OBESE HORSE

L

lcharles

Well-Known Member
Joined
24 August 2010
Messages
1,082
Visit site
A lady on my yard has a Welsh section D, he is HUGE!! x to the extent that he can't even bend his neck much more than looking left or right slightly!! x

The owner says 'he's a section D, he's not meant to be small' he's only 7 and i dread to think what complications he'll have, if not already!! x He is the cutest thing and has a lovely temperment.

I am not into cobs but i know he is massively overweight! He is only ridden out by her once, maybe twice a week for a gentle hack at granny pace (think he'd have a heart attack if he did anything else!) he does seem happy though and as far as i know he only gets grass and hay....not massive amounts.

I have had countless 'your horse is too fat' arguements with her, she's a bit of an 'expert' at everything in her own opinion but really worried that her pony is going to end up with such bad joints. He already gets a bad back leg - but i don't know why or if its weight related! x He's only 14hh and is like sitting on a haylage bale!!

What can i do? Hoping with winter he'll lose a bit of weight but its her lack of riding him and her opinions of being a 'section d' he'll always be fat!!
 
contact a feed company (can't remember which one) and ask about them coming out to the yard to assess the horses and show ideal weights etc, give advice and stuff like that, get everyone on your yard involved and say it's about planning for the winter or something, if you get enough people involved maybe the owner would happily produce her cob hoping she will be praised for his weight.

if that fails then call either the BHS welfare people or WHW.
 
Thanks!

I think she thinks he's the right weight!! She doesnt see him as being fat - just as a section D. She needs to see some proper section D's i think!! If i showed her a section D, she'd say 'no, thats a section B' or something!

What would the WHW do?

Thanks all!! x
 
Black_Horse_White said:
Someone once said my section D was obese. Vet & farrier and others on the yard strongly disagreed. I was livid my horse was not obese.
Click to expand...

But the person claiming it was obese provoked you to seek a professional opinion? The person claiming your horse was obese may have been wrong, but under other circumstances, if your horse had been obese and your vet, farrier etc had agreed, you would have been alerted to the problem...
 
Last edited:
Maybe a picture of the horse would be helpful? Epecially since many people have different opinions as to what is obese. Personally I think you should call the WHW but from what you've said about 'not being a cob person' you might just need a second opinion as to how fat it really is...?
 
Posting a picture of someone elses horse on here and asking for opinions in my mind is asking for trouble. I wouldn't if I were you - the owner may get wind of it and not be best pleased (and quite rightly too!)!
 
Rubbish that Welsh D's have to be "obese"! Thats ridiculous. Although saying that, I think the showing world has a lot to answer for - I used to show a Welsh D that I had, he was chunky enough yet healthily slim enough to do other disiplines (SJ / XC etc.). I was told numerous times in the show ring that he needed more weight! He certainly didn't, he was very healthy and any more weight would have put him in the "fat" category.

I think you should report her, even just to scare her into realising she's wrong.
 
So many people hide behind the 'he's a Welshie' excuse and sadly it usually results in their welshie suffering as a result.

I have a friend who did just the same and unfortunately she lost her dear boy to Laminitis after a long and painful battle. He was 15hh and build like a brick outhouse but was seriously overweight when he went lame and sadly it was too late for him.

No horse should be fat. Topline should be muscle not fat.

I would be tempted to warn her of the dangers - Lami being top of the list. but be tactful.. as possible, maybe sugesting ways of helping to keep him trimmer - soaking hay, double netting, grazing muzzles, restricted grazing / paddock paradise, increased exercise... - Perhaps you could help as you would really like to prevent him suffering?!

Perhaps showing HER a photo of him compared to other welshies (off the net / out of magazines) might help her realise?

Or like others have said, arrange for Dengie to come out with their weighbridge but dress it up as a 'winter feeding workshop / demo or whatever'. They are really good!

Having seen my friend go through what she did with hers I'd always speak out now...

If all that fails there really isn't a great deal you can do without contacting the authorities...
 
we have a horse on our yard which i would class as MORBIDLY obese its only 4years old and is carry enough weight to feed 10horses to the point where its back is dipping due to the weight. he shares a field with my mare who when i bought her was extreamely malnourished and skinny ( putting weight on nicely now) and he is becoming more and more aggressive from this, he's bargy bites kicks etc and he has next to nothing done with him 5 minutes in arena 1-2 a week in walk. i said to the owner he was too fat and it was making him grumpy lack of contact and doing anything (he was a treasure last year when she had loads of interest in him as did many others but like your friend she dismissed this and does as she pleases and she is supposed to be a horse welfare officer so i think imo unless you can see there is clear suffering and the horse is being classed as 'MISTREATED' there is little that can be done other than expressing your opinion and hope thats she listens. I do agree though is just as cruel been overweight as underweight. xx
 
Seems quite a common problem methinx! My 'friend' has a Section D mare which is positively enormous - she is given huge amounts of feed and hay, plus plenty of grass, she is bone idle and just stands around waiting for the next feed. I have diplomatically suggested she is far too fat and at risk; my 'friend' admits she is overweight but proceeds to do stuff all about it :(

Even the vet has said she is overweight but it falls on deaf ears unfortunately.

