Why do so many people think its fine to have fat horses?

[LEC]

I just don't get it.

I have a personal phobia about fat horses, I currently have two field ornaments who are fat and feral and I can barely stand looking at them as both recovering from niggles. Though the one with a head like a bucket looks prettier because she is fat....

The two fat cobs on the yard are being supplemented hay and getting hard feed. I said the other day, your horse is too fat, I said it has fat lines all down its neck and you are going to kill it. They just laughed. They then feed it because it has no energy. No, because its so fat it can only waddle.

Do people not care that they are killing their horses? That they are causing the vets bills to come in through lami, arthritis, metabolic issues, etc

42% of all the horses at an unaffiliated championships were overweight from a report? My guess it was a BRC championships as not overtly stated.

 

[sarahann1]

Pass, I was told off last year by showing judges for my mare being too big, I knew she was far too big and working on sorting it. Alarmingly many, many people said she looked fine. She’s since lost 40kg and looks considerably better for it, she could do with losing a bit more and toning up but she’s off games for the next few months on box rest.

 

[ihatework]

I don’t get it either.

I understand that some horses are impossible almost to keep slim, and owners are aware and try and do something. So that’s a bit different.

It’s the ones that insist on feeding and excessive rugging despite horse looking like a beached whale.

That said, if I took my own equine advice for my own obesity ???

 

[Not_so_brave_anymore]

Because exercise is hard work and time consuming (especially for non-ridden/lead rein) and hungry ponies look sad, and are often grumpy and pick fights with field mates. It's really hard to keep a horse in peak condition. It's really easy to let them get a bit fat. And a lot of ponies especially only need a TINY bit extra hay, or to miss a couple of exercise sessions and the weight piles in.

(slightly defensive answer from the owner of permanently bit-too-fat pony! I work hard to keep her at a 3.5/5, but as soon as anything else happens in my life and I take my eye off the ball, her weight piles back on )

 

[LEC]

I don’t get it either.

I understand that some horses are impossible almost to keep slim, and owners are aware and try and do something. So that’s a bit different.

It’s the ones that insist on feeding and excessive rugging despite horse looking like a beached whale.

That said, if I took my own equine advice for my own obesity ???

I am much better at managing horses weight than my own! I am mean with them and work them harder! TBH I could probably do with a me, running my own life which is a ridiculous statement. Really, I should be better at managing me, not just horses.

 

[IrishMilo]

I don't know, is my answer. It's sad.

I'm brutal when it comes to weight loss. Horse came back from a period of being turned away fat. Think he lost about 25kgs in a few months when he came back to me. Yup, he looked (and was) hungry at times, and exercising him in grim conditions wasn't fun. But he deserves to be healthy. He's also arthritic which makes me even more determined to keep it off.

 

[Esmae]

I have inherited an overweight mare. Trouble is, she's old (27) so not able to exercise her enough to make a difference and further I have discovered she eats a lot less than my other horse so a diet is going to be interesting. I am thinking how we can get the excess off through the winter so that come the spring she has somewhere to go with it. Feel sure I can get there with her but fat horses are a new one on me.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

Because they see "starving" their horse and leaving it without a rug as cruel.

I knew going into last winter I would not have the time to exercise my horse as much as she needs to keep the weight off. So I didn't clip her and she wintered rugless. She came out of winter looking fantastic. She hasn't had a rug on for well over a year now, wasn't on great grass, did camps, clinics, lots of hacking, competitions, regular lessons etc etc all on one handful of honeychop a day and hay whilst she was in during the day. She's still gone into winter with a grass belly. Which is of course how it should be. When I look at photos of her the summer after a winter rugged it makes me cringe, but I didn't know any better and was on full livery so left most of the caring side to the yard owner as I was a newbie horse owner and assumed she knew better!

I get the odd comment about how she looks sad in the rain with no rug. She actually looks great, her big fluffy coat is doing it's job and her skin is bone dry. Whereas her field mates who are clipped and their rug is leaking are soaked. I also get comments about how she doesn't get a dinner and how her breakfast is a bit measly.

 

[PapaverFollis]

I've always been well aware when the horses are fat and been trying to do something about it. I don't understand the laughing it off and saying they look great crowd particularly. But with some horses it is so hard to get the weight down. My biggest problem is them getting silly or really grumpy with each other when they are hungry! I have to feed hard feed for minerals so they have hay when I'm mixing feeds to prevent idiocy. There's been grumpy biting over the hay even though I spread it around. So it's getting the balance that allows weight loss but doesn't create other issues. Will be easier when I have stables and can separate them for a bit to feed them slightly different amounts.

I think I'm starting to get somewhere with them and am happy with how they are going into winter.

I think trying to get the fatties to slim up is just too difficult for some so they go into denial about it. And get defensive too. I can see how that happens TBH. Having a good doer is quite challenging!

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

Because it’s really hard. I’ve got my oldie out with my younger horse and he needs extra forage now. He’s also given two big feeds a day. Younger horse is a fatty and I’m trying to ride him as much and as fast as possible. He has a small feed of pink mash and unmolassed chaff to give supplements and stop him from being hangry.

