What makes people oblivious to their own horse's weight issues?

[Sophstar]

This is becoming a reocccurring annoyance at my yard where fellow liveries will make 'jokey' jibes about my pony's weight or other people's however they seem to be blind at their own horse's issues.

My cob would happily gorge all day, there's just no slowing him down once the grass is up and he has been wearing a muzzle all day and then off in the evenings. A couple of dry days and new grass is blowing him up pretty quick so his sad face realised tonight that the muzzle is on, and on to stay! My little pony is in through the day with soaked hay, out with his muzzle for another couple of hours and then off. In a couple of days, he too will be out permanently in a muzzle.

Now go ahead and make a joke about the slightly bloated state of my cobs tummy as I bring him in and then work him for over 2 hours for him to look pretty good at the end. Don't make comments when your horse is the fattest in the herd, fat ripples all over her body, her poo is just liquid and you then bring her in and feed her hay. Why do these people not see their own horse's weight issues? They don't even consider a muzzle or staying in part of the day and exercise is classed as a 20 min trot where said fat pony doesn't even break a sweat. Rant over.

What makes these people blind or ignorant??!

 

[AdorableAlice]

Rise above it, care for your own and enjoy everything and everyday with your well looked after horses.

 

[JFTDWS]

Some people do have blinkers on, I think. IME, they're often the same with their darling children too...

 

[EsSea]

I notice that many a time if you line up a slim horse of a chunky breed (Say a cob or heavy horse breeds) and a very overweight but lighter breed such a a TB and ask your average horse owner to pick the overweight horse that they will go with the slimmer horse of a heavier breed. This of course is a generalisation and doesn't apply to some! I think vets should put more emphasis on body scoring and mention it on visits to everyone as I often come across people who just don't know much about this and just go off the size of the horse in front of them.

When people say things like that just think of how well you look after your horse and how you are clearly doing your horse a big favour

 

[maisie06]

Like the nutty old bat who likes to stop and tell me my welsh cob is too thin - just because she has fat, laminitic show ponies doesnt mean I would like one too!!

 

[dafthoss]

Mines fatter than I would like him but is what most people would consider normal or trim. He is hunter trial/event fit and sweats up every time he is worked and when he is looking a bit rounder than I would like then we do more fast fitening work untill he is back to normal.

People are so used to seeing obese horses now that one thats not fat looks out of place and they question it.

 

[3Beasties]

I think when you attend to your horses every day it is difficult to notice the weight creeping on!

 

[Equilibrium Ireland]

Sort of like having a sacrifice paddock for your fatties and people think you're horrid. Unattractive, quite. But they move around and have to work for the little they get. Hay is first cut, lowest sugar I could find. Feed is a lick bucket with as little sugar I could find. So yes people think I'm cruel and not doing the best for my horses. Now my training is slightly different as the arena I have here (not mine) is way too deep so I have to be careful. I have them mostly slimmed down, but they still need a little more. Honestly my husband gets on my case for being "cruel". Cruel is laminitis and vet bills.

Terri

 

[FoxTrotx]

I have just the opposite problem! People tell me my mare looks thin but she's not, she's actually very fit. You can just see ribs if she bends too much one way or the other but not when she's standing normally. She could do with a bit more muscle but that is coming with work, shoving bucketloads more food down her neck will help nobody!
It is hard when people are critical but you know you're doing whats right for your horse and thats what really matters

 

[zaminda]

I have been told a few times that mine is too thin, however she is just very fit. In your situation I think I would be making a few pot/kettle comments, loudly in their hearing, and if they say anything pointing out the fact that there horse is grossly overweight! I tend to stay out of other peoples business, but if they make rude comments, all bets are off!

 

[Ibblebibble]

sadly fat is still encouraged in some circles, ie showing

took this pic at a show last week, maxi cob class, so you expect large cobs but as well as being bigger than 15hh they were all fat apart from 2, those 2 were what i would consider a good weight and guess where they got placed, yep bottom, the fattest came first even though when the judge rode she couldn't get 2 of the fatties to 'open up' down the long side while the 2 slimmer ones worked all paces beautifully.
People are being taught that fat is good/normal

 

[Jazzy B]

sadly fat is still encouraged in some circles, ie showing

took this pic at a show last week, maxi cob class, so you expect large cobs but as well as being bigger than 15hh they were all fat apart from 2, those 2 were what i would consider a good weight and guess where they got placed, yep bottom, the fattest came first even though when the judge rode she couldn't get 2 of the fatties to 'open up' down the long side while the 2 slimmer ones worked all paces beautifully.
People are being taught that fat is good/normal

^^^^ this

 

[Dry Rot]

"It's not fat, it's show condition".