Given up now.

F
 
No, i'm not a cob person, not saying i dont like cobs...i just never owned one! x Everyone else on the yard has said its too overweight as well, it has no defination to it at all!! She can't get a saddle that fits him properly and he has a massive lump of fat on his shoulders - which is more like a camel hump! She says 'he doesnt budge that bit'. I've spoken to her in a nice way, she just honestly doesnt see it.......

She is a happy hacker and has two cobs, the other one who is also a section D is in ok condition, it was a bit fat but not to this extreme! I asked her if she kept weight on him to slow him down cuz he's quite keen and nippy for her and her slow hacks. He'd be a good kids pony if he lost the weight.

http://prairierosewelsh.com/jpgs/4moorea06.jpg

That is how I'd expect a section D to look, maybe a bit tubbier!

This pony of hers can't bend is neck around because of the fat. She says he has a wide chest, which he does....but then you can feel the cellulite all over the poor thing.

Shes a nice lady, and she really doesnt mean to harm her pony and i think she'd ride him more if she had time but she won't admit he's fat!!

We even went to a show on Friday evening to support my friend and i said...'theres a section D there, (as one cantered past!) she said 'thats a section B' so when the girl trotted into the waiting area i asked her what breed her lovely pony was and she proudly said 'welsh section D'. I thought that might help her to see but clearly not!!
 
This is my D, she looks fat but she's actually a healthy weight now, see below ...some horses are just chunky...i'd be very sure there is actually an issue before you do anything. If he is really overweight then take action.

IMAG0108a.jpg
 
Wow, yours looks skinny compared to this one!! x

I KNOW 100000% he is massively overweight, so does everyone at the yard. I don't want to get welfare people onto her if possible but she really needs a wake up call for the sake of the pony!

I don't think she'd attend a weight demo as she struggles to ride him once a week, let alone attend a clinic at our yard which she 'doesnt need'.

I'd offer to ride him a couple of times a week but i got two of my own to ride before dark and that won't help her see he's overweight!

I wonder if i can sneak him out of the field every night into a stable and sneak him back in the morning before she notices!! lol Poor fat pony will only get fatter!!

I will take a picture of him later if he's in camera view - not trenching across a field to find the fat pony! I dont care if she see's it and moans that i put a picture of her pony on here! i doubt she goes on here but even if she did, maybe seeing peoples comments may help her to help the lard arse pony :O/

i just feel sorry for it!
 
minkymoo said:
With respect, you wouldn't say that if she was talking about a horse that looks like a hatrack would you?

When are people going to realise that obesity is as cruel as malnourishment?
Click to expand...

I don't think so. There are at least none of the psychological aspects associated with continuous hunger. All animals are programmed to survive and have a need to ensure themselves enough food, water and shelter/warmth. I'm not saying that obesity is right - of course it isn't but having a horse scoring 5 is no way as cruel as one starved to a 1 (not sure if size 0 exists?). I really struggle with 2 of mine but one is a broody ex competition horse so has been on a diet all her life. She is obsessed by food and goes absolutely mental at feed times. I'm sure that wouldn't have happened had she been allowed to be at her natural weight.
 
scarymare said:
having a horse scoring 5 is no way as cruel as one starved to a 1 (not sure if size 0 exists?).
Click to expand...

In my book, it IS as cruel to let your horse get to a condition score 5 as to a condition score 1. A horse with a condition score of 5 is extremely likely to contract laminitis (each increase up the condition scale from 3 increases the likelihood of laminitis by six times). Laminitis is extremely painful and distressing to the horse, so letting a horse reach this extreme of obesity IS neglectful and cruel, IMO.
 
TGM said:
In my book, it IS as cruel to let your horse get to a condition score 5 as to a condition score 1. A horse with a condition score of 5 is extremely likely to contract laminitis (each increase up the condition scale from 3 increases the likelihood of laminitis by six times). Laminitis is extremely painful and distressing to the horse, so letting a horse reach this extreme of obesity IS neglectful and cruel, IMO.
Click to expand...

