is winter an excuse for thin horses ?

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horseandshoes77

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I just don't understand when people say oh they always drop weight in winter?

I have had numerous horses of all shapes and sizes including tb and have not found them to drop in winter, if they are rugged accordingly and fed plenty mine have a tendency to put weight on as their work load is decreased?

I have a sneaky suspicion high hay/haylage prices are a contributing factor along with livery yards not allowing hay out in fields etc but I have yet to find a horse that would drop weight just because its winter !

I suppose it was different for the wild ponies who had to find very little forage in the winter months but really with all the stabling and rugging etc is winter a real reason they drop weight ?
 
The latest advice for avoiding laminitis is that horses should get lean in the Winter as its natural for their metabolisms
 
No excuse at all, with correct feeding and knowledge of horsemanship, horses should look just as they do in summer. Lets face it you don't see emaciated horses racing in the winter.
 
Mine always drops condition rather than weight particularly from February until the spring grass comes through which we still have no sign of !
It's just lack of work so he isn't as muscled as he should be , they are out for 6 hours during the day and in with ad lib Haylage at night which has now been changed to hay as last years cut of Haylage was horrific here in west Scotland.

Tbh though this has probably been the thinnest he has been coming out if winter he is a 24 year old Arab , but in the 15 years I've had him I can honestly say this is the longest , worst winter we have had so can completely understand why some people's horses are lacking weight at the minute.
 
Why wouldn't a livery yard allow haylage in the field!? Mine does!
Always an underlying cause, even my good doorers are kept a close eye on in winter. Natives gets rugs as well as the finer breeds.
 
Our yard as a broad mixture of type - the native ponies are looking lovely and have been rugless/clipped and rugless - some of the horses haven't done so well - but everyone is different. They have all had ample haylege and feed x
 
Your comments are very generic.

Older horses often struggle with winter regardless of being fed well. There can be many factors that contribute to condition dropping off.

My own pair of rising 2 year olds wintered well and looked super. However they were forced out 24/7 a couple of weeks earlier than planned, the bitter east wind that hit them for 2 weeks stripped the weight straight off, despite them being fed twice a day and having a bale of haylage in the field.

Next winter will be very telling. The 2012 harvest failed, hard feed will be shockingly expensive. The hay season was poor and good quality forage will come with a premium cost.
 
Our oldies get lean in winter, one is half welsh and losing weight is good for his annual pattern as he does incredibly well in summer. We've had him 19 years now, so sue me, he's still alive and at 27 you wouldn't think him a day over 18.

The other is a 29yo tb, going a bit arthritic so being a bit under in winter does him a favour really, he's as bright eyed and bushy tailed as ever, just lean. Plus hes not been ridden in about 7 years so has no muscle built up at all. Call the RSPCA now :rolleyes:

Youngsters can drop weight v quickly If having a growth spurt too, takes awhile for grass/feed to catch up.

Mine has a 'waist' ATM, and I'm pleased as punch, less fighting to keep the weight off in summer :)
 
I would normally agree. However, this year, with the lack of grass so late and running out of haylage after last years poor crop... yes, mine has lost weight. Far from ideal, but he lives out so drops very quickly if the rugging/feeding isn't exactly right.

"Piss poor management" isn't quite what I'd call it, though.

Plus, it doesn't do them any harm to be a little lean coming into summer - they are about of explode with new grass, being a little lean gives you a bit of leeway! They are designed for it after all.
 
I can understand lack of condition etc but weight as in getting really thin etc, mine don't work much in the winter so lose a bit of top line but they don't ever look thin, however sometimes I hear people say oh but its been a long winter... oh hes never done very well in winter and horse is bones !! like its acceptable for winter to cause extreme thinness lol...I wish that was the case for us humans id have extra helpings on my xmas dinner lol
 
Mine did drop a little weight but it was my first full winter with him so was a bit unsure how much he would need as I prefer to feed depending on how he looks. Anyway within a week of him starting to look a bit thinner than normal with good feed he was back to normal. I don't think there is a need for horses to go really thin like you say if they're properly rugged and fed
 
Thin ish yes, hat rack no. Especially given the conditions this winter. But nothing approaching welfare case level. A bit lean probably a good thing for many horses given the majority are overweight, but without seeing any pics it's really impossible to compare what one person thinks of as thin compared with another persons view.

In general the flab issue is more widespread and horses cope much better with being skinny ish than fat.
 
