So many fat horses!

Little Squirrel

Little Squirrel

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I went to a pony club show yesterday, my first in many years. I couldn't beleive how many fat horses and ponies were there. I think 99% must have been overweight with 50% of these being obese. No wonder there are so many horses with problems. Surely people should realise how unhealthy it is for these horses and ponies, they are killing them with kindness. I saw one haynet fileed outside the box of an extreme fatty that would have easily fed three of mine!! Everyone was admiring the horse I brought he looked a million dollars, good skin, looking fit and was still as fresh after his three classes as what he was when he turned up at the show.
Is it bad education in feed that these horses are so fat or is it due to people not having the time to ride them enough?
The ponies were especially disgusting with some belly's down past their knees, no wonder there is so much laminitus about.
I was honestly shocked and I truely beleive that there should be something done about it.
 
I couldn't agree more, I think it's because horses are so cheap everyone can afford one. which means more and more people that know very little are having and owning horses! i'm not saying its just novice owners that let their horses get fat! a lot of horses produced by top people are obese! it's a shame though :(

eta - i also think that people over account for the work their horse is doing, and i know lots of people that use supplements and lotions and potiions for no reason at all which cannot help!
 
I am afraid to say I found the same when I went to a couple of local shows last month. It was particularly gauling when my (well muscled and fit but not over lean or ribby) mare came well into the bottom half of best condition! She needed to pack alot more lbs if she was to make any effect on the top half! Her bum wasn't wobbly and full of cellulite and that seemed to be what was required - I was shocked!

Some of the ponies especially were just horrifying. I know natives are tough to keep weight off (experience thanks to our two v good doer mares!) but anyone can do better than I saw! There was one particularly obese welsh, with a similarly built child on. Ponies are tough but bloody hell this one was struggling. I know that ponies have to last when children grow as you can't just chop and change every growth spurt, but a fat pony and fat rider the poor pony is in the least prepared state to cope with this.

One was a pony club show too and I thought that the knowledge and learning part of PC would be more in evidence and maybe a chat had with some of the PC competitors, even if it would be unreasnoble to expect them to do this to all mega fatty competitors.

It is shocking, I wonder if we are too much 'everyone should enjoy all ponies and well done on whatever effort you feel happy to make' in attitude sometimes and if it wouldn't be better for the horses and ponies health to be rather more draconian in action towards owners that keep horses in this state. I find a similar trend on my livery yard. Because a horse sees an arena once a month it is a comp horse and so needs piles of comp mix - blithly ignoring the behaviour and fat (fat is not bloody muscle on the topline!). So long as the diet is balanced in vits/minerals/fibre then I think most horses require (and would benefit from) a good deal less than is given to them! What ever happened to ad lib fibre, then top up with hard feed if needed?
 
I couldn't agree more, I think lack of work these days is partly to blame. When I was a kid we used to think nothing of hacking to all pony club rallies, games practice once a week and shows. We also used to take a packed lunch and go out for a full day. I rarely came across lamititis and certainly never had a pony with it.
 
Agreed!! Most horses are worked once a week and fed/rugged up to the hilt. People mollycoddle their horses like some kind of estranged child - unhealthy and so cruel. The pain the laminitis causes is just unspeakable...I don;t understand why anyone would risk it!!!
 
kittykatcat said:
Agreed!! Most horses are worked once a week and fed/rugged up to the hilt. People mollycoddle their horses like some kind of estranged child - unhealthy and so cruel. The pain the laminitis causes is just unspeakable...I don;t understand why anyone would risk it!!!
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Like :)
People now are far too concerned with what they think the horse needs that they fail to see what it does need- we rug too much,feed too much and work them too little.

If you do happent o have a horse in hard work that does not get enough bucket feed to keep several elephants happy you are branded cruel...... :rolleyes:
 
Yunalesca said:
Like :)
People now are far too concerned with what they think the horse needs that they fail to see what it does need- we rug too much,feed too much and work them too little.

If you do happent o have a horse in hard work that does not get enough bucket feed to keep several elephants happy you are branded cruel...... :rolleyes:
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lol, so true! Ours are unrugged much of the time, worked 6 days a week (1hr schooling to 3 hr fast hacks) and just get a token feed in the evening, fed to them in their strip grazed paddocks - boy are we cruel on our yard!!! That said, they are the only horses without 'issues' - vet, behaviour and otherwise; and are fit and happy as you like in themselves!
 
kittykatcat said:
Agreed!! Most horses are worked once a week and fed/rugged up to the hilt. People mollycoddle their horses like some kind of estranged child - unhealthy and so cruel. The pain the laminitis causes is just unspeakable...I don;t understand why anyone would risk it!!!
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I actually had a thread about mollycoddling a couple of months ago. I feel like I am beginning to whinge and I'm sure people must think I'm cruel about how much (or little) haylage mine get fed :eek: but I was always taught that horses should be fed little and often. Mine also work bloody hard they all look well and I'm not going to change how I do things because it's not common practice anymore in an ever modernising way of horsecare which I don't beleive is the way forwards.
 
kittykatcat said:
Agreed!! Most horses are worked once a week and fed/rugged up to the hilt. People mollycoddle their horses like some kind of estranged child - unhealthy and so cruel. The pain the laminitis causes is just unspeakable...I don;t understand why anyone would risk it!!!
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Definately with you on that one!
I have an imported Dutch Warmblood who has a magnisium deficciancy. She gets a handful (And I mean a TINY handful) of Hi Fi lite so she can get some magnitude and garlic into her.
If she wasn't clipped out for the winter she would be naked I am determined of it!!!

