What weight do you like your good doers to be coming out of winter?

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HaffiesRock

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My Haflinger came to me in August last year, weight taping at around 480kg! He was massively obese and covered in fat pads. How he had never had laminitis i'll never know.

This is him at the viewing when I bought him.

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Had the vet out to him to vaccinate etc and she was horrified at his weigh and said she wanted at least 50kg off him. So he has been on a diet and exercise programme until mid November when the weather and lack of facilities meant I couldn't do anything with him.

I managed to get him to around 420kg before being turned away.

I have been monitoring his weight over winter with the weight tape and he is now around 390kg, can feel his ribs easily. He's getting half a bale of hay a day and about half that again of straw, split into 3 feeds, fast fiber with his multi vitamin in, is out unrugged 24/7 on a mostly bare paddock. He has just started some light lunging 2 or 3 times a week for about 10 minutes at a time. I took some pictures on Tuesday and in some of them he looks terrible! Now I know its lack of muscle and i'm used to seeing him big and beefy but I feel bad. He's probably a condition score 2 under all his fluff.

I basically want a bit of reassurance. He is a greedy boy and although will be on rough/bareish grazing come spring (with additional hay if needed and fast fiber for his vits), he will find and eat EVERY blade of grass available.

Some pictures from Tuesday:

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What condition score do you like your fatties to be coming out of winter?
 
My last good doer was probably the same as your haffy coming out of winter last year, however that was in March when the grass was just starting to come through. I would probably want a little more on him (or at least not to lose any more), although if he is starting some light work then he should muscle up a little more which will make him look better.

To be honest though, my current good doer hasn't lost as much weight as I would have liked this winter, and I would rather he looked like your horse than what he does currently!
 
I like mine at 2.5, by autumn they are always back to 3.5 then lose again. Oldie maintains a reasonable top line even in light work, so although she's clipped & a few ribs are just visible, she actually looks a lot bigger than she is.
 
I'm having problems with a good doer 17 hh warmblood, a lightweight; just not the kind of horse you would think of getting too fat in winter.

I don't go by condition scores, I feel ribs instead. I like all my horses to come out of winter at the beginning of March with ribs that can easily be felt, and that can be seen when they move in the area at the back that's not got much muscle on.

Lots of people focus on the hip points and get worried if they are too easily seen, but if you have an unmuscled horse with hips that can't be seen easily, that's often just fat.

I feel for you all with cobs if I am struggling with a lightweight.
 
I have far more trouble keeping horse's weight down in the winter than I do in the summer. Summer is easy as I just put the fatties on less grass. In the winter they do not go on the grass at all and so 100% of their forage is what I give them. It is a difficult balancing act to ensure that they get adequate forage not to rgive them problems with gastric ulcers etc, but not so much that they actually put weight on. This year has gone very well so far with no horse gaining or dropping weight. I like them to be the same weight throughout the year - just right which to me, is a 3.
 
I just worry when he starts to moult he will look terrible! I know he will very quickly fill out again once the grass comes through, but as the vet said its better them be a little bit thin than too fat :/ x
 
HaffiesRock said:
I just worry when he starts to moult he will look terrible! I know he will very quickly fill out again once the grass comes through, but as the vet said its better them be a little bit thin than too fat :/ x
Click to expand...

Well he looks really happy and perky. Condition wise, it is hard to tell from the angle of your photographs.
 
I wouldn't worry at all. I like to see good doers pretty lean coming out of winter - as nature intended!!

My sec. A has wintered out all winter, unrugged, only having hay put out when there was a fair covering of snow and she is still far too fat. I am envious of the shape of your pony, wish mine looked like that.
 
He looks great to me! and will save you a whole lot of headache through summer if you can continue that way for as long as possible... at least it won't hurt him if he does put a little weight on.

I prefer fatties on the skinnier side at this time of year...
 
I have the same feelings occasionally when I look at my haffy who has lost about 30-40kg by weight tape, realistically it is just because we are used to seeing them at least a bit chubby! I think yours looks at a good weight for coming out of winter as yes he could do with a little more but that will probably happen in the first couple of weeks of spring and we'll probably all wish we'd tried to get more off!

This is mine when I got her, I think far too round!

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Not a terribly useful pic but I think she looked much skinnier here...
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Mostly looks like this when clean..
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I feel your pain! Your Haffy looks abiut the sane as my Fjord, which I don't think is too bad for this tine of year My mare was huge when I got her and in the winter she normally piles the weight on because I just can’t ride so much. This year she’s been in a lot because the fields are so wet, so I’ve been able to soak her hay for most of the winter.* She gets two large slices of soaked hay and two large slices of straw, tricklenetted so it lasts her. She also gets chaff and cauliflower with her vits and mins and a couple of extra handfuls of hay or straw if she needs it. For the first time ever she looks thin round her back end, but that’s lack of muscle. Once I start working her more I am sure she will fill out properly and hopefully by the time the spring grass comes through she will be just right.
 
Pinto was on a diet nearly all last year. Well I say diet - his food was tailored to the work I could give him - which due to work commitments wasn't too much unfortunately.

So he stayed a reasonable weight for most of the year, but got a bit porky again at the beginning of winter when they came off grass and went onto haylage :rolleyes:

At the moment he is about 10kg over where I would prefer him to be, but we are in the middle of a cold snap after weeks of wet weather, so the tracks aren't ridable unless I want to risk a broken leg... but once the nights get a bit lighter I can do more roadwork (thankfully)

This is a bit of a naff photo, but you can see he's a bit porky (though ribs easily feelable with flat of hand)

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When he is fit he looks more like:
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He was probably a little too lean here:
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but that was not long after a 4 day ride covering 60-80km per day.
 