This is something that gets me really hot under the collar. Yes, it is a small percentage of show judges. The judge is there to demonstrate to the crowd what a good example of the breed should look like. Isn't this a case of our good ole British reserve? When all the vets and scientists point out how harmful it is to have a horse (or any other animal or human come to that) covered in fat, why, oh, why do they still do it?

Comment from the judge at the last show my pony was in, "He's not fat enough". Well, dear <patronising tone>, if you can't judge the conformation of a lean horse, how the hell can you pretend to judge the conformation of one covered in fat? And, if you can't judge, why am I wasting my time here? And why is the show committee inviting you to show here anyway?

Of course, the show committee doesn't know, does it? Maybe we should tell them? "If you must appoint a judge who puts up obese horses, don't expect me to show here again!"

 

[trottingon]

A girl I know has a section d who is literally covered in fat pads from head to toe but refuses to listen to anyone about her weight because her vet said her horse was "perfect"! I nearly spluttered my cup of tea out when she told me, but she won't listen to anyone about it, the vet said perfect and that's the end of it! It has two big feeds a day and is either out at grass un-muzzled or when she brings it in it has ad-lib hay. Luckily it just doesn't seem to get lami at all but I can't see it living to a good age with all that weight, poor thing!

 

[indie999]

Fat people Fat horses.

 

[minkymoo]

sadly fat is still encouraged in some circles, ie showing

took this pic at a show last week, maxi cob class, so you expect large cobs but as well as being bigger than 15hh they were all fat apart from 2, those 2 were what i would consider a good weight and guess where they got placed, yep bottom, the fattest came first even though when the judge rode she couldn't get 2 of the fatties to 'open up' down the long side while the 2 slimmer ones worked all paces beautifully.
People are being taught that fat is good/normal

Gross, just gross.my husband & I have been staying at my mother in laws for a few months, not too far from where we live but not on our 'regular' routes and there is a girl who rides what is possibly the Fattest cob I have ever seen in my life. It is seriously grossly obese and no word of a lie, make this one ^^ look slim.

It has cellulite on it's bum and I swear is just shy of the size of my car - which is a 4x4. It is just so nasty to see.

 

[Littlelegs]

Exactly what indie 99 said!

 

[Equilibrium Ireland]

About 8 years ago I was the riding judge at the Riding Club festival over here while my friend did the other judging. In the cob class we placed the qualified for the RDS cob near the bottom. He was a horrible ride and way too fat. Never got asked back again and I think some of choices were controversial. That women on her cob was Pee'd and quite nasty when we told her her horse did not go nicely and was too fat.

We were never asked back so obviously our style of judging is not in favour. Shame because we rewarded free moving well turned out horses in working weight.

Terri

 

[Shadster]

Echo dafthoss, some people like to feed up their horses and are used to seeing fat horses. The show world puts fat horses first in line ups so again it is encouraged!

Mine too is in during the day on soaked hay then out muzzled all night. He is loosing some weight now albeit slowly but it's going in the right direction at least. He is worked 5 or 6 days a week too. Not hard but not light work either. Luckily we a livery yard without an abundance of grass so not many fatties. Shadow is the 2nd smallest at the yard but has the biggest field so it is in 3rds at the mo and he has a track set up.

One livery yard I was at wouldn't let me restrict Shadow's grading with electric fencing because it didn't look nice in the field!! I swiftly left and came back to me old yard where we have free rein within reason.

 

[Deseado]

The fact that fat is now the norm, with both horses and people (and increasingly with dogs and other pets too) is really worrying. If you look at old photographs you will see horses (and people) with no excess "condition", even show ponies were lean and fit looking.

 

[thatsmygirl]

I agree " fat" is the norm and considered " right"
I also agree that when people have the vet out it would help if the vets got into the habbit off condition scoring to make people think.
I know vets who go to a local yard and deal with a v fat pony but nothing is said about the weight. Maybe it may help? Make the owners think?
I quite often sit back and look at mine and have a feel off the ribs and neck etc and even the tiny pony has ribs I can easily feel. But he's to skinny I'm told. In my view he's just right

 

[zaminda]

Fat people fat horses is about right! I also hate the way the showing world seems to reward fat horses, its a shame the few judges who reward free moving horses aren't more in demand, but in the UK as a whole we see more fat pets and people. Nothig is going to change until vets take action. However I suspect that they are unhappy to say anything as they are worried about losing clients. I wouldalso doubt any vet had said a horse with fat pockets was ok, but maybe that was the owner saying it with her rose tinted glasses on.
It does not help when instructors don't tell people there horse is too fat, and blame performance problems on other things like age or (undiagnosed) arthritis.