People mollycoddle and baby horses far too much. It is just complete lack of knowledge!

I went to a local show last year and the whole class bar one were FAT. Several had cellulite, crests, practically waddled around the ring. The leaner fitter looking Welsh Sec C was placed 7th!!!!!!! (which was LAST) Its ridiculas!

There needs to be a crackdown in the showing world especially. Make it clear you will either be asked to leave the ring or not placed if your horse is overweight.
 
I went to a local showing show last Sunday and couldn't believe the size of some of the horses there, people just do not understand the health issues related with overweight horses.

The thing that did annoy me was the steward telling a young girl how her pony needs much more food, need to be given a good amount of hard feed, much more grass etc. The pony looked absolutely fine, I went and told the girl at the end of the show that what she is doing is the right thing for her pony, the steward made this girl burst into tears. :(
 
Interesting re steward - we had the opposite experience last year at BE - there the vet told my daughter her horse was too fat and she burst into tears!

The vet was correct, and we took a lot of weight off of him. Interesting how the different disciplines view weight!
 
jaquelin said:
Interesting re steward - we had the opposite experience last year at BE - there the vet told my daughter her horse was too fat and she burst into tears!

The vet was correct, and we took a lot of weight off of him. Interesting how the different disciplines view weight!
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The steward did say "he needs to be a lot more covered to do well in showing". :rolleyes:

Have heard from other people that said steward likes to think she knows everything about horses.
 
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There is definitely a clamp down on the obesity issue in the showring. I was at the NPS championships a couple of weeks ago and noticed all adhered to the 'fit, not fat' code. It is a lot more pleasing to see a horse covered correctly for the showring, but also being fit and conditioned, not just fat to cover a multitude of sins. Too lean is also not pleasing on the eye, but much more healthy long term for the horse. :)
 
You only have to open a horse magazine or go on a website to be confronted with feed merchants pedling their sugary wares. If you actualy read the back of feed sacks its shocking how much they recomend you to feed.

I think many horse owners are not confident to make their own decision, and dont think about nature. At this time of year horse are programmed to eat as much as possible to lay down fat for the winter, plus in the wild mares would have a foal at foot or be pregnant. Just because a horse seems hungry dosent mean it needs food!

People also grossly overestimate their work load. I would say even our young cob who is schooled or hacked 6 days a week and showing/competing every other weekend is only in light work. Its amazing how many peole would describe this as medium work.
 
Magicmillbrook said:
Just because a horse seems hungry dosent mean it needs food!
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So true, I think people often mix emotion up with food which I think is responsible for alot of the obesity around. I love my child/dog/horse so I shall 'treat' them with some food. If you kept feeding our girls they would eat hugely more than they need. One of them will eat herself full until she colics (that was fun and expensive when she went through a 'walking through fences' phase!). Don't tell me that she knows best! Left to their own devices and given time they would be perfectly capable of killing themselves with food. Horses don't love us because we feed them treats/a posh brand of feed etc.
 
I am always worrying about how fat me, my horses and dogs are :-(

I know my mare is fat at the moment but she has been out of work, so we are now cracking on with the fittening campaign. My dogs look good, got to keep an eye on the mastiff because he loves his food and I see so many of them overweight and struggling :-(

So it's just me that really needs a major diet overhaul
 
jaquelin said:
Interesting re steward - we had the opposite experience last year at BE - there the vet told my daughter her horse was too fat and she burst into tears!

The vet was correct, and we took a lot of weight off of him. Interesting how the different disciplines view weight!
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It is,but it's also quite obvious why they have different views.
Showing horses and ponies need to conform to what is the accepted standard for their type/class at any one time while a sports animal must be up to the ohysical challenges of it's sport.

I know which one I would like to see over the stable door ;)
 
I heard an (otherwise sensible) judge say to a fellow competitor about their ridden M&M this weekend "what do you normally do with him? He needs more weight on for the show ring, really", then when told the horse is normally doing local sj, she replied "oh no then, if he jumps, it's fine, but if you want to show more, he should" :confused:

I don't "get" why a show horse should be in anything other than "working" condition - any working, ridden animal should be kept lightly covered, with minimal excess fat and as much muscle as is appropriate. Why should a show horse be fatter than a jumper :mad:

I'm not the skinniest person in the world (I'm not fat, but I'm no skeleton either), but I flippin' well make sure my dog and my horses are in good condition regardless. And don't start me on fat children...
 
TELL ME ABOUT IT!!!!

I have a NF pony who does alot of dressage and is shown as well. He is not fat or thin but just right for competition.
We took him in the NPS piction where we were in the bottom half of the huge class with all the other horses doing dressage, jumping, working hunter.... But the top six were all HUGELY fat and to top it off most of them were badly behaved!!
And Guess What... they were all owned by produces... now what example does that set!!!
 
