over weight horses !!! peoples opinion

[angus and solly]

Ive just been up the yard to weigh my 3 horses and also 2 other horses at the yard.
Angus is a welsh section d and is 15.2h he weighed 414, i no he could do with abit more weight as were goin in to the winter but im not really worried about him to be honest.
Solly is a coloured cob, medium to heavy build and she weighed 438, which i think is perfect for her as when i got her in january she was about 550 and very FAT!
Walter my mums horse is a coloured cob aswell medium build and he weighed 460, but he is 19 years old and always carries more weight going in to the winter and looks perfect wen he comes out of winter.

The other 2 horses i weighed arent mine but i keep being told by there owners that my welsh cob is to skinny and he needs to put on loads of weight and become fat basically which i dont agree with.

Blanche which is a coloured cob medium build again weighs 560, in my opinion she is obese!

The next horse i weighed i was most shocked at, she is around 15hh irsh sports horse and she weighed 603, which in my opinion a horse to weigh this much when it is ment to be a sports horse is just mad!

just want peoples thoughts on which horse they think is at the best weight and also weather you think i should tell the owners with the fat horses that its wrong for horses to be that size and also the best way of telling them.

your thoughts on this subject please

Angus:

Solly:

Blanche

 

[Mince Pie]

Cos are fine, Angus is skinny but you know that already.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

When my mare (15.2 and a bit hh anglo-arab) was a bit too much on the lean side she weighed (weight tape reading) 498. She finally looks a good weight (can feel ribs easily but not see them) and is 516. She had lost weight due to having an abscess and stopped eating her hard food, it was horrible how quickly she lost weight and was really slow to put it on again when her appetite returned.

 

[FionaM12]

I suspect that if you told the owners of the other horse that it was too fat, it would have the same result as when others tell you yours is too thin. In other words, they'd probably ignore you because they don't agree.

There are one or two obese horses on the yard where I keep mine, but I don't say anything. Mind you, there are one or two obese owners too...

 

[angus and solly]

Angus is being fed calm and condition, horse and pony cubes, alfalfa chaff and pink powder, and he's in a medium weight rug already so I'm trying to get the weight on him but he just doesn't keep it round his ribs very well, but I will be getting him in wen the weather gets cold and wet!

 

[*hic*]

As for telling the other owners your opinions of their horses' weight, given how small the horsy world is and how much information you have given out in your OP don't worry, I'm sure someone will let the other owners know about this thread, if they haven't seen it already!

 

[FionaM12]

As for telling the other owners your opinions of their horses' weight, given how small the horsy world is and how much information you have given out in your OP don't worry, I'm sure someone will let the other owners know about this thread, if they haven't seen it already!

That's true, and I just said some of the owners on my yard are obese...

 

[angus and solly]

Somehow I don't think any of the people from my yard would be on here. Does nobody see a problem with a Irish sports horse weighing 603?

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Here you go... some photos. What do you think of her weight?

Best side on (bright!) ones, this is the weight that I think looks 'right'.

Please bear in mind that she is unfit as she's pretty much been out of work for the last year.

 

[Queenbee]

Angus is being fed calm and condition, horse and pony cubes, alfalfa chaff and pink powder, and he's in a medium weight rug already so I'm trying to get the weight on him but he just doesn't keep it round his ribs very well, but I will be getting him in wen the weather gets cold and wet!

If he is on alfalfa, I would try alfalfa oil and possibly add some unmolassed sugar beet to it for weight gain.

they all look good to me, true angus could use more weight, but you are already working on that

 

[angus and solly]

Faracat, I think for a horse that has been out of work for a year she looks really good.

 

[Queenbee]

Somehow I don't think any of the people from my yard would be on here. Does nobody see a problem with a Irish sports horse weighing 603?

That all depends on its height, I would expect a large, sturdy horse that was well muscled to be hitting the 600 mark.

 

[caterpillar]

Solly is a coloured cob, medium to heavy build and she weighed 438, which i think is perfect for her as when i got her in january she was about 550 and very FAT

Well done for getting some weight off but I think she should still loose some more, sorry.

Did you use a weigh bridge or a tape? Tapes are very inaccurate.

 

[monkeybum13]

Somehow I don't think any of the people from my yard would be on here. Does nobody see a problem with a Irish sports horse weighing 603?

For a 15hh horse that does sound a lot but its hard to tell without seeing the horse but as its not yours then it would be unfair to post pics of it on a public forum!
Just to give a little perspective my 16.3 weighs 576 kg.