Ponies store fat in different areas, even within the same breed! In the OP's last picture, the pony looks nice and lean -- but is that a gutter I see between his buttocks??:eek: But it may just be the angle of the photo or the way he is standing. I've been suggesting voluntary scanning at shows just so we could see what is going on below the surface (as is done with sheep), but it will never be done....

I had one Highland mare here who put it all on the belly, probably around the intestines, yet you could easily feel her ribs! She'd also have a crest and a big bum. My stallion, on the other hand, has quite an athletic shape and when he came out of winter a bit lean, I got a couple of horrified emails from members of the show fraternity. If they'd looked a bit closer they would have seen the gutter running down between his buttocks above his tail! Several vets visiting on other matters all remarked that he was the ideal weight and commented "Isn't it nice to see a Highland pony that isn't obese for once?":D
 
I weightaped mine for worming the other day and cob came in at approx 511kg and pony in at 255kg, so they are pretty near their markers for spring/summer weights. I prefer to keep my good doers on the skinny side all summer with ribs showing as pony battles cushings and is increasingly sensitive to getting lami and staying skinny helped cobs arthritis HUGELY last year. I have just started to reduce their feeds and can feel their ribs easily. Both look a bit rough and manky because they have pretty much had the entire winter off so there is very little muscle on both of them (they love retired winters!)
 
I don't think that a "rump gutter" should be the be all and end all of condition scoring.

A "double croup" is part of the breed standard for the Mérens. My rising 2yo Mérens has a "rump gutter", but he is positively lean every where else. If you dig through the fluff he is covered in, you can feel his rump isn't fatty at all - there is just a lot of it.

My cob normally has a flat-to-apple bottom, but if there is any more than a hint of a groove I know I have to be stricter with his food. At the moment his tail head is quite prominent, but that is because he is undermuscled coming out of winter, rather than being too lean :rolleyes:
 
about 8 weeks ago looking very fat (out of work)
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6 weeks ago (out of work due to snow :o)
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from the front
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during the summer (in full work) bare in mind hes a stallion - hence the crest and he was very over weight when we viewed him
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from behind
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I don't use a weight tape as they are always way out, I just go by eye. My two are roughly the same weight & condition as they went into the winter. They are very fit, muscled up & ready for competition. We keep them like this all the time. :)
 
I like them ribby, I know some don't agree and when hairy it can be hard to see, but it means he gets a normal unrestricted lifestyle come spring.

I'd be happy with him from the pictures posted, you have a bit of a buffer come spring and he will muscle up with work.
 
I would love to see my fella's ribs! Or even just a couple! He lives out in Winter, unrugged, with the very tiniest handful of hifi lite, no hay unless there is snow on the ground (& even then he gets very little), is in a Fatty Paddock early (he's been in there several weeks already this year) & he still comes out of Winter carrying much more weight than i'd like. He just thrives on thin air. I feel i can't paddock him the full Winter because it'd get too poached so I'm not sure what else i can do! I can't stable him because i rent a field - there's no stable available, or any other facilities. He's also a false rig (he'll fully cover mares given the chance & has many stallion-like tendancies but has been blood-tested clear) & he is always quite cresty, but it is all muscle when he's in work as he does work correctly.
 
I would like him to come out of winter 50kg lighter in a healthy way. Every year I say this but he always comes out as fat as he went in.

Anyway, be careful what you wish for. I love my dumpling.
 
I've never managed to get that much weight off my haffy, he's lost 4 holes off his girth this winter, only gets hay and is still the size of an elephant. I'd post a pic but don't want to be called cruel - he really just seems to drag every last calorie out of every scrap of hay. Even my mini's have managed to slinky down but the haffy no way, porker! :eek:
 
Well my colored cob went into winter looking very fat :eek: now coming out shes alot leaner, i can feel ribs but not see them, TBH she is a little leaner than i'd like but that will soon change when the grass comes through!
My welsh D has lost weight too, but looks perfect at the moment:)
 
Oh dear. Mine are on unrestricted mud atm, and half of them still look like the first picture of the fat haffy. Must be all the twigs they're eating...

My welshxhackney seems to be able to hold condition on duck weed and fence posts.

I do like them to come out under rather than over, but if that doesn't happen we ride the legs off them in March - especially that pesky shetland.

;o)
 
Rhodders said:
I've never managed to get that much weight off my haffy, he's lost 4 holes off his girth this winter, only gets hay and is still the size of an elephant. I'd post a pic but don't want to be called cruel - he really just seems to drag every last calorie out of every scrap of hay. Even my mini's have managed to slinky down but the haffy no way, porker! :eek:
Click to expand...

Put a picture on. know one will judge, Haffies are noturious for being fat!

I'm glad people think he's OK. I know in my mind he's fine, im just used to seeing him fatter x
 
I think he looks fine, plenty of scope there to add a little as they naturally would in the summer and lose in the winter, this will keep them healthy. More horses are killed by kindness than neglect sadly.
My guys are now really having to work to eek out the remains of the grass and no extra feed. Its hard to not be tempted to give them more but I know I will regret having a fat horse going into spring.
 
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