No doubt laminitis is very serious. Not a condition any of mine have experienced in 30 years of keeping horses though. My neighbour's pony was PTS after 9 months of box rest for it which was ghastly. It wasn't obese though, ever. TBH I don't know enough about it to be commenting I just know that when I look at my hatrack horse it just looks ghastly. My 2 perennial fatties don't. They are happy and the hatrack isn't. Its a minefield isnt it.
 
OK...the big problem with this thread is that the initial observation is subjective. The OP has stated she thinks the horse is obese....then goes onto state that others think it is overweight...there is a huge scale on where this horses weight could really sit. She has also stated that the horse is not really fed much, hay and grass which she says is limited if I can remember rightly. If the horse is overweight, going into winter, this in my mind isn't a huge problem. I prefer mine with a covering over their ribs at this time of year as they live out all year round.
Also, we haven't seen the horse in question. I own a VERY thick set cob that people have commented is fat before when his weight has in fact been fine. He is cresty from being gelded late and has 13 inches of bone...he ain't never going to look thin! :p
As for those saying call WHW. Do you really think this is appropriate advice to give someone on a horse you have never seen. And for the poster that said the owner needed a sharp shock...REALLY!?!
In addition, there is a huge equine crisis out there at the moment. A visit to the markets or an eye on any welfare organisation will tell you how serious this really is with neglect and abandonment. A call out to an overweight horse is not really the best use of a finite resource.
The OP has stated her concern to the owner, this is appropriate but now I still think the OP should mind her own business!
 
scarymare said:
I don't think so. There are at least none of the psychological aspects associated with continuous hunger. All animals are programmed to survive and have a need to ensure themselves enough food, water and shelter/warmth. I'm not saying that obesity is right - of course it isn't but having a horse scoring 5 is no way as cruel as one starved to a 1 (not sure if size 0 exists?).
Click to expand...

Sorry, but I disagree.

Putting weight on a horse is much easier than taking it off. Fat is bad for the whole body; Increased stress on the heart and lungs,
Greater risk of laminitis or founder
Increased risk of developmental orthopedic (bone and joint) problems in young, growing horses
More strain on feet, joints and limbs
Worsened symptoms of arthritis
Less efficient cooling of body temperatures
Fat build-up around key organs which interferes with normal function
Reduced reproductive efficiency
Greater lethargy and more easily fatigued

Let's be honest, it isn't just horses is it? Kids, dogs, people. All getting fatter and it seems to be accepted. It really annoys me.
 
scarymare said:
TBH I don't know enough about it to be commenting I just know that when I look at my hatrack horse it just looks ghastly. My 2 perennial fatties don't. They are happy and the hatrack isn't. Its a minefield isnt it.
Click to expand...

The reason I know about laminitis is because my husband is a farrier and I often have to speak to owners on the phone, many of which are distraught that their animals are suffering. The majority wish dearly that they had realised earlier that letting their horses get overweight put them in such danger of such a nasty and painful ailment. (Not all laminitis is caused by obesity though - having Cushings can be a trigger too, for example - by obesity is a major risk factor).

One reason why obesity is so harmful is because it is now known that fat cells can produce a wide range of hormones - if the animal's fat deposits are larger than normal then this can upset the hormone balance and result in the animal becoming insulin resistant, which in turn makes the animal very susceptible to laminitis.

A good summary of the problem here:

http://www.lakeviewvets.co.uk/index....info&Itemid=67

and a key quote from it:

"Obesity, as a direct result of excessive calorie intake, is the primary cause of insulin resistance in horses (as with people). It is now known that fat cells can produce a wide range of hormones and inflammatory mediators. These hormones down-regulate the sensitivity of tissues to insulin, which is a normal body function. However, if they are produced by larger than normal deposits of fat, their down-regulatory action is too much for the body to cope with and insulin resistance occurs. The excessive production of inflammatory mediators by the fat tissue also leads to a constant state of low grade inflammation. "

And another easily readable summary from Dengie:

http://www.dengie.com/pages/dengie-c...-laminitis.php

Sadly, a big part of the problem is that owners do not always recognise when their animal is overweight. A WHW survey found the following:

"Despite being a nation of animal lovers, over half of the people surveyed either could not recognise an overweight horse or if they did, had no idea of the dire health or welfare implications to the animal. This compares to over three quarters of the people surveyed who believed being underweight was a threat. In addition, according to other research by the charity, between 35 - 45% of UK horses are believed to be overweight or obese."

Link is here:

http://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/inf...ontent_id=3185

Hopefully, the links above will inform you a little more about the problem. Just because a horse or pony has been fat without contracting laminitis for years, doesn't mean they won't get it in the future.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top