Why won't people take obesity in horses seriously?

[MochaDun]

I have a good do-er and managing his weight every summer (and actually across a large part of the winter too) comes as part of the deep joy of owning him. We attempt to follow a weight loss plan every year as where he's kept the grass is always in (too) plentiful supply.

Sadly this summer I've been restricted on what I could feed him when stabled and it's been haylage only this year at the yard instead of hay (which I would soak) which has kiboshed the amount of weight I was hoping he could shed but I did my best in terms of riding 6 times a week and keeping him off grass for 15 hours a day.

When the Blue Cross Fat Horse Slim campaign was launched it got good publicity and you kind of think it would have sunk in to most horse owners how obesity in horses is such a terrible problem these days especially when the first court case happened recently when people were charged over their obese horses. But no, there are still those who seem staggeringly oblivious to the fact that their horse has a huge crest and fat pads, who will barely ride all summer and yet leave their horse out 24/7 on good grass (and let's face it we can get good grass now right into late October). Then there's others who don't have a clue about how to condition score a horse or bother to monitor their weight in anyway. Many of these people I come across are the ones tripping over themselves to regale you with the details of the endless years and yards where they've worked with horses.

It really upsets me the ignorance that seems to surround obesity in horses and I'm just at a loss to know why when there's endless articles in magazines, campaigns like the Blue Cross one amongst others, it just doesn't sink in. I regularly see one horse near me who is so obese I'm just astonished he hasn't got laminitis this year, perhaps more shocking is that the owner has supposedly done some sort of horse exams a couple of years ago..

So you clever lot

, any suggestions why owners will ignore obesity in horses? The welfare organisations must be tearing their hair out.

 

[Irishcobs]

Scary isn't it.
I have a fat cob. He lives on fresh air. He doesn't have a crest or fat pads but has a gut. He is worked at least 6 days a week with no feed and restricted grass.
I was told I was being cruel to him as he has a chaser clip but lives out with no rug. Apparently that is cruel. When I said 'oh well his fat will keep him warm', I was looked at like I was mad.
Unfortunately my other cob is a poor doer so is getting food shoved down her.

 

[mrgoop]

What makes me laugh is when you are at a show and the judge pulls a horrendously fat beast in above something of a healthy weight

Maybe if the fatties were not placed in the ring the owners might realise it is not right

I think people with the mentality you are talking about will never alter

Sadly i have the opposite problem with my boy, he is a poor doer and i can't get enough grass

 

[Charmaine18]

I don't know, but it really is shameful. I got Scooby two weeks ago, and he was in such a state. Could barely tell where his crest ended and neck began, and he literallly rippled when he walked! He was also really hairy and had been rugged up to the nines 24/7, so he sweated constantly, and he was so unfit he'd puff like an asthmatic hippo just walking round the school. Obviously it's only been two weeks, so we've got a long long way to go, but he's already much fitter, we've clipped him and he's starting to lose weight steadily now. He very nearly was literally killed by kindness.

I think a lot of it is the fault of show judges who still continue to give top placings to fat horses and ponies, ignoring the healthy, fit ones because they're too "skinny" and apparently fashion comes before welfare.

I wish some of them could be sacked for encouraging what effectively amounts to cruelty.

 

[Katie__Connie]

It is really sad that people let their horses get so overweight... Everyones aware of how cruel it is to starve a horse but over feeding is just as cruel!!

 

[b0508]

I have recently got my horse and she is rather fat.She lives off thin air and doesn't get anything but restricted grazing now .. She is starting to loose weight and becoming alot happier.I think there is a problem where loving your horse and giving it everything takes over the need for horses to be fed the right diet and not been allowed to get obese.

 

[Chico Mio]

What winds me up is when horses are hugely obese and nothing ever happens to them!!! That's not quite what I mean, I don't want any horse to suffer but you spend time and effort explaining condition scoring, diet, grass sugars, soaking hay, laminitis etc, etc and all the nasty things that obesity can cause; then the owners chuck them out on ten hectares of prime dairy cattle grazing all year round and the horses are fine! Hugely obese, but no other health issues. So the owners won't believe there are any problems with having fat horses! Aaaagggghhh!

 

[ester]

The trouble is that it becomes the 'norm' and I don't think the showing world has helped at all if the pics in h and h are anything to go by.

