Why don't people let their horses drop off in winter?

To answer your question OP, because they don't really understand how the horse's metabolism works - and then they find that their horse has laminitis and can't be turned out at all.
 
Holding said:
Surely it's good horsemanship to aim for a consistent healthy weight appropriate to age and activity levels year round?
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No - the horses metabolism is designed to be fat in the summer and be thin in the winter. I believe that so many more horses are suffering from EMS because they never loose weight.
 
I think that horses that have a lot of warmblood/TB blood, and cobs/ponies that were developed from our native breeds have different sorts of metabolism. Natives breed have evolved to lose weight in winter, fat ponies find it harder to conceive and a rise in nutrition helps fertility. I have three pony brood mares turned out with not rugs, no hard feed and their hay is cut with straw in an effort to get the fat off them before spring, which they will replace far quicker than it took to take it off once the grass come through. There is always an exception, I have a Welsh A who is on conditioning feed, rugged and is still losing weight.
 
I think there is a difference between having a grass belly over summer and being actually fat, with cresty neck, wobbly shoulders, etc.
 
If your Horse was fat in the first place then sure, let them drop of weight in winter.

However, my horse who was not fat and was just right before winter i would not want him to drop any more. He is an ISH and is rarely fat; he would walk weight off but isn't buzzy and is fed correctly to maintain weight or increased feed if his work increases - following the rules of feeding :)

I try to keep my horse at his correct weight the entire year and feed the feed that suits him the best.

OP how did your horses get fat in the first place? Did you not restrict their grazing or reduce feed? In your case i would let them drop off weight in the winter as well as then they would be at the correct weight!
 
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EllenJay said:
No - the horses metabolism is designed to be fat in the summer and be thin in the winter. I believe that so many more horses are suffering from EMS because they never loose weight.
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This is my thinking. But unreasonable people will see it as starving them in winter and letting them get obese in summer :rolleyes:
 
minesadouble said:
The TBs no but the natives very much, especially the sec A lead rein who does very little.
Sound advice in Horse and Hound saying very much the same a few weeks ago so take heart OP.
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/features/13-tips-for-feeding-natives-in-the-winter/
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Thanks minesadouble. Put into words exactly what I was saying. Especially point 1.

Quote: '1. Native breeds have evolved to put on weight in the summer and live off their fat reserves in the winter. So let them do this; it is fine to have your horse or pony lean at the end of the winter ready for the spring grass.'
 
I would desperately not want a horse to have a grass belly unless it was fully out of work... It's mostly caused by constant supply of poor quality forage, which sits in the hind gut for a longer period of time. Or by the abdominal muscles slacking. Both don't seem exactly ideal to me.
 
I certainly aim for a correct weight- just able to feel, but not see ribs, with a good topline including nicely muscled quarters back and neck. And I aim to maintain, or improve this all year by working and feeding correctly. If I felt my horse was ok 'dropping off' in winter, he must have been too fat in summer!!
Yes, horses in the wild do exist on a 'feast and famine' regime- but mine don't.
 
Lolo said:
I would desperately not want a horse to have a grass belly unless it was fully out of work... It's mostly caused by constant supply of poor quality forage, which sits in the hind gut for a longer period of time. Or by the abdominal muscles slacking. Both don't seem exactly ideal to me.
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I have one too young to work, and he is out with one that is utterly retired. Whether or not what I call a grass belly is what you describe, I don't actually know.

PS - Both horses I speak of have perfectly functioning hindguts. My wheelbarrow can attest to this.
Here having a grass belly refers to a horse that is a bit plump from a lot of rich summer grazing, lacks proper topline as not in work, but that still does not have fat pads wobbling. Said horses quickly tone up once in work :)

Fat horses are entirely different to this. They are overweight.
 
I'm letting H drop off a bit this winter but that's because he was fairly chubby when I bought him and I haven't quite managed to get all the weight off yet. Come next year I hope to keep him at a consistent weight year round.
 
Mine are fed for the level of work, if I let them down in winter I would drop their feed accordingly. However I would still feed them to a good condition score, when one of mine gets cold he drops too much weight and it snowballs and he suffers come spring.
 
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Arizahn, a grass/ hay belly is a distended barrel, dropped away from the rib cage giving a slightly pregnant look. Often, you can see ribs because the dropped, swollen belly stretches the skin over the ribs. What you describe is just a fatty not in work :)
 
I went to a talk on laminitis and the speaker said that if we let horses and ponies drop weight over winter as they would naturally then laminitis incidents would be greatly reduced. I'm paraphrasing of course but that was the gyst and I think it was also stated in one of the Talk Laminitis webinars.
 
MurphysMinder said:
I went to a talk on laminitis and the speaker said that if we let horses and ponies drop weight over winter as they would naturally then laminitis incidents would be greatly reduced. I'm paraphrasing of course but that was the gyst and I think it was also stated in one of the Talk Laminitis webinars.
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This makes sense
 
I am quite happy if mine drops off a bit in winter, I like him to come into spring lean, gain a little in spring/summer and lose it again the next winter. It makes sense to me and unless you feed a lot in winter, it happens naturally anyway.
 
