What should a Shetland weigh?

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olderridercg

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Hi. My 22 year old Cushings/EMS Shetland is 10.3hh. Today the weigh tape showed a girth circumference of 127cms. This includes several centimetres of winter coat (hairy monster). I have calculated he weighs around 160kgs. At a recent visit to collect a blood sample my vet assessed him as obese and allocated a BCS of 4.5. I don't understand how she can assess whether he is overweight or obese based on a quick visual assessment especially when he is so hairy. After comparing him to the BCS diagrams I consider his BCS to be 3.5, although closer to 4 than 3. I have been unable to find photos of Shetlands with BCS of 3, 4, and 5 to compare to my Shetland. I would welcome objective comments about whether a 10.3hh Shetland is obese at 160kgs. I am struggling to get his insulin levels down and feeling very depressed about everything so please don't criticise if you think he is obese.
 
The weight alone can't tell you exactly if the pony is obese, as many factors are involved - the BCS is much more informative. Also, weigh tapes are almost *never* even close to the correct weight - a weighbridge is the only way to accurately measure weight.

But whether you or the vet are more correct in your BCS assessment, the fact is that you both agree that he is bigger than he should be. So following a weight loss protocol is a good idea regardless. Did your vet test his insulin levels? If they are high did she discuss the possibility of using ertugliflozin/canagliflozin for a short time to bring his insulin down?

I have two Sec As with EMS, so I feel your pain.
 
I wouldn't rely on a weigh tape for a Shetland, especially in winter floof. Even for bigger equines they're best used as a guide to assess changes, rather than absolute weights. If you're on a yard, see if people are willing to book a weigh bridge, then you know for sure. Did vet do any hands on scoring? I know with my Shetland I could feel that there was no crest (I had an EMS Exmoor to compare) even under his floof. I could also tell when he was losing weight in his last winter, so it is possible to score.
 
I had my lovely vet out a couple of years ago in the February on a warm day,, he had a final year student accompanying him.
Before he did vaccs, he asked student to body score my miniature shetland, standing at 32inches. She decided that she was obese at 4.5/5
He then asked her to put her hands on, in particular the ribs, hips and back.
She gulped and hastily revised her opinion to make the pony a 2.
There was a lot of 'floof'.

Vet said it was a v good thing to check thoroughly. This was a ems piny who had been only off box rest the last 3 weeks from having had laminitis. She had been weighed the day before on portable scales, coming in at 127kg

OP, I've never used a tape on little ones or v hairy ones, but rely on close contact to inspect.

I am not admitting to the other shetland, who had the reputation at the vets as 'the amazing pony with no ribs' 🫣🫣🫣
 
160kg is probably a bit of a low estimate (as in a 10.3 would not be obese if that was it's actual weight!) - for reference, my 8.2hh mini shet used to be weighed regularly for water treadmill sessions, and was always around the 150kg mark (not at his fittest, as he was recovering from injury, but he certainly wasn't obese). Weight tapes are especially useless for the little ones I'm afraid, if you do want a better idea of actual weight then you'll need a weighbridge / portable scales as above (it is useful to have a rough idea for medication, worming doses etc)
However, I think from your post you're more concerned about general condition - and the best thing for that is 'hands on' when they're fluffy (should be able to feel ribs without having to prod through a few inches of blubber first ;))
On the insulin levels - I feel your pain. I'm struggling with one of mine, in work carriage driving (would be fit enough to do a 4-5km outdoor driving marathon) off grass, etc etc - it's proving a very slow process to get his levels down. If you can exercise at all (in hand walks are fine) it helps, look after his liver, keep an eye on cushings levels, and be really honest with yourself about what / how much you're feeding. Seem to be a few having a tough time with it at the moment, it sucks, but if it helps you're not alone!
 
Years ago when my pony was diagnosed with EMS, the vet said to clip a tiny gap in her mane and measure round her neck, make sure her neck (crest) gets smaller.

If mine go to the vets I always pop them in the scales. I then also measure their girth weight and it gives me a note of how the two differ, on my 13.2 it’s about 50kg difference
 
On my very fluffy short legged highland I know my weight tape is 50kgs under actual weight so weighbridge is best for results. Allen and Paige came out for me to weigh just him last year as I was worried. He does have fast fibre. Well veteran light now. It’s not always the only guide though thick cresty necks are also a good indicator of too much weight. A bit like our muffin tops!
 
I would do weight by rib massage rather than appearance or tape. Rigs can look alternately skinny or fat, depending on how much he has fluffed his coat. The weigh tape is a useful took for seeing overall gain and loss, but I don't think they are any good to assess actual weight. I think there was a study done about 10 years ago showing variations as much as 15-20%, but I can't find that study now.

