Navalgem
Well-Known Member
Too fat or too thin?
Which is worse?
- Thread starter Navalgem
- Start date
Dolcé
Well-Known Member
definitely too fat, although I have taken too thin to mean just that rather than emaciated. Lets hope the show judges will stop placing fat ponies at the top of the line and then maybe things will improve.
Box_Of_Frogs
Well-Known Member
You need an "other - please explain" box. Both are bad. I'm tempted to say fatties are worse than thinnies because I wrestle with a porky Section D/cob who is a ridiculously good doer. It's not easy getting the weight off or keeping it down but it can be done by subterfuge so the horse isn't miserable, eg swap normal chaff for Hi Fi Lite and up his workload. Equally, I have plenty of riding friends who struggle to keep weight on their TBs. With one, at the first puff of wind he drops weight and with another, the owner had to resort to putting baby milk formula in his feed to stop him looking like a hat rack. So I think BOTH are as bad as each other.
Sol
Well-Known Member
Too fat because it more commonly goes unnoticed, and so doesn't get sorted. Horses that are too thin are more noticeable usually, or tend to be more remarked on, so people are more likely to take action. I don't think people are aware how much of an issue excessive weight can be.
pottamus
Well-Known Member
I have no experience of a poor doer but I would say too fat is worse. I am constantly struggling with my Welshies weight and even though he has lost so much recently that I can see an outline of ribs, in just 1 week he can put weight back on if I am not totally anal about what I feed him. It is also a battle keeping him happy with what he is fed too as he is used to ad lib hay in the field but I can no longer do that following a bout of laminitis.
camilla4
Well-Known Member
Assuming the same difference from ideal weight, definitely too fat.
Ashgrove
Well-Known Member
I've had a TB I struggled to keep weight on and I now have a cob X warmblood and a Shetland X spotty who are a pair of fatties.
Too fat I find is harder to manage.
Too fat I find is harder to manage.
cptrayes
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
definitely too fat, although I have taken too thin to mean just that rather than emaciated. Lets hope the show judges will stop placing fat ponies at the top of the line and then maybe things will improve.
[/ QUOTE ]
I was tempted to say " and pigs might fly" but they have cracked the "horses shrunk for a life height certificate" problem this year, so maybe this one is next on the list. We can only hope, because the pix I see in H&H every week don't seem to be changing much
definitely too fat, although I have taken too thin to mean just that rather than emaciated. Lets hope the show judges will stop placing fat ponies at the top of the line and then maybe things will improve.
[/ QUOTE ]
I was tempted to say " and pigs might fly" but they have cracked the "horses shrunk for a life height certificate" problem this year, so maybe this one is next on the list. We can only hope, because the pix I see in H&H every week don't seem to be changing much
Spudlet
Well-Known Member
If an adult horse becomes emaciated because it is not getting enough to eat, this can be put right relatively quickly, relatively easily, and once the horse has regained a healthy weight it will almost certainly be fine. You can physically rehab an emaciation case in about three months.
An obese horse will take about three times as long to put right. In addition to this, for the rest of its life it will be prone to weight gain. That's before you even start on the many possible complications - laminitis of course, damage to the joints, heart and breathing problems and in some cases Equine Metabolic Syndrome.
People see emaciation and have a very strong reaction of shock (rightly so of course) but actually it's often the obese horse that is in real trouble.
Go here if you don't believe me and download the leafelt and look at Dollar and Bahir http://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/information/right_weight_advice
An obese horse will take about three times as long to put right. In addition to this, for the rest of its life it will be prone to weight gain. That's before you even start on the many possible complications - laminitis of course, damage to the joints, heart and breathing problems and in some cases Equine Metabolic Syndrome.
People see emaciation and have a very strong reaction of shock (rightly so of course) but actually it's often the obese horse that is in real trouble.
Go here if you don't believe me and download the leafelt and look at Dollar and Bahir http://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/information/right_weight_advice
toteymote
Well-Known Member
I agree with bof as both are bad but I guess it depends what time of year it is too as it's a nightmare to have a really skinny horse in winter that you can't keep at a nice weight but then in the summer when the grass is really good it's a nightmare having a rounder horse. Although having said that toto got a bit more chubs than I would have liked in the summer after living out and with the risks of lami and how long it took to get him back to a normal weight for me fat is worse.