Please condition score my horse

Wagtail

Wagtail

Horse servant
Joined
2 December 2010
Messages
14,815
Location
Lincs
Visit site
I am trying to shift some weight of my Cushings/EMS mare who is currently on box rest for laminitis. She is being fed 1.5% of her bodyweight in soaked hay and two meals of Pure Easy a day to put all her pills and supplements in. Although she is overweight, she is still ribby. I am thinking she is about a 3.5. What do others think? She weight tapes around 550 kg and is a 15.3 hh 18 year old chunky warmblood. Thanks

bum141112.jpg


side141112.jpg


ribby141112.jpg



The white thing on her hoof is an imprint shoe. Farrier was just halfway through fitting them.
 
Last edited:
It's very difficult to tell from a photo, easier to guage hands on.

Certainly over the ribs she is spot on at 2.5-3, but looking at those piccies i would say she would be carryin fat over her butt and possibly neck too, putting those areas into the 3.5 possibly higher. Can't tell about round the shoulder blades.

For an EMS horse you are doing well, but it is easy to fall into the trap of seeing ribs and thinking thin ...
 
Wagtail said:
I know but because of her laminitis, the vet wants me to get 50 kg off her. She's ribby but has fat pads on her rump and a bit of a crest.
Click to expand...

Waggie.... She looks just like my big lad did

- until the medication kicks in she wont loose much more weight especially if she cant move i.e be excercised
- I would say no - 1.5% of her body weight is enough, in my opinion, to limit a box rest horse too thats what only 7.5kg of forage for a 24 hour period - thats low enough for me.
It nearly killed me doing the feeds spread out from 5am till 10pm - and i had help during the day, and off my lovely hubby.

If it helps, i have some small holed hay nets i can send you?

Sorry i would be saying no - in fact i would be asking for an increase - even if its every other day she would be allowed a little extra.

another 50kgs off her - i would say take a hike for a while till the meds kick in
 
shysmum said:
Looking good to me. I saw a vet in the summer who told me Shy was "obese" - he was no such thing, yet I got the full on lami lecture - I was really peed off. He's now put on a little bit since his muzzle has been off, and imho, he has filled out and looks a treat.

Your horse looks spot on :)
Click to expand...

More fool you, I hope your horse doesn't come down with lami.

My vet told me my horse was too fat this summer - not a dissimilar stamp to Wagtails horse and same height - he came in at 510kg on weigh tape and 560kg on weigh bridge (always up weigh tape by 10%). A nutritionalist put him at 3 rump / 3.5 ribs / 3.5 shoulder / 3 neck. I shifted 20 kgs off him in 3 months ... but it was amazing how many people told me there was no way he was overweight ....
 
ihatework said:
It's very difficult to tell from a photo, easier to guage hands on.

Certainly over the ribs she is spot on at 2.5-3, but looking at those piccies i would say she would be carryin fat over her butt and possibly neck too, putting those areas into the 3.5 possibly higher. Can't tell about round the shoulder blades.

For an EMS horse you are doing well, but it is easy to fall into the trap of seeing ribs and thinking thin ...
Click to expand...

I can relate to this. My mare had lami just over 3 years ago and she carried the fat pads on her rump & shoulder. Three years on and I still feed my mare 1.5% of her body weight & everything is weighed as she is such a good doer.
 
ihatework said:
It's very difficult to tell from a photo, easier to guage hands on.

Certainly over the ribs she is spot on at 2.5-3, but looking at those piccies i would say she would be carryin fat over her butt and possibly neck too, putting those areas into the 3.5 possibly higher. Can't tell about round the shoulder blades.

For an EMS horse you are doing well, but it is easy to fall into the trap of seeing ribs and thinking thin ...
Click to expand...

Thansk, she does have fat pads behind her shoulder blades and a groove down her spine.
 