If the horse is in work or in foal then no they shouldn't drop weight in winter as you feed accordingly, but in nature horses are supposed to loose weight in winter so they can put it on again in spring that's what evolution designed them as.
If your horse is fat why would you want it to stay fat to then either have it go on spring grass to get even fatter and risk the health problems associated with that or have to restrict/muzzle a horse just because you haven't adjusted feed accordingly?
For my fatties I either soak the hay/haylage over winter and only feed a vitamin supplement, my youngsters loose weight as they grow upwards which they do the most over winter - I don't want them fat putting extra strain on their growing joints - so just get fed add lib haylage and a vitamin lick, broodies I keep a constant weight on them with add lib haylage and hard feed, fed to eye, as they soon loose a bit when baby is born and the foals demands increase.
So it totally depends on the circumstances and what the horse does.
 
As other people have said, I let one of mine drop weight, the spring grass would give him lami otherwise.

On the other hand my tb is rugged, fed and worked accordingly to avoid him losing weight in winter.

Think it just depends on the horse and the situation :)
 
I really struggled keeping weight on my TB this winter, but I would say that was more my lack of knowledge of feeding. Took a couple of tries with different feeds, but I've finally found something that worked, even if it was only Feb when he started to look better. He was on ad lib haylage as well!

I agree that with all the rugs etc available now, it's no excuse to have a poor looking horse, and I know that with a better idea plus advice from riding instructor and YO he'll be looking great this winter.
 
justabob said:
Of course! :D
Click to expand...

Just checking !
Seriously this has been a harsh spring I am still feeding at winter levels and the two that hunted are resting but being given hard fed three times a day and add lib haylage in the stable .
Usually the hunters are in the summer fields by now and need just a token snack when I bring them in.
 
Stencilface said:
Youngsters can drop weight v quickly If having a growth spurt too, takes awhile for grass/feed to catch up.
Click to expand...


This ^^^


My 6yr old has done fine this winter, out 24/7 unrugged with adlib hay and access to a field shelter ... My youngster however (20 months old), has dropped weight but he is having another growth spurt. A couple of times he got ribby, so i did get him rugged up and fed him more. His worming/teeth etc are all up to date, and he was getting plenty to eat, so yes i`m putting it down to him growing. He is quite bum high.
 
All at our yard have come out of winter slightly thinner than they went in, but they are not too thin. They look just right actually considering the grass is now starting to grow and in a few days they're looking rounder!

There is thin and then too thin. It is all about management really, but some horses despite being fed ad lib forage and feeds struggle to keep weight on over winter. I've witnessed it myself with a friends horse, they could stuff him full of hay and haylage, but he still struggled to keep the weight on.

It is very circumstance dependent I think for some horses.
 
Me & my mum have a tb each, both around 16'1, 1 mare , 1 gelding. My gelding is nh stamp so a bit chunkier than my mums ex flat-racer. My gelding is out from 11-3 in the winter in a big field with enough grass to keep his herd going all winter. Mums mare goes out the same hours but their field is smaller and they begin to run out of grass about 3 weeks before we change to summer fields - so she is fed more hay accordingly. They are fed the same feeds but she has a quarter to a half a feed more than him both morning & night, they have the same size hay nets but she leaves some of hers so no point in feeding her more, he scoffs the lot. Throughout the winter they have hay with breakfast at 5-6am & then a hay net at 9 before going out at 11. They are both pretty much fed ad-lib hay, as soon as brought in from the field they are tied up with hay nets until ridden & tied up with hay nets again until feed time & night hay. Now my gelding never drops weight. The mare always drops weight & yet she is fed constantly often u til hay is left. Many different feeds have been tried, haylage has been tried (although I'm against haylage) mum will do anything to keep her weight, but nothing you do keeps it. She is always rugged often up to the eyeballs when my gelding has half the rug weight on. The mare does feel the cold, the gelding is always a constant temperature. Both are shiny & never clipped as they hardly get winter coats. Come spring & summer she can be a bit heavier than you'd like but at least that gives you a head start for the winter So apologies for the essay but I think some hors are HE'LL to keep weight and muscle on in winter.
 
No, Not an excuse at all. Although does seem to be used frequently.... Nothing wrong with letting the good doers lose some weight - and kept that way - but IMO I don't like seeing horses looking thin, especially when they're being expected to work
 
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