If assessing weight is very important, as in actual weight not just slimmer or fatter, than the only way is a weigh bridge. That said, the size of my horses' poos is amazing and one big sh*t would alter the results considerably LOL. Not to mention a haynet, which would be 10kg and the horse doesn't always wee or poo whilst eating it!
 
olderridercg said:
Hi. My 22 year old Cushings/EMS Shetland is 10.3hh. Today the weigh tape showed a girth circumference of 127cms. This includes several centimetres of winter coat (hairy monster). I have calculated he weighs around 160kgs. At a recent visit to collect a blood sample my vet assessed him as obese and allocated a BCS of 4.5. I don't understand how she can assess whether he is overweight or obese based on a quick visual assessment especially when he is so hairy. After comparing him to the BCS diagrams I consider his BCS to be 3.5, although closer to 4 than 3. I have been unable to find photos of Shetlands with BCS of 3, 4, and 5 to compare to my Shetland. I would welcome objective comments about whether a 10.3hh Shetland is obese at 160kgs. I am struggling to get his insulin levels down and feeling very depressed about everything so please don't criticise if you think he is obese.
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Thanks for all your replies which were very interesting. Here are answers to some of your questions:

A few years ago I had my pony weighed on a Spillers weighbridge at a local yard. His weight was 168kgs. On that day his girth on my weigh tape was 132cms. This is what currently guides my assessment of his weight. I can't get him to another weighbridge because there is no where near my field that hosts a weighbridge session and I can't take him further away because I don't have horse transport.
He was diagnosed with Cushings/EMS 9.5 years ago and has had blood tests at least yearly since then.
The recent test result showed a very low ACTH level so that's the good news. I was convinced his insulin was high and thought that could be why, despite my best efforts, his laminitis wasn't significantly improving. As I suspected his insulin level was >300 so very high.
The vet recommended I give him half a tablet of Invokana daily for 2 weeks to reduce the insulin level. This should improve his sore feet so that I can then increase his exercises.

I didn't volunteer this information because I didn't/don't consider it is relevant to my original question which was "What should a Shetland weigh?"

However I did enjoy reading the replies. Thanks.
 
pistolpete said:
On my very fluffy short legged highland I know my weight tape is 50kgs under actual weight so weighbridge is best for results. Allen and Paige came out for me to weigh just him last year as I was worried. He does have fast fibre. Well veteran light now. It’s not always the only guide though thick cresty necks are also a good indicator of too much weight. A bit like our muffin tops!
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They are, but be careful with conclusions about entires’ or late-cut geldings’ crests.
Definitely a weighbridge rather than tape for natives if you need to know exact weight / monitor differences.
 
Red-1 said:
I would do weight by rib massage rather than appearance or tape. Rigs can look alternately skinny or fat, depending on how much he has fluffed his coat. The weigh tape is a useful took for seeing overall gain and loss, but I don't think they are any good to assess actual weight. I think there was a study done about 10 years ago showing variations as much as 15-20%, but I can't find that study now.

If assessing weight is very important, as in actual weight not just slimmer or fatter, than the only way is a weigh bridge. That said, the size of my horses' poos is amazing and one big sh*t would alter the results considerably LOL. Not to mention a haynet, which would be 10kg and the horse doesn't always wee or poo whilst eating it!
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Agree, and the weigh tapes are similar equivalent to measuring weight gain /loss just under a human’s armpits. You will need to be considerably fatter to increase this measurement!
Particularly with natives and cold bloods: weight gain round their bellies, deepening furrows over their backs and blossoming hindquarters, fuller necks - can be visually striking before you need to even let out the girth.
Weigh tapes can be very misleading indeed.
 
My 13h icelandic also weighed 50kg more than the weight tape said.
Once you have had them on the scales and measured them with the weight tape you can work out the adjustment on the tape as they lose or gain.
 
My shetty is 10hh and came in at 160kg on the weighbridge. He has cushings and clipped out ready for summer. The Weight tape told me was was 192kg so was really far off from the scales.
 
I have two mini Shetlands, and they are built totally differently. The registered one that came from Shetland is like a barrel on legs and always looks fat, no matter what I do. In the winter he's less fat, but of course then he has the thickest coat in the world so still looks as fat! The other one is much finer built. Looking at him now he doesn't look remotely fat. It's only when you feel how much fat is covering their ribs that it's clear they are both about as fat as each other 😂 I reckon there's a good 30kgs between their weights (the 'proper' Shetland is slightly smaller in height).

In summary, look at what you have in front of you, rather than what the scales say.
 
Body conditioning scoring can only be done properly by being hands on. Not just by looking.

Also the issue with giving a number is it is going to be quite different depending on things like how much bone the animal has and, if you're dealing with a horse with metabolic issues, whether it's retaining fluid or not (hard crests and puffy eyes are, yes, fat, but also lots of water especially if bloods are showing hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycaemia).
 
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