And people don't say anything to them, if I am asked my opinion these days I am truthful. But often just get back that they are doing all they can.

IME exercise is the key, 6 days of pretty fast work. I don't restrict his grazing per se but am careful about it.
you prob wont have seen franks pics MD

before after being owned by someone else for about 3 months, not done a lot work in the last 4 weeks. not on huge amounts of grass

after, he is always going to be chunky and does tend to have a belly, it depends how he holds himself, he often looks better in ridden than standing pics when he actually uses his abs. If I show him m+m unaff he looks about half as round as any other welshies.

 

[Ziggy_]

I agree that it is scary.

As some of you may remember, my old yard owner moved to a new premises in May and all her liveries (including me) went with her. The yard had twenty acres of ex-dairy pasture which came over my knees

In the run up to the move, I stopped feeding and rugging my mare to get her to shed a little weight. I familiarised myself with finding her digital pulses to learn what was 'normal'. I pondered buying a grazing muzzle. When we moved, I upped her exercise and was hacking for an hour, twice a day in an endeavour to burn some calories off.

I was the only one who made any effort to control my mare's weight and even I found I was fighting a losing battle. Eventually it became too much when they started calling me cruel for bringing her in off the grass for a few hours a day, saying I was riding her into the floor and wouldn't let me use a muzzle, and I left.

ALL the horses there are obese, and the YO makes sure they stay that way. She was continually describing my horse as 'poor' if you could see so much as a glimmer of rib as she moved (she is mostly TB after all!!) Surprisingly only one came down with laminitis over the summer and it was dreadful. He spent days on end laid out in a pen in the barn, groaning in pain. Still the others didn't look twice at their own horses and laughed about the fact that they hadn't been able to feel their ribs for months!

I don't know what it would take to knock some sense into people, obesity related problems are so preventable (I won't say easily preventable, as I know how many people really struggle with their good doers and all credit to them).

In addition to judges not placing fat horses, I wish vets and farriers etc would stand up to the owners when they visit and tell them they're dangerously fat - perhaps hearing it from a professional might go some tiny little way to help....

 

[lauraandjack]

The trouble is that it is so widespread it has become the norm. The show ring has a lot to answer for, as does the constant advertising of feeds and supplements. A good percentage of horses would do absolutely fine on hay/grass alone, give them a handful of pony nuts if you must. They do not need alfa a oil/sugar beet/ conditioning cubes/ 10 types of supplement....

Dogs are the same. People constantly comment on how slim my Labrador is. Errr, no, this is what they are supposed to look like!

 

[gails]

[ QUOTE ]
What makes me laugh is when you are at a show and the judge pulls a horrendously fat beast in above something of a healthy weight

Maybe if the fatties were not placed in the ring the owners might realise it is not right

I think people with the mentality you are talking about will never alter

Sadly i have the opposite problem with my boy, he is a poor doer and i can't get enough grass

[/ QUOTE ]

You have hit the nail on the head. If judges keep pulling them in, then people, obvioulsy, will think that it is the correct way for a horse to look.

Wish I had the fatty problem though, my boy is such a poor doer

 

[RuthnMeg]

[ QUOTE ]
The trouble is that it is so widespread it has become the norm. The show ring has a lot to answer for, as does the constant advertising of feeds and supplements. A good percentage of horses would do absolutely fine on hay/grass alone, give them a handful of pony nuts if you must. They do not need alfa a oil/sugar beet/ conditioning cubes/ 10 types of supplement....

Dogs are the same. People constantly comment on how slim my Labrador is. Errr, no, this is what they are supposed to look like!

[/ QUOTE ]

Completely agree!

 

[Donkeymad]

People are so used to seeing overweight animals, that they believe that is how they should be. Have any of you seen the Poll on the HHO homepage re weight? It's seriously frightening.

 

[brighteyes]

I'll keep this short - FAT KILLS. Eventually.

It is not an inert substance either.

I agree with all the anger above directed at ignorant (no excuse, read up on it) owners, misplaced do-gooders and stupid, stupid, stupid judges.

 

[MochaDun]

Ester - Frank looks fantastic in the after photo - I live in hope I can get my boy to look like that. "Fast work" is a term my horse and I have a difference of opinion on but we're getting there!