 

[Mince Pie]

Angus is being fed calm and condition, horse and pony cubes, alfalfa chaff and pink powder, and he's in a medium weight rug already so I'm trying to get the weight on him but he just doesn't keep it round his ribs very well, but I will be getting him in wen the weather gets cold and wet!

Have you tried ReadyMash? It's about the same price as C&C and really effective.

 

[FionaM12]

its hard to tell without seeing the horse but as its not yours then it would be unfair to post pics of it on a public forum!

I do believe that Blanche in the photos isn't the Ops horse either? Or have I misread the post?

 

[Dizzyblonde99]

OMG I LOVE DOLLY
can I have her please??!!

 

[Megibo]

the last two look fine.

 

[MiCsarah]

I really hate over weight horses. Sometimes when people post pictures on here of their overweight horses I cringe. Fine if the owner knows they are overweight and the owner is trying to do something about it but when they think they are fine it really irritates me!

 

[scarymare]

Would need to see the horse. 603 isn't necessarily overweight even at 15.1. My Clover Hill mare is up at the 700 mark and is 16 hands. She takes a 6'9 rug and is really really wide. Most people would say she is too fat (broody now) but its just who she is. I realise its unfashionable to say but I would far rather be driving round the country seeing porkers in fields than hatracks. Incidentally I do own a 'hatrack' and I get far more people expressing concern at her condition than the rest.

 

[touchstone]

I'd agree that the only accurate way to weigh is to use a weighbridge; use a weightape on a horse with well sprung ribs and it'll probably say overweight when it may well not be. Weightapes are fine for monitoring weight gain/loss, but not for weighing. Condition scoring is a much better way to go if you don't have access to a weighbridge.

As for telling the other owners, to be frank unless the horses were grotesquely obese, I'd leave well alone, it is their business how they keep their horses and opinions are often better given when asked for.

 

[Puppy]

I presume the other horses' owners have eyes of there own...? And eyes are a FAR more accurate way to judge condition scores than those useless weigh tapes.

I think you should just concern yourself with your own horses.

If someone started telling me one of my horses was overweight (and one is) then I'd not be overly impressed.

 

[JFTDWS]

I realise its unfashionable to say but I would far rather be driving round the country seeing porkers in fields than hatracks.

Completely disagree with this. I'd rather not see hatracks either, but there's no simply no excuse for overweight horses and there are so many damn good reasons not to let them get into that state.

Not really following the situation as to which horses belong to the op etc, nor can I comment on whether 600kg is reasonable or not without seeing the horse really. But if it condition scores at 4 or higher I would probably say something to the owner - subtly or outright depending on what I thought would work better with that owner. Probably why I'm not popular on yards

 

[juliag]

I think blanche looks fine, what has amazed me is that the OP has posted photos and opinions of somebody elses horse on here and asked for comments without the owners permission. I would be absolutly furious! OP I suggest you ask a dmin to remove the post as it is poss out of order!

 

[dumpling]

I think the coloureds are fine but I'd put more weight on Angus.

 

[moana]

Angus, good, other two need to lose a bit!

 

[scarymare]

Completely disagree with this. I'd rather not see hatracks either, but there's no simply no excuse for overweight horses and there are so many damn good reasons not to let them get into that state.

Not really following the situation as to which horses belong to the op etc, nor can I comment on whether 600kg is reasonable or not without seeing the horse really. But if it condition scores at 4 or higher I would probably say something to the owner - subtly or outright depending on what I thought would work better with that owner. Probably why I'm not popular on yards

To each their own I suppose, I've got 10 and as I say one really dreadfully thin (aged cribber) and 2 who most would say are too fat, neither has ever had laminitis, colic, lameness etc and both would score 4. I think like people there are some natural fatties out there - god knows they have nothing to eat!

 

[FanyDuChamp]

People often think Fany is overweight, but she isn't these were taken just after she got a excellent off the vet checking her weight when he did her injections. I think many people don't take into account the type of horse, Fany is a draft horse so will never look like a racing snake! But he checked her properly neck etc. and said she was now just right.She is only on haylage, with a tiny bucket of chaff and beet because she had a cough so has to finish her medicine, never had colic or lami *touches wood*
FDC

 

[ladyearl]

I think blanche looks fine, what has amazed me is that the OP has posted photos and opinions of somebody elses horse on here and asked for comments without the owners permission. I would be absolutly furious! OP I suggest you ask a dmin to remove the post as it is poss out of order!

agree totally with this.

 

[**Vanner**]

I personally think thank blanche looks fine and that solly is on the lean side for a cob. I'm not into obese cobs by any stretch but stand by my opinion.

My lad at 15.1 is 600KG on weigh bridge (545 on tape and I've been told by my vet that he is now (he's lost 50KG) a good weight.