I wonder how much of it is also down to land management also. We are at a wonderful private yard, but the grass is so very rich due to being fertilized yearly and also being topped (a couple of times a week in the summer in some fields) and we only have a few horses on huge amounts of land.

We have been struggling with weight all summer. My TB is fat for the 1st time ever - mainly because he is recovering from a broken leg so he was out of work for 8 months and now just back into gentle walks. He is out at night in a field with my other pony that is very grazed down but the grass is just so rich, and in during the day. He has hay soaked for 12 hours and no feed and is naked even when it is cold / chucks it down.

I have kept my pony an ok weight (he is a bit too big at the moment after 10 days off while I was on holiday) with the same routine as above but also riding 5 days a week and lots of long hacks.

I'm not sure I could do anything different to help them keep their weight down.
 
Totally agree with all thats been said, when we were riding ponies they only got hard feed during pony club camp because that was 4 days of intensive work. Generally they were ridden daily either hacking or schooling (not much of that TBH) or playing (cowboys and indians or chase or tag, all done bareback:o) and usually had a rally or a gymkhana once a week. They were in good order probably a little fat but never had any laminitis issues or the like (at that age I thought only shetlands got it because they were very fat as they didn't get ridden much:eek:) obviously my mother was aware of the dangers and kept a close eye on the ponies. At the moment we have 50 plus horses at grass including TBs and only a 29 year old TB and her companion get any hard feed, they are all fat including the mares and foals and we spend more time making sure that they dont get too fat than feeding them. Finally if I am feeding hard feed I still feed by eye:eek:, and the only time I check the bags is to make sure I'm not feeding more than recommended and TBH I have yet to feed the recommended amount as they usually only require maintenance during the winter and have come in to the winter fat and those that are in work have also come in fat and require gradual toning and building up muscle rather than trying to put weight on them. Its a lot cheaper and easier to feed them grass:).
 
I've always been taught that horses 'are better kept under than over' and that you 'shouldn't treat ponies like horses!!'

When I was young my ponies were kept out 24/7, with no rugs and no feed. My mum relented and put one canvas nz on my welsh B when she was 21 and clipped mid winter but I also had a NF who was 19 and she NEVER wore a rug or shoes.

If anyone had problems with their ponies my mum would say 'well they are keeping a pony like a TB horse of course they will have problems.

Now I have a TB comp horse and if you looked in my feed room you would be surprised, we have Lo-cal, fast fibre, fibre nuts, HIFI light. All products advertised for overweight ponies!! My TB is round, covered, well muscled and gleaming plus he is fit enough to do ODE's all on the above feed. What with the grass he doesn't need anymore! Plus I never fed the recommended amount.. 4 scoops of hard feed a day?! You must be kidding! A scoop of FF and a couple mugs of Lo-cal and my TB events and competes off grass.

That's a TB, if I had a pony or a Native type it would be out in a scrubby paddock with nothing! A bit of hay in the winter and a handful of fibre nuts after a hard work out, they don't need anymore.
Our Natives are born to live during our harsh winters in the wild and survive only on what nature provides. No wonder Laminitis is so prevalent.
When I see ponies and cobby types treated like hot blooded comp horses it totally baffles me.
 
Mine are fat at the mo, I feel really bad about it but they are in during the day, i give them 1 scoop of hifi lite in the morning and a small haylege (cant store hay) net at lunchtime and are turned out on a bare field at night. I do feel bad that i just havent had the time to ride recently but am starting to work on Donna's fitness this week. Rufus is retired and lives out with nothing on.
 
I heard a judge say 'this pony has no quality' last week, the poor rider said what do you mean and she said 'not enough weight'..the pony was Very obese with the hugest crest..

I cant understand posts which say 'am i riding my 10yro TB too much i ride 1 hour a day'..if i was the equivilant to a horse then i would be Well over worked :D if i can walk/jog/run around all day my horse can walk around for a couple of hours a day with me on its back;)
 
could not agree more! my lightweight cob (who is a greedy one) is only rugged in extremes, has grass and hay and is ridden for an hour every day, any less excersise she would become tubby easily, as she puts weight on really easily. they probably feed them on too much, thinking that horses and ponies need feed, when mine doesn't and makes no difference on her condition
 
Funny isn't it how we are in this "recession" yet, we are inundated with people looking for livery at the farm! Because the rest of the better ones are full with waiting lists as long as your arm... where are they all coming from??

I see plenty of 4x4's speeding past my little astra on the m'way. How is anyone affording fuel at £1.42p/litre???

I work in hospitals so see a large proportion of obese people compared to lean healthy ones.

I hate to see fat dogs. Even worse to see fat ponies. I see it all the time... all treated like humans and fed like them too! Also these people have enough money to buy rugs for every eventuality for the horse yet say how skint they are????? How much are rugs now? £60++++?? Where have the days gone when all you needed was hay, a field and a handful of pony nuts?

On one yard, I saw people have a picnic and were feeding the ponies ham sandwiches. Go figure.
 
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