If I don’t feed extra forage in the field they go bananas and literally gallop around squealing and throwing a tantrum. And they’re mean to each other. I don’t want my 25yr old galloping around like an idiot or being beaten up. They otherwise adore each other and I think if I separated them I’d have other issues. Tried muzzling but more tantrums thrown plus rubbing so gave up.

 

[windand rain]

I am not so bothered at this time of year but if they looked like they do now in Spring I would be seriously worried. Trouble is horses metabolism depends on feast (summer) and famine (winter) but the bulk of horse owners/managers never allow the famine We have 5 ponies on 5 acres they are on restricted grazing in summer and foggage in winter I use the winter to knock the weight off so they can graze in summer.
I use fewer than 50 small bales a year of hay. They have small feeds daily with supplements but that is mostly oat straw chaff and psyllium as our soil is very sandy

 

[Michen]

Yep. The number of times this horse got referred to as “too lean”.

FFS ? lacking in certain muscle groups from hunting, yes. Skinny, no.

And a completely natural shine.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

This morning I have had the vet out to my Connie who was a well travelled show pony on the M&M south west circuit. Once under saddle at 4 he was as wide as he is tall and having seen the photos I would say obese. The result is that my 12 year old pony has hock arthritis and needs cartrophen injections for the rest of his life. He is struggling to get up and has stopped laying down even on a nice thick straw bed which at his age is sad to see. Vet was extremely complementary as to his current weight and level of fitness as he had a full workout and wasn’t even puffing which is more than can be said for me ?

 

[sherry90]

It’s exceptionally hard. I had people telling me it was just the build of my horse and I got a shock when he got very mild lami ? that woke me up and made me realise it wasn’t his build at all and he was simply fat. I am now obsessive about body condition scoring and weigh tape weekly. He is muzzled in summer and on soaked hay. Over winter he gets ad lib hay and is in work 5 days a week, clipped and rugged as appropriate. He has a smaller paddock but this suits him, when he was on a larger acreage it was hard to control his grass intake even in winter, hence he got fat.

 

[eggs]

I think a big part of the problem is that there are so many overweight horses around that they look like the norm as to how a horse should look to many people.

45 years ago when I got my first pony (a Highland) it was almost unheard of to rug a pony. We weren't bombarded with adverts from feed manufacturers and we hacked for miles as hardly anyone had an arena.

For sure he came out of winter looking lean but then he never got fat in the summer.

Recently the weight crept on one of my horses without me noticing until he was pre-laminitic which was a big wake up call. Tough love prevailed and he dropped 70 kg over the summer months.

People think that if they can see the outline of a rib their horse is underweight and needs feeding up …..

Wouldn't it be great to see more horses looking like Michens does.

 

[ester]

I am much better at managing horses weight than my own! I am mean with them and work them harder! TBH I could probably do with a me, running my own life which is a ridiculous statement. Really, I should be better at managing me, not just horses.

Same, I've always said that! Frank's arrival photos in the June were pretty terrifying given that he had been super fit when they bought him in March, I promised him then he wouldn't look like that again.

 

[JJS]

I understand that some horses are impossible almost to keep slim, and owners are aware and try and do something. So that’s a bit different.

This. I’m not in denial, nor do I think it’s okay for them to be fat. However, my cob girls are a typical example of the type of horses who get fat on thin air. It also doesn’t help that we livery on a working farm, so only have access to dairy grazing.

If it was as simple as not rugging or feeding them through winter, the two of them would be as svelte as they come. However, from personal experience, mine winter out just as well unrugged, with the only difference being that they look a lot dirtier when not wearing a rainsheet. Nor do I pump them full of hard feed (or any feed, for that matter). TBH, the only time I’ve been truly happy with Mary’s weight coming out of winter was when she had a foal at foot, but I can hardly use that as an annual weight-loss device!

That said, while I know they’re fat and frequently bemoan that fact (while actively trying to remedy it), I would be very upset if someone on my yard spoke to me as you did - telling me I was going to kill my horses. I might also have awkwardly laughed, simply because I wouldn’t know how to react, so maybe don’t assume that it’s because they’re completely blasé about it - you might just have backfooted them with your bluntness ??‍

 

[SOS]

It’s not hard if you exercise your horse, keep it in a decent size paddock (hills are my favourite) on rough grass if it’s a good doer and just don’t feed it!

My horse is currently fat. Not obese but he was large at the beginning of the summer after his break. I have him in decent work 5 days a week and brought him back in slowly so it’s coming off eventually. Whilst the rest of the yard has been rugging and feeding he has been turned out naked and worked hard. He’s now hunting twice a week as well as mainly trot/canter hacking and it’s dropping off even more. Clipped a week ago and will start feeding soon but maintenance diet rather than anything for condition. I’m trying to post a photo but it’s having a hissy fit!

