if they get worked 6 times. It is also likely that the yard is not pumping more food into your mare if she is not getting the work. Its an old equation, more food, less work = silly horses. I think the hay looks a little light but not the concentrates for what she is doing. Is there any way you can get more work into her? it sounds like you are only riding her once during the weekdays - can you pay for her to be worked at the new yard or look for a sharer?
 
I actually think she looks pretty well. She has a wonderful gloss to her coat, and I suspect it's her conformation that makes her look angular more than anything. Although her neck is week.

I do agree that she needs more turn out and it will do her the world of good generally. And a revision to her diet may well improve her generally. What do they feed at the moment?

As for fittening work. Hack, hack and hack some more. You don't need to work her particularly in an outline - just forward and into the contact.

Looking at your photos on your photobucket page, I wonder if she's a bit of a hot head and need careful feeding because of it??
 
i too have a 16hh kwpn and would agree yours looks healthy but too lean. mine however is a very good doer but needs lots of long slow walk trot hacks to get her looking her best.
 
diamond_light said:
Part livery?? not enough turnout time mine go out 9 hrs 7 days a week

I find some yards do this less turnout time when not enough grazing answer take less horses in and give more turnout to the residents

I would say find somewhere where she is turned out for longer
Click to expand...

The OP does say in her first post that she is moving the horse to a new yard where she will be turned out 24/7!

I agree she needs more muscle but I wouldn't want to put too much extra weight on. The muscle will come from the right work and the right feed to give her the building blocks.
 
Hang on - not one other poster has picked up on the lack of work which will lead to losing muscle and not necessarily under feeding? if you feed more, you will simply have a mare with a dropped stomach but still no muscle over her top end and backside....
 
Luci07 said:
Hang on - not one other poster has picked up on the lack of work which will lead to losing muscle and not necessarily under feeding? if you feed more, you will simply have a mare with a dropped stomach but still no muscle over her top end and backside....
Click to expand...

I did say in my reply that she needs more muscle and that will only come from the right work!
 
Not all KWPNs are chunky, mine is just as light as yours, i have not had her long as she was doing the same sort of work as you are doing with yours and in the same condition. I have had her on good spring grass and she is gaining weight but i need to be careful she doesn't put on too much as i like them slim, no use having a fat horse who can't do the job. alfalfa may help high protein, high fibre. I don't think you want to much more weight because of the work you do, but a little more feed may help.
 
GingerCat said:
In fact several posters have mentioned this.
Click to expand...

nope... if you look back - its my earlier post that point this out. There are ideas about what work to do but not underlining the premise that the horse will need to be worked more frequently than only 3 times a week.
 
pink powder is really good for making the horse use its digestive system properly that way you wont have to necessarily change your diet too much and spend a fortune on food!! might be an idea to make sure your horses heart is ok !! schooling is great if you enjoy it and i managed to get my horses schooled once a week for only half an hour and the change was nice and slow but made a differance . Personally i think your horse looks ok although a little on the lean side but defo not too thin just fit!! and like someone said healthy !!xx
 
The mare has nice basic conformation, but lacks both condition and muscle.
If you work her more, as many are suggesting, without increasing her feed, she won't have the nutrients to build muscle. She'll tire easily, be reluctant to work, and won't show much improvement.
If you feed her more, she will gain condition (which she needs a little more of) but obviously this won't make her any fitter.
You have to combine the two - so an increase in the feed offered, together with a gradual increase in work. (If you want to build CORRECT muscle then you do have to work her in an outline, correctly, contrary to some posters' advice).
S :D
 
Thank you everyone, She's moved to her new yard last night and settled in fine. She's chomping away on the grass happily! x The hacking there is much nicer so I'll be riding her 4 times a week. Her Grackle is lower because she goes better with it low (don't ask why...she just does!!lol) x

I only rode her 3 times a week due to time and if i rode her more with the feed she was getting, she'd lose more weight. I also am not mad in schooling, i like jumping best but obviously the one helps the other. By hacking whilst schooling i will enjoy this and do it more. I find it hard schooling in an indoor...its sooo boring!! x

I think you've all made great comments, i will be on the case to build some muscle up whilst hacking out and i'm sure she'll bulk out a bit with the grass. I dont like fat horses so I won't let her become a dumpling!

Thank you everyone :O) xxx
 
Luci07 said:
nope... if you look back - its my earlier post that point this out. There are ideas about what work to do but not underlining the premise that the horse will need to be worked more frequently than only 3 times a week.
Click to expand...

I have looked back and stand by my statement! several people have suggested that she needs more work.
 
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