Mortified told horse is too fat

lottiepony said:
Cheapest pony nuts, alfa a oil (as she will drop weight in winter and this seems to keep it on her) and unmolassed sugar beet. All had been cut down as grass was appearing. Will be incredibly harsh on her tonight in terms of a weight evaluation. The vet weigh taped her and it read 600kg, she would like to see her get down to 575kg on the tape so we have a goal!
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Although I'm sure if your vet thinks so, she will be better for the loss of 25kg but that really isn't a massive amount to be overweight, don't beat yourself up too much. I would ask for the ems/cushings test to be on the safe side.
 
I was at a laminitis talk the other day with professor Andy durham from liphook and he said a study showed 80% of laminitis cases are caused by a hormonal imbalance ie cushiness or ems. A study in America showed 90% cases caused by hormone problems. And he also compared photos of show champion welshies from 1900's to recent champions, the recent ones are about twice the weight of the 1900's which shows how much attitudes to a healthy weight have changed.
 
I would also say get her tested for EMS etc.
The strange weather we are currently experiencing,especially with the rain,then dry,then wet, coupled with it being fairly mild most of the time could be a factor too.
You haven't moved yards or done anything to stress her? My mare had laminits after I purchased her,she was very stressed by the changes,and believe that was a contributing factor.
 
Unfortunately overweight horses isthe norm- its difficult to tell from one picture, but yes yours does look a little round, not obese though. When people condition score they are doing so through rose tinted specs, but also aspiring to the wrong end of the scale- a fit hunter, eventer or racer should score between 1.5 and 2- a horse in light- moderate work should be scoring around a 2.5. In all honesty although a 3 is 'ideal' there is no buffer, and unfortunately the consequences of an overweight horse are much worse than underweight (obviously there are extremes). Don't beat yourself up about it, you are in the 90% of the equine population which think the same, welcome to the other 10% now :)
 
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