Last edited:
I agree with ihatework, looks good over the ribs, but possibly very porky on her quarters and crest (I'd go for a 4 in these areas, with the proviso that they're hard to judge in pics). I would want more off her (especially if vets agree) but not by reducing her forage intake as 1.5% is about as low as you can get away with in my opinion. If she would eat straw instead of hay, you might be able to reduce her calorie intake without volume though. I presume her two meals a day are token, just enough to conceal her meds?

Other than that, all you can do is perserve as you are.
 
Gingerwitch said:
Waggie.... She looks just like my big lad did

- until the medication kicks in she wont loose much more weight especially if she cant move i.e be excercised
- I would say no - 1.5% of her body weight is enough, in my opinion, to limit a box rest horse too thats what only 7.5kg of forage for a 24 hour period - thats low enough for me.
It nearly killed me doing the feeds spread out from 5am till 10pm - and i had help during the day, and off my lovely hubby.

If it helps, i have some small holed hay nets i can send you?

Sorry i would be saying no - in fact i would be asking for an increase - even if its every other day she would be allowed a little extra.

another 50kgs off her - i would say take a hike for a while till the meds kick in
Click to expand...

Yes, it's really hard. I feel so sorry for her. Thanks for the offer of the nets. I have just invested in a couple of trickle nets which have really helped slow her down. How long does metformin take to kick in? She only started on it last night and spat all the pills out over her door. :rolleyes: I have had to get a bag and a lump hammer and crush them. She's eaten them now. She's on 13 pills twice a day.
 
JFTD said:
I agree with ihatework, looks good over the ribs, but possibly very porky on her quarters and crest (I'd go for a 4 in these areas, with the proviso that they're hard to judge in pics). I would want more off her (especially if vets agree) but not by reducing her forage intake as 1.5% is about as low as you can get away with in my opinion. If she would eat straw instead of hay, you might be able to reduce her calorie intake without volume though. I presume her two meals a day are token, just enough to conceal her meds?

Other than that, all you can do is perserve as you are.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yes the two hard feeds are small ones totalling one stubbs scoop a day. It would be loads easier if she were sound enough to ride. The imprints have helped though. The vet wants her sound without bute in the imprints for ten days before she can be turned out. Luckily she copes with box rest extremely well and is really chilled. I think it's all that magnesium in the pro hoof!
 
Wagtail said:
Thanks. Yes the two hard feeds are small ones totalling one stubbs scoop a day. It would be loads easier if she were sound enough to ride. The imprints have helped though. The vet wants her sound without bute in the imprints for ten days before she can be turned out. Luckily she copes with box rest extremely well and is really chilled. I think it's all that magnesium in the pro hoof!
Click to expand...

with my cousins pony we saw an improvement within 2-4 weeks, they often become depressed in the early days as a side effect of the metformin.

she looks very typical of a cushings pony, ribby in the middle but tubby at both ends-i agree she needs to lose some more but i would not reduce her forage more than 1.5%-i would try to reduce bucket feed toas little as you can just to get meds in. theweight should start to shift as the meds kick in.

be warned my cousins pony was crippled in imprint shoes they had to come of within 24hrs-they are great for some but not all.

good luck
 
Difficult to see her shoulders with the shadow in the pics but I can see the cresty neck. Have always found these cresty horses are the hardest to get to the right weight.

Good luck with her, she is lovely.
 
It took the big lad about 10 days to settle with the tablets, he went right off his feed though and after the 2nd day of tablets i was tying all sorts to get him to eat.

So that was sort of the inital kick start to loose weight after about 3 weeks he looked so fantastic you would have thought he was fighting fit and ready to go hunting.

Keep in there mate - i used to weight the hay into one big net and then decant from there - it made me feel better to see all his hay ration in one big go.

His biggest feed was the 2.5kg at 10pm - then he would have his other split in to .5kg feeds during the day.

It is hard, it really is and i do not envy you the mamouth task you have so willingly committed too - if i can be of any help just let me know

GW x
 
1 stubbs scoop of pure easy on an overweight laminitic not in work, is IMO, way too much, especially as you are feeding pro hoof which should give her everything you need to.