Ziggy - some of my problems too stem from limited options where I keep my horse. I too have had the word "cruel" applied to me for keeping him in off the grass and have also had the comment, "you're not riding him AGAIN are you? poor horse". Funnily enough it's the reason I bought a horse!

L&J - don't get me started on fat dogs! Aarrrgghhh!

The rest of you with your poor doers, I do truly sympathise as you battle with the other side of the coin which can be just as frustrating.

 

[1275gta]

I too have a good doer, he has restricted grazing all year round and hay, he gets a handful of mix as I feed garlic and black salts for digestion and thats it. He is ridden 5 or 6 days a week but as I was told at a lesson today he is difficult to get fit as he doesn't pu any effort in, I on the other hand are getting very fit. I agree that judges have a lot to answer for I have been put down the line with many of our youngsters over the years because they are not covered well enough. As for dogs it anoys me there is no need for it, its simple no tipbits and sensible amounts of dog food.

My grandfather who bred both horses and dogs always maintained to keep the dogs healthy they should miss a meal every week and should be given cold tea with their dog biscuits.

 

[ester]

MD, we struggle as we have a complete lack of hills here but am lucky to have a half mile stretch of grass we can use for canters so we go up and down it a lot. Have to say I'm not really fussy about ground either as we have no arena. He's better when we are competing as he puts more effort into jumping. My worry is if he injures himself we are going to be a bit stuck.

Have to say our vets dont mince their words with regards to obese horses, Mine mentioned frank didnt need to be out in the paddock he was in the spring but I reminded him I do a lot of work with him.

I recently saw two horses that were full brothers one- the younger of the 2 looked pretty fit and as good as a cob can, the other was about twice the size round and gross

 

[Paula18]

I took a cob on loan 18 months ago, i am still working at shifting the weight. People dont seem to realise that once they have ruined a horse by seriously compromising their health through their laziness/ignorance/stupidity, it takes a long time to get them to where they should be. I have felt cruel at times as i only turn her out for 2 hours per day and i know the owners are unhappy with this but they dont complain as they have seen the results as she has now lost over 50kg and will canter off and round the field and can actually roll right over. I ride 6 days per week and at one point was riding twice a day (not hammering her!!). We are now reaching a point where she can comfortably canter 2 laps of the paddock after being so unbalanced she couldnt canter at all.
The vet recently came out to a horse on my yard who came down with lammi due to being fed a load of sh*te for showing purposes. Vet said it was the 5th horse he had been out to that month for that reason. I agree with others who have commented, showing has a lot to answer for particularly when a rosette becomes more important than the health and happiness of your horse.
For those of you who do have horses on diets that are sluggish or hard work i found mine became much more energetic and responsive after putting her on red cell.

 

[Boysy]

I was pleasantly surprised at a Charity show earlier this yr, we had a lovely well known County Judge for the in-hand Best Condition class. He actually fat scored the whole class of 14, i was pulled in 7th originally then moved up to win the class with my youngster. He was at a perfect weight to me, just seeng ribs as he turned, no fat pads at all. The judge actually went back down the line remarking to everyone adter the placings that 'fat kills' and get the weight off before any problems started.

The reason for being so surprised at the this particular judge was that he wasn't shall we say 'young' but he was proper 'old school' style so well used to seeing fat porky ponies in the top 3.............

So 'some' Judges are indeed starting to take note and i believe it's all the publicity that WHW and their weighbridge demos etc have done this summer.

 

[MagicMelon]

I think people seem to assume horses live in the wild on grass etc. so they should be able to sort themselves out weight-wise, but what they dont realise is grass in the wild is nothing like our fertilized grass paddocks! People can basically throw the horse out in a field and "forget" about them because they won't starve.

I dont think the showing world helps either. People likely see these fat show creatures winning and assume thats what their own should look like. I sold my Welsh Cob earlier this year after successfully showing him over the past few years - I had been told on a few occassions by judges that he needed more weight but he was IMO perfect, he was very solid and chunky but certainly not "fat" because he also competed in ODE's etc. so couldn't afford to be!

 

[soloequestrian]

I was at an ILPH conference years ago where Robert Eustace was talking about the problem of obesity in the showring. At the end of his talk, Jennine Lorsiton Clarke, who was in the audience, asked him what judges should do about placings if every single horse in the class was overweight. He replied 'Madam, you should send them all home'. It was great, but from the above I gather it doesn't actually happen yet.....