 

[meleeka]

I know someone who has an obese cob that’s stabled most of the time because it’s too fat. This might be ok but it’s then fed ad-lib hay and not even from a small holed net! I think it would probably be less fat on a bare field but the owner thinks that’s cruel ?. The pony is also very lazy when ridden and owner says if he lives out he’s even lazier. I don’t get it at all. Some of mine are currently fatter than I’d like but they are retired field ornaments and I do my best to keep them trim. They have a track in the Summer and I make sure they don’t just stand around eating. They aren’t rugged unless really awful and hay is in small holed nets.

 

[ester]

Oh to have hills

 

[LEC]

Yep. The number of times this horse got referred to as “too lean”.

FFS ? lacking in certain muscle groups from hunting, yes. Skinny, no.

And a completely natural shine.

View attachment 56013

I like lean and mean. The mares all get bitchy the fitter they are but they tend to be really pleasant the day after working hard.

 

[SOS]

Bottom is July, he is borderline obese here, ribs very hard to feel and super unfit yet everyone was saying he looked fine. Top is now, getting there and pretty fit in self but still holding onto fat!

Granted not a cob but still (I do refer to him as the cob!)


ETA: I posted this to show how even at the bottom weight people on my yard were saying he looked fine. They are now saying he’s lost a lot... in my eyes he’s only just getting towards an acceptable weight. Lots of the horses there have had laminitis over the summer and are rugged. It’s scary to think that some people can think that level of fatness is ok!

 

[Polos Mum]

The picture TPO on here shared in my post about lean cob's was amazing before and after of a skewbald.

People are not used to seeing fit horses - the Blue Cross I think did a great set of photos with a horse 20% over weight - looked totally normal 'show condition' we see 100's of them like that. They had an equivalent 20% underweight - looked like a Brooke advert - 90% of us would have called someone if we'd seen it in passing in the field like that.

Underweight one was slowly fed and perfect in 6 months. Over weight one took 2 years to get weight off and had permanent joint damage.

Sadly the percentage of overweight horses is probably in line with the percentage of overweight kids and adults in the UK.

 

[TotalMadgeness]

I can tell you why because it is blooming exhausting keeping horses slim and even harder if you're on full livery and the yard simply doesn't cater for it. Thankfully I've got my two at home and the routine is unwaveringly difficult but successful. Both horses have joint problems so keeping them trim is essential (never mind the looming spectre of lami).

 

[Quigleyandme]

I used to do a few large breed M&M show classes with my “performance” Dales and he would look like a starved fawn compared to the other ponies with their crests and lardy bums and stuffy paces. I was at the bottom of the considerable line at a county show and as I did the walk of shame out of the ring this young man who may have been Romany said “That pony had the best walk and trot in the class”. I was so grateful to him.

 

[scats]

I think the problem is that people no longer recognise fit horses as that, they think they look too thin. At a previous yard, tongues would be wagging if anything looked lean... yet there were a huge amount of obese welfare cases on that yard, bordering on lami, but no-one batted an eyelid at that.

I wish I could get Millie looking lean. I love the look of a slim, fit horse. Unfortunately she has a weirdly deep rib cage and no matter how slim I get her, she looks oddly enormous from some angles, and makes me look like a pea on a mountain. Even the vets comment on her deep body. It makes finding rugs that don’t look like mini skirts a real challenge. Polly, on the other hand, when she loses weight, gets that lovely lean look to her. They are both the same height. My legs nicely wrap around P. They barely go halfway down Millie.

 

[TGM]

People are not used to seeing fit horses - the Blue Cross I think did a great set of photos with a horse 20% over weight - looked totally normal 'show condition' we see 100's of them like that. They had an equivalent 20% underweight - looked like a Brooke advert - 90% of us would have called someone if we'd seen it in passing in the field like that.

This is so true and a huge part of the problem. A lot of owners are frightened to see even a hint of a rib because they think people will judge them for under-feeding. There is a lot of peer pressure involved, especially in livery yards where it is common to hear people tut-tutting and gossiping because they feel a perfectly healthy horse is too thin because they can see a rib at some angles.

But I quite agree that it can be difficult too if you have a very good doer - we have a retired pony who runs to fat very easily and we have to be really strict to keep her weight down. Thankfully we keep her at home so don't have the pressure from other liveries thinking we are mean - which I've seen and heard a lot at yards.

 

[shamrock2021]

Some horse are extremely difficult to lose weight. My mare been on of them you could make her work 24 hours a day and give her no food and she would still be fat. My horse came to me fat and it’s a massive struggle to keep her at a normal weight .

 

[ester]

See I''ve found it the opposite on mixed yards (by which I mean natives/TBs/WBs) everyone worried about to much weight.

 

[SEL]

Eugh the PSSM mare has been off any decent amount of work this year due to niggling tendon problems and is fat. Not obese, but very fat. But then she's always been one to hang onto her weight even wintering out with polo ponies when they all looked like hat racks in January and she still looked like a hippo. I think that dodgy gene of hers is switched well and truly on to producing glycogen 24:7 and when she can't wear it off with exercise it just becomes blubber.

On my old yard a dog walker called the RSPCA for an overweight welshie. They did advise the owner on weight loss strategies but never followed it up.