Other side of coin -- told horse too thin by random people?

Caol Ila

Caol Ila

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I had my horse tied outside the barn. A woman rolled up looking for an equestrian property for sale (not ours -- it was one somewhere nearby and she'd gotten lost). Once she established the yard I was on was not the one on the market, she asked if I knew whereabouts of the one that was. I didn't. Then she said, "Your horse is really thin! God, she's so thin!"

Uh, cheers.

Horse looks like this:

 
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Can you just see her ribs? It's hard to tell from the photo, but I have found that some people are so used to seeing fat horses that they think that ribs = emaciated.
 
Here is a recent one of her without the saddle. It's not photoshopped. It was really a bright, sunny day in Scotland. You can just see the hint of a rib:



She is very fit. Now that her summer coat's mostly in, I have to knacker myself to get her sweated up.
 
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I'm always getting the otherside...my horse is always too fat, even when the vet told me the day before how good he looked and how brill his weight was! I just ignore. Ffin has a wide barrel it is there no matter what weight he is, so sad people think he has a big belly.

You horse looks great.
 
Personally, I think your horse looks fit, healthy & well looked after.

Sometimes, people pick fault with other's horses - & cars/houses/jobs, ect. simply out of dissatisfaction with their own. Don't take it to heart.
 
I've got a naturally lean TB who never puts much weight on despite my best efforts. There's a load of builders at the yard at the moment & one of them said to me this morning that my horse must be a anorexic as he could see its ribs! Did make me laugh,before I pointed out that he's fine as he is. And think your horses weight looks fine to me.
 
Yes, I more or less wrote it off in the category of "horsepeople being nuts." Who walks into a random livery yard and makes any comments about some stranger's horse, beyond the usual platitudes of "nice horse?" (obvious RSPCA cases notwithstanding)
 
My mare always looks fat as she too has a very wide barrel. I ignored the comments as that tummy is never going to be streamlined!
 
My horses are both obvious RSPCA cases ;) well thats what they want you to think. Honestly ignore it, I get it all the time and it used to upset me loads but now I've managed to ignore it and enjoy my boys for what they are. Lean, fit, bouncing machines. :)
 
Blimey if she thought yours was thin I would hate her to turn up at ours, Gizmo is actually thin so she would have a heart attack :rolleyes:

ETA - Had the horse a week and he is underweight but still beautiful :D
 
Nowt so queer as folk! To be fair, no one seems to know what a correct weight horse looks like any more- you see some on here even and everyone is saying how well they look and I'm standing in the corner going "what?!"...
 
Lovely horse, fit and healthy looking, super condition for 20 and definitely not "too thin". Just lacking a bit of muscle on the back end maybe but that's to be expected at her age. She looks good. I agree with Faracat, people are so used to seeing fat horses and thinking they're in good shape, they don't know an athletic-looking horse when they see one!
 
hate to think what she'd say if she saw mine then..

your horse looks like a good weight for the time of year and her age. I prefer my older boy to come out of winter with a bit more covering.
 
Yep I've been getting it with Stella :rolleyes: the comment I got was 'don't you know that's a cob your riding and not designed or meant to be as thin as that!!!??!! I snorted, you can't see ribs and she's as fit as a butchers dog due to the fact we have rideout season upon us and she will have to be able to go up to 25miles at all gaits in all weathers ;)

I have my oldie slightly plumper than my younger one BUT he is in no way fat :)
 
As someone said earier people are so used to seeing fat horses now a days that they see that as norm. personslly ignore comments like that. just aint worth wasting energy on. :)
 
joosie said:
Lovely horse, fit and healthy looking, super condition for 20 and definitely not "too thin". Just lacking a bit of muscle on the back end maybe but that's to be expected at her age. She looks good. I agree with Faracat, people are so used to seeing fat horses and thinking they're in good shape, they don't know an athletic-looking horse when they see one!
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My response entirely - her bum doesn't match her front but she is a nice weight :)
 
Her bum is much more muscled than it looks in that pic. She's never had a huge arse due to her breeding, not even when we used to trail ride up proper mountains at least three times per week, and it can be made to look much worse if you take a photo the wrong angle. If you rode her, you'd know there's more power and muscle there than meets the eye.
 
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Caol Ila said:
Her bum is much more muscled than it looks in that pic. She's never, even when she was young, had a huge arse due to her breeding and it can be made to look much worse if you take a photo the wrong angle.
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Yeah but if she was nice and fat then her bum would be much rounder... maybe that's where you're going wrong, she's just way too healthy :p
 
I had this discussion with a vet a few years ago, after being told mine looked too thin. Vet suggested that persons own horse was probably too fat, and that that was what people had got used to seeing. He also said that in roughly 80% of the lameness cases he saw, the horse being overweight was the deciding factor.
 
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