Pro hoof in a handful of unmollasses straw/grass chaff only if she were mine ....
 
jools1234 said:
with my cousins pony we saw an improvement within 2-4 weeks, they often become depressed in the early days as a side effect of the metformin.

she looks very typical of a cushings pony, ribby in the middle but tubby at both ends-i agree she needs to lose some more but i would not reduce her forage more than 1.5%-i would try to reduce bucket feed toas little as you can just to get meds in. theweight should start to shift as the meds kick in.

be warned my cousins pony was crippled in imprint shoes they had to come of within 24hrs-they are great for some but not all.

good luck
Click to expand...

That's really useful to know about the meds. For some reason I was expecting them to start acting quicker.

She has been really sound in the imprints since the summer, but when she came in at noght she couldn't keep them on (she's a door kicker) so I had them taken off and normal shoes put on. Then she went immediately lame, and had to have them removed. Sadly she then developed lami and has continued to be lame. She now has no pulses in her feet and so I think she is over the worst but remains foot sore. She was slightly better after the imprints were fitted this afternoon. My farrier is not that keen though on them because he says they make the feet contract. It's so hard to know what to do.

Ladyinred said:
Difficult to see her shoulders with the shadow in the pics but I can see the cresty neck. Have always found these cresty horses are the hardest to get to the right weight.

Good luck with her, she is lovely.
Click to expand...

Thank you. She is my darling. Means the world to me.
 
I know most people are shocked to see ribs on a horse, but in my opinion I think she could do with losing some more. Is she able to be exercised at all?
 
Shivvy said:
I personally wouldn't do this as she is just right but ribby. I have had experience of two cushings oldies and did't have to go that far to control any footy periods.
Click to expand...

I think she has just about stabilised to be honest. So what she is being fed at the moment is maintaining her current weight. I won't drop her forage to less than 1.5%. Hopefully when the meds kick in she will lose her fat pads and then look really good.

Gingerwitch said:
It took the big lad about 10 days to settle with the tablets, he went right off his feed though and after the 2nd day of tablets i was tying all sorts to get him to eat.

So that was sort of the inital kick start to loose weight after about 3 weeks he looked so fantastic you would have thought he was fighting fit and ready to go hunting.

Keep in there mate - i used to weight the hay into one big net and then decant from there - it made me feel better to see all his hay ration in one big go.

His biggest feed was the 2.5kg at 10pm - then he would have his other split in to .5kg feeds during the day.

It is hard, it really is and i do not envy you the mamouth task you have so willingly committed too - if i can be of any help just let me know

GW x
Click to expand...

Thank you. Your support has been very comforting. :)

ihatework said:
1 stubbs scoop of pure easy on an overweight laminitic not in work, is IMO, way too much, especially as you are feeding pro hoof which should give her everything you need to.

Pro hoof in a handful of unmollasses straw/grass chaff only if she were mine ....
Click to expand...

I'm afraid she wouldn't eat the supplements that concentrated. I am loading her feed with mint as it is. Even though she loves her food, she is extremely fussy over new flavours. The Pure easy is 10.5 mj/kg, so about the same as hay.
 
Cortez said:
I know most people are shocked to see ribs on a horse, but in my opinion I think she could do with losing some more. Is she able to be exercised at all?
Click to expand...

no shes on box rest at the moment, and is suffering from EMS and Chushings... so to be fair if she was given a handful of chaff she would be getting fatter and fatter before the meds have been perscribed
 
BillyBob-Sleigh said:
Beautiful horse, but agree fab over ribs but very porky on crest and backside! I would like her to lose a bit more if she were mine, definitely not underweight though!
Click to expand...

Thank you. It's really useful getting others' views as sometimes I think she's really porky (up close) but when you look from a distance she looks just right.

Cortez said:
I know most people are shocked to see ribs on a horse, but in my opinion I think she could do with losing some more. Is she able to be exercised at all?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately until she has been fully sound without bute for ten days, I cannot turn her out or ride her. She is getting there, but very slowly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top