Is your horse's weight important to you??

Is your horses weight important to you


  • Total voters
    0

Megibo

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 April 2011
Messages
4,233
Location
usually on my bum ...
Visit site
I would like to know :) Fat horses are a massive hate of mine and I respect owners who do their best to keep the weight off their horses...being overweight is so bad for the horse.
My new horse is a few kilos overweight and am currently working on getting them off her, and my other mare hasn't been allowed to get overweight for over a year since I got a scolding from my equine physiotherapist and saw the error of my ways!! Now I'm really hot on it and wish more people would manage it.
 
Due to a lami scare last year, Shy's weight is of massive importance to me - could not bear going thru that again.

I got him weighed at the vet two months ago, worked out his weight on the weigh tape, and use it.
 
I chose not really as I'm more concerned about other aspects of frankies health and his weight on a weight tape fluctuates hugely from day to day however he is very restricted due to his metabolic issues. I'm less concerned than I used to be if that makes sense.
 
yes!! mine came to me a bit underweight as a yearling - not horrendously but shes now four and i've always kept an eye on her weight and manage it accordingly :) i think it would be alot harder to get a horse overweight then trying to get the weight off! luckily mine is very easy - she gets grass in the day and starvation paddock and hay overnight this seems to work well for her i've kept a log for about 18months now of her weight and it has slowly increased but shes constantly growing so im not really worried!!
 
As above really, mine compete & they need to be fit, supple & athletic. I don't have them on a diet as with the feeding & exercise regime they are on seems to work & their weight is maintained about the same all year round.
 
Very! I'm really struggling to shift the weight off my cob, it is coming off slowly as I've only had him 6 months. Hope it will come off quicker in the winter. He's lost a shoe and the farrier is on holiday until Thursday so no hacking until then :(
 
Yes! Daughter's pony was turned out in the field to get over ulcers and in just one month he became obese! Although he started to lose it once we could work him again and restrict his grazing he got an attack of lami! We now have to keep him in to get the weight off and I am keeping my fingers crossed treating him for the lami does not bounce him back into ulcers (although I think it was sugar that sparked his ulcerint eh first case). My baby highland, who lives out, is also lookign rather porky and yet cannot be ridden hard yet as he is too young. Weight is a CONSTANT battle in the summer and my weight tape is my jacket pocket. I weigh obsessivly now!
 
Yes - my Appy in particular is particularly tricky as his weight fluctuates if he isn't managed correctly. He is very slightly Laminitic but this is is easily managed by making sure he kept at the correct weight and restricting grazing, etc during Spring and Autumn when the grass is at its richest. However, as we hunt through the winter, he becomes very fit and I have the opposite problem and struggle to keep the weight on him! He is currently at his idea weight and I have measured him with a weigh tape and am aiming to try and keep him at this weight all year round.
 
Yes very, to the point where I lay in bed stressing! He has just moved to a new field with loads of lush grass, I am waiting on his muzzle to arrive!
 
Yes it is very important to me. Muzzle on and then in soaked hay triple hay net. I do everything I can to help her but it is a constant fight all year round. We are not allowed to section off any of the fields, we have 30 acres and only 4 horses, and 3 of which have to wear muzzles. I try everything I can to try and keep it under control.
 
I monitor my horses weight very carefully, although with mine it is more a case of keeping weight on. One of mine is not a great eater, although slightly better at the moment, and often won't eat anything other than grass for 3 days after a comp. At the moment, she is just not eaing up, as opposed to refusing all food which is a relief. I think as I didn't ride her all winter and spring as I was abroad, it put enough weight on her for the competition season, although she has only been out twice so far!!
 
Yes. Have one slightly under weight one over weight who is injured and can't be ridden. I try to keep her weight smdown because her muscles get tight and she gets stiff back legs which I don't have a problem with while she's in work. There are also 3 ponies in the same field who are all perfect weights.
 
Top