Interesting thread OP. I'm lucky enough to have lots of unimproved meadow grazing for my 11 natives, keeping them as close to natural as possible.

They're stood in weeds up to their eyeballs in summer. Because it's rough, low value stuff, and they're constantly mooching, they're not restricted / muzzled, and pig out on thistles and other dainties to their hearts content. Being summer, we're also riding / driving them a bit more. Some of them get a bit fat, yes, but fit and nothing like the show ponies you see.

Come autumn they eat down all those weeds as they die off, putting on weight well into December. I avoid giving hay unless there's snow, (but keep an eye on their condition of course). They find things to eat through the winter, and are constantly foraging, but it's not enough to stop the weight slowly coming off them into the spring.

Some years they get through with no hay at all. The marginal aquatics start growing in early Feb when they're hungriest, so they go in the river and eat the lot - this is great as it disturbs the stream bed and clears the watercourse for me :)

For this to work you need lots of POOR grazing. Over the years the ponies have learned from each other to eat things they wouldn't at first (like duck weed from the river bed!). Best thing is they're never bored, and don't hang around the gate hungry waiting for hay. The fluctuations in their weight aren't as extreme as you might think.

They're exceptionally good doers - I think this is because this lifestyle is much less stressful than fighting over hay piles and waiting for feeds.
 
pennyturner said:
Interesting thread OP. I'm lucky enough to have lots of unimproved meadow grazing for my 11 natives, keeping them as close to natural as possible.

They're stood in weeds up to their eyeballs in summer. Because it's rough, low value stuff, and they're constantly mooching, they're not restricted / muzzled, and pig out on thistles and other dainties to their hearts content. Being summer, we're also riding / driving them a bit more. Some of them get a bit fat, yes, but fit and nothing like the show ponies you see.

Come autumn they eat down all those weeds as they die off, putting on weight well into December. I avoid giving hay unless there's snow, (but keep an eye on their condition of course). They find things to eat through the winter, and are constantly foraging, but it's not enough to stop the weight slowly coming off them into the spring.

Some years they get through with no hay at all. The marginal aquatics start growing in early Feb when they're hungriest, so they go in the river and eat the lot - this is great as it disturbs the stream bed and clears the watercourse for me :)

For this to work you need lots of POOR grazing. Over the years the ponies have learned from each other to eat things they wouldn't at first (like duck weed from the river bed!). Best thing is they're never bored, and don't hang around the gate hungry waiting for hay. The fluctuations in their weight aren't as extreme as you might think.

They're exceptionally good doers - I think this is because this lifestyle is much less stressful than fighting over hay piles and waiting for feeds.
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Wow, extremely jealous of your set up and your lot sound like they have a wonderful time foraging around for food!! And I wasn't on about extreme fluctuations in weight, you'd think the way some people were going on I was starving them in winter and letting them get hideously overweight in summer. I'm talking a few kgs here and there. :)
 
I look at it this way: if a horse or pony goes into summer fat, you are looking at trouble. In an ideal world, you keep your horse/pony at its ideal weight year round - they don't need reserves for winter as are not being starved. HOWEVER, in reality, many people increase feed levels hugely in winter without need, as often horses are worked a lot less when it is dark and cold and owner would rather be at home in the evenings. So I can see why people advocate letting your horse drop off a bit over winter, but equally know that I wouldn't do it myself - it is much harder to put weight on over winter than lose it, and even with he best intentions and feeding to maintain weight my TB invariably loses some condition compared to summer.

Yes, they are evolved to gain and lose, but the scenario is different now. Yes, too many people have overweight horses/ponies anyway, so they could do with losing weight, and the winter is the easiest time to do it. Should you use weight fluctuations to keep your horse healthy? Not if you want to ride it. It's not fair on either an overweight or under conditioned animal to work - my lad got a month off at the end of last winter because his weight dropped and he needed to conserve energy.
 
Interesting thread. Metabolically speaking a domestic horse is the same as a feral horse, so in theory it would be better for the horse if it is allowed to be a horse in this respect. As far as many leisure horses/good doers are concerned letting them drop weight regularly rather than piling it on all year round, year on year, may be all that stands between them and IR/laminitis/EMS, particularly since they're unlikely to have the base level of fitness a feral horse will have from always moving around. For hardworking horses their work alone is likely to protect them to a large degree from those problems even if their metabolism isn't then working quite as nature intended. As far as riding itself is concerned it is mostly an issue for saddle fit. Agree with Lolo about the grass belly - nothing to do with fat per se, just a lack of working condition in general.
 
amymay said:
My horses have a job and work harder in the winter than the summer. So the need feeding, clipping and rugging.

If your horses are not worked then I can understand you not clipping, rugging and feeing etc.

How do you prevent them getting fat in the summer?
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They get worked more...sadly my job dictates they get less work in winter :(
 
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