 

[Goldenstar]

Setting aside the madness you see in showing which I am feeling too relaxed to rant about this am .
If you are thinking about pleasure horses there are just far more fat horses about now the norm is for horses to be carrying loads more fat than it was when I was young.
My ponies who were hunted but lived out went into a winter rounded not fat because they were our only entertainment as kids and we rode them all day in the holidays they hunted all winter and came into the spring looking lean , I can remember my Mum telling some one that Easter holidays ( with PC rallies etc) was coming a bit quick for mine one year as our grass was not though after a cold spring. The ponies I see now mainly go into the winter bull fat and come out of the winter bull fat so over time the wieght just keeps creeping up and up.
When I was a welfare officer I attended several starving emaciated ponies who where simply fit wieght a lot of people's eyes are just 'out'.
I am not sure what the answer is except the start point is keep your own a correct wieght if people get at you and you are not experianced or a new owner ask someone you trust or a vet their opinion.

 

[LouS]

I would say maybe 50% of the horses at our yard are overweight, some greatly so.

I have a cob and recently had a new vet out to see him and she kept saying it was so nice to see a cob that wasn't fat, kept going on about it so apparently its a rarity now. Joke is several people on the yard keep saying he's too thin, he's unfortunately put a bit of weight on recently despite my efforts and I'm now getting comments on how "well" he is looking, to which I reply "he's too fat" and get some looks. My other horse is a TB x and she is fit and you can see her ribs if she turns her head, pretty sure half of them think she's a welfare case.

Its such a bad attitude but then they're the same with people, describing fat people as "curvy" and saying its okay, its not okay, its not healthy.

 

[vickyb]

I go through the show pics in H & H muttering to myself "Too fat, too fat, ugh, grossly fat." I can't believe how things have changed from a few (or is it more?) years ago.
My second pony, bought when I was 10, was 'chubby'. When vetted the vet insisted that he went onto restricted grazing as he was a lami risk - at the time we knew nothing about laminitis. His timely intervention and explanation to us of the risks meant the pony never got laminitis. I wonder if vets are as informative today?

 

[zaminda]

Just the showing pages? Its the dressage ones that get me, especially when they were talking about how much more hind limb lameness there is in dressage horses now! Went to vets just over a year ago, and a horse belonging to a relative of one of the vets turned up, it was an eventer, who had gone lame. I'm afraid I took one look at it and thought 'no wonder!' Damn thing was hugely overweight, although compared to many would be considered slim!

 

[Cortez]

IMO the oft repeated advice to feed ad lib hay could be responsible for much of the current fattie attack. I know it is in all the "official" literature (PC, BHS, etc.), and I agree with the principles behind it; horses are trickle feeders, natural grazing behaviour, etc., etc. I have fed ad lib for years and it was OK when I had young, growing stock, or hard working competition animals, but now that I have older, mature horses and no longer compete I too found myself with fatties. So, no more ad lib hay, carefully weighed, soaked hay and no hard feed AT ALL - none of mine have seen a grain for more than 4 years. Experience helps, I suppose, but cannot bear to see the fat, pampered, badly behaved poodles that so many leisure horses have become.

 

[Goldenstar]

IMO the oft repeated advice to feed ad lib hay could be responsible for much of the current fattie attack. I know it is in all the "official" literature (PC, BHS, etc.), and I agree with the principles behind it; horses are trickle feeders, natural grazing behaviour, etc., etc. I have fed ad lib for years and it was OK when I had young, growing stock, or hard working competition animals, but now that I have older, mature horses and no longer compete I too found myself with fatties. So, no more ad lib hay, carefully weighed, soaked hay and no hard feed AT ALL - none of mine have seen a grain for more than 4 years. Experience helps, I suppose, but cannot bear to see the fat, pampered, badly behaved poodles that so many leisure horses have become.

I aggree with this of course add lib hay is great if you are managing ulcers but not all horses even when working hard can be a good wieght on add lib forage.
In the last two years I have got a full ID and a Clydesdale/ welsh section D and the fact is even in very hard work I have to restrict what they eat or have them show horse size ugh .

 

[madeleine1]

Fat people Fat horses.

im sorry ive agreed with every thing else on her but i cant with this. i am big and i realise that just because i have no will power of my own and am spoiling my health i shouldnt do it to another creature and my horse is at the moment on the light side of healthy having had a poor winter and however tempting it is to feed her up to a 2.5 fat score i am for now letting her eat grass all day long with no hard feed and she is a 2 and i know in a few months she will be a 2.5 and then i may need to put the grassing muzzle on. she shows and does well and does dressage and hacking.

she is not fat and i am so statement was wrong.

 

[Lexie81]

Drives me mad too. At my last yard I was always being told my warmblood had 'dropped off' when in fact she looked great and was fit, by a lady who's obese cob had horrendous laminitis at the time and was out of action all last year summer and was covered in pads of fat with an enormous crest even in mid winter. Its just rude. People should take a look at themselves before criticising others!