Opinions on overweight cob please

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MrsNorris

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Hi everyone
Haven't posted on a forum before so forgive me if do anything daft! Hoping for some opinions about my boy Murphy, he's been dieting for about 7 months now and has lost about 40kg by weigh tape but my friends are really divided about whether he needs to lose more weight or not. I know its hard to tell from pictures, but I think he still has a way to go, he's a 15hh cob with 9.5 inches of bone and weighs approx 495 kg by tape. There's before and after pics in my album. Not sure how it all works so I hope you can see them! Any thoughts much appreciated. Thanks.
 
Jan 2012:

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12/08/12
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Well done, he looks loads better :) if it were me I would try and slim him down a bit more. Can you feel his ribs without having to really prod? I would aim for being able to feel his ribs with a firm touch, he is a really lovely colour :)
 
LJR said:
Well done, he looks loads better :) if it were me I would try and slim him down a bit more. Can you feel his ribs without having to really prod? I would aim for being able to feel his ribs with a firm touch, he is a really lovely colour :)
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Remember that with 9.5" bone he is a HW, also I can't see any fat pads on him :)
 
Thanks for the replies everyone, did you put the pictures there Broke_But_Happy? Thanks for that, must learn how to do it! Hard to see in the pics but he does still have very small fat pads, nothing compared to what they were, but still there. You can feel his last 3 ribs easily but the rest are still quite well covered and he still has a slight apple bottom, but is that normal for his type? He was huge when I got him and I'm ashamed to say that its taken me 7 years and a very stern talking to by my vet for me to finally get to grips with it. Was a bit complacent as he's never had laminitis or any other obvious weight related problems. Its been really hard work and keeping him off the grass has been really tough, he looks so sad all alone in his pen! Tried a muzzel so he could go out with his friends but he hated it and just stood for hours looking depressed, not even trying to graze, didn't have the heart to leave him like that for days.
Sounds like we're nearly there tho from all the opinions, feel like I can maybe relax his regime a bit and perhaps just lose a few more pounds naturally over the winter so he won't have to spend all next year in isolation! Good luck with yours Black_Horse_White, dont give up hope, Murf didnt seem to lose any weight for the first 8 weeks or so according to the weigh tape, but the vet said that it sometimes doesn't register on the tape until they have lost quite a bit. He then seemed to lose it quite quickly, but its been in fits and starts, not steady, even though his diet hasn't changed. Thanks again to everyone.
 
Thanks MillionDollar, he's my pride and joy! First cob I've ever had, he's a complete delight! want to put a smiley face here but cant do it, how do you move them around?
 
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He's very hansom. :D

Weight is important, but fitness needs to be considered. A bit tubby and fit is far better than slim and unfit.

Paula
 
Personally think he's fine, same height and bone as my boy. Here he is fat:
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And here, too skinny, IMO for a heavyweight. My saddler told me I'd let him drop too much weigh over winter :o :
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He condition scores 3 now, I'd say, so about right.

Have you condition scored yours? And what does your vet say?
 
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hollybear said:
Thanks MillionDollar, he's my pride and joy! First cob I've ever had, he's a complete delight! want to put a smiley face here but cant do it, how do you move them around?
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If you're on a lap top or Pc, you should have a set of smilies to click on to your right. If not, use the : and ) symbol with no gap for a smile. :)
 
Your boy is gorgeous cinnamontoast. I was looking for a coloured when I bought mine, but then Murf came along and I fell in love! Would love him to look like your slim pic, what would you say his condition score was then, was he under 3? Its harder to tell from pictures. Murfs about 3.5 now I would say, vet hasn't seen him since he lost weight, but he likes them very lean so I know what he'll say. Think I will carry on dieting a bit longer, he can easily put it back on if necessary!
 
OP I can appreciate how difficult it is to keep HW cob slim and fit!! I have a MW non-cob and struggle so can only imagine how much more difficult it is for you.

IMO your cob looks a bit fitter, top line is better and less flab, but still needs to shift more.

IMO cinnamontoast second picture is getting towards the ideal for that type and is in no way too skinny. Unfortunately showing legacy takes it's toll and I can see why many would say too slim.
 
I've managed to get my 15hh cob down to around 518kg (weightape measurement!) and he looks the best he has in years and helping him a lot with his arthritis:D Admittedly he needs a lot of muscle building up but compared to the 600kg + he used to be, I'd rather keep him on the skinny side as in 1 day he could probably gain it all back if I removed the muzzle!
 
If he still has an apple bottom then he needs to.lose more weight. It's not a breed thing it's a judge and show thing!! Go by condition scoring.

However agree that slightly over weight but fit and in work is better than spot but not fit.

Also agree that the second pic of coloured cob looks much more like it!!
 
If he's a really good doer then I'd want more weight off still. He's OK now but nowehere near slim. His neck is fine but he looks like he's carry a fair bit of fat over his bum and shoulders still.

With something that gets fat just looking at grass then it's always better to aim for the slimmer end of the scale, then you have some leaway.
 
hollybear said:
Your boy is gorgeous cinnamontoast. I was looking for a coloured when I bought mine, but then Murf came along and I fell in love! Would love him to look like your slim pic, what would you say his condition score was then, was he under 3?
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I would say so, yes.

ihatework said:
IMO cinnamontoast second picture is getting towards the ideal for that type and is in no way too skinny. Unfortunately showing legacy takes it's toll and I can see why many would say too slim.
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Nothing to do with the show, that's just the best pic of him at that weight. It was the saddler told me off and tbh, for a heavyweight cob with 9.5 inches of bone, that was a bit skinny.

lachlanandmarcus said:
I think he looks absolutely spanking perfect in this piccie!
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Thanks. :o I'll get a recent picture, but again, he was not at his best there, IMO.
 
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