Too fat or too thin?

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SnowPhony

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If you put your horse out on loan and then had it returned to you, would you rather it come back too fat or too thin??

Was having this discussion with owner of the horses I work with and we both decided we would have prefered the chubby one to have been returned on the lean side rather than the big lump of lard she currently is.

Personally I think that it is easier to bulk a horse up and get it fit and heathy than it is to get the fat off a chubby horse. I also think it has fewer long term health implications if they are lean.

Thoughts?
 
I'd prefer it to come back chubby.
You think it's easy to put weight onto a thin horse?! I'm sending mine over now....!!
 
i'd prefer it to come back a bit chubby, i have to say.
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Oh don't get me wrong, it completely depends on the type of horse where it comes to bulking up. We have one on the yard who just cannot put weight on.

But in general it tends to be easier to build up a skinny than it is to get the weight off a seriously lardy horse....believe me we have a big job in hand with this one!
 
It depends which one it was
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If it was Charlie the TB I would rather he came back a bit Chubby.

If it where Millie the Section A I would rather she came back a bit slim.
 
my mare (Tb) i would rather she came back chubby but my gelding (also TB) i would rather he came back skinny as he is a fatty lmao
 
I'd rather they came back just right!
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It depends how chubby/skinny, if only a little then I wouldn't mind either way. If extremely then I don't think I'd be a very good owner for not having checked on my horse often enough.
 
I would much prefer a horse to be returned to me too thin than too chubby..within reason of course
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I seem to spend my entire life trying to slim down fat ponies
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I don't think you could blame the owner for not checking the horse often enough when the horse is nearly 200 miles away and any pictures of horse working show a happy healthy horse. When loaners started ignoring any attempt for contact, owner realised something was fishy and asked for pony back...to have it returned a lump of lard. Clearly pictures sent were well out of date because I doubt this pony has had any work done with it for a good year.
 
I would say too fat but obviously it depends on the spectrum (slightly lean is better than hugely obese etc) Only because IME a horse can be chubby whilst still retaining some muscle mass and an adequate semblance of 'fitness', whereas thin horses lose these quite quickly and their health can become much more fragile.
 
Hm. As someone who is trying to get weight onto a horse...
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I have had to get weight off a pony (Little Lad) - three months box rest for lammi did wonders for his weight issue
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I definately don't like it when horses are allowed to get too fat - hate it, think owners/carers need heads testing; on the other hand, is a horse that is too skinny getting the nutrients, etc. that it requires?

A hard one to call m'thinks.
 
As long as it was not skeletally thin, I'd rather it were too thin than too fat. Really depends on how much under or over weight really.
 
Depends on the time of year and type of horse.

I'd be very worried if seriously too fat as it could have long term implications for joints etc.

On the flip side - if so thin that vital nutrients could be missing then again could have long term implications.

Loaner should return the horse in good condition and if they don't want horse any more for any reason they should contact owner and return asap!!
 
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