Condition scoring and weight tape - omg!

juliecwuk

juliecwuk

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Mar 2, 2006
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Well following on from Shanzee's thread about Tia's weight http://www.newrider.com/forum/showthread.php?t=208872

......i followed the condition scoring and weight tape measurement as per the World Horse Welfare site http://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/inf..._weight_advice

and im horrified to see that my horses are fat to obese! Ok i knew they werent perfect weight but its amazing how you are blinded by thinking that they have lost loads of weight so arent that bad...but in reality they need to keep on dieting and exercising! lol

i have attached some pics from today and heres their info:

Rosie (black one) - shes a 15h HW cobX (with a bit of Clydesdale to give her the massive head!) weight tape suggests shes around 490kg condition scoring gave her about a 4.5-5 so pretty much obese!!

Moet (buckskin one) - shes a 15.2h MW cobby type. Weight tape suggests 511kg, condition scoring gave her about 4 so classed as fat!

OMG serious dieting and more exercise is def needed! Mind you id hate to body condition score myself! omg dread to think!! lol!

sorry photos are crap, it was going dark and my phone camera isnt so great! will try to get better ones on the weekend!

what do you guys think? i know its hard to see from the crappy pics, and its not until you wobble their fat that you realise what they are hiding under their fluffy coats! lol!
 

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It's true! I was very unaware about my mare and always thought she needed more food! Not until last summer when she suffered high pulses and abscess that I realised she didn't need all that grass!

She's only on a multi vit and hay and has been fine all winter rugless!
 
They are a bit lardy but so lovely!

I have just got the fat pack from Blue Cross to measure Izzy and see where he is on the scale. Although I measured him while he was at the rescue and he came up as about 700 kgs:eek: But then it was pointed out that I had measured wrong!!;)

He is a 15.1 cob - not sure if HW or MW, more like your Rosie so HW maybe. Since I got him in August he has slimmed down a lot but is still needing to shift a few pounds. I can't seem to shift the fat on his shoulder.

With the fat pack you get a progress chart, measuring tape and a bunch of other stuff. I wish I had taken conformation type pictures when I first got him so I could really compare.
 
i find that i look at old pics of how overweight they were, then look at them now and think how much they have slimmed - without realising i need to put more emphasis on them losing more weight!

Tiga - any pics of Izzy? i do love piebald cobs, i always wanted a coloured!
 
Oh dear they are lovely but a weight tape and condition scoring is the way forward. I weight tape every fortnight and panic when it gets slightly over 500kg (TBX on the thicker set side not fine one) 16.2. so at present stop on but worrid as due to his on/off lamness when rider I have had to stop schooling panc has set in already/
 
Sure - I've got pics. Now if I can just get them on here.:p

Can only upload one for some reason - maybe my internet is just very slow.

This one is when I first started riding him (Oct/Nov) - so he had lost some weight then but has lost more now. His girth was on 2 holes both sides then, now it is on 5 both sides, but he does have a trace clip. I am going to get some more pics this weekend. (This isn't me)
 

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I know how you feel. My 2 are both a 3.5 condition score but they hold it in different places. Even so my yard mate still thinks they 'look well' and 'likes to see them carrying a bit more'! she was still of that opinion when they were very fat.

My shetland x holds it all behing his shoulders but has nothing else to lose anywhere else and his ribs are easilly felt.

My Welsh D still holds a bit behind her should and the rest on her barrel - don't have to press quite so hard to find them now!

I'm wondering if lippo suction for horses is the way to go :rolleyes:

I've marked on the weight tape where their weight has been each month and its amazing how quite large drops in weight affect the condition score so very little :(

They are dropping off and I want to ensure that they don't gain weight at such a rate this summer so I'll be doing paddock paradise - I need to wait until my fields have been harrowed and rolled to set that up - and muzzling if needed.
 
I am finding it hard to get the weight off specific places (a bit like my own diet!).

Tia has had a huge neck for the last 5 years and even if I get her really skinny everywhere else it stays on her neck.

She also puts weight on her shoulders, like shoulder pads, but this isn't as difficult to shift.

It always seems to come off her bum straight away, and I don't want so much to come off there!

Just out of interest I am going to put my post on HG forum as well because there are a lot of showing people on there. It will be interesting to see what the show people think of her condition. I took Tia to a RIHS qualifier last spring when she was 585kg (the day after the photo in my post was taken). I was told by a top judge that she wanted a lot more weight on her :eek:
I told him I was more interested in my horse's long term health than qualifying for the International. Needless to say we were dropped out of the placings :D
 
Shanzee, I know what you mean about struggling to get the crest to go! I used to ride an ex gade B TBxWB, and although he was super fit he had this awful crest (it looked like a fishes fin plonked on the top of his neck) that just wouldn't go away. I think some horses just hold on the their fat in certain places and its nigh on impossible to get rid of it.
 
According to that same website the OP used.

Harvey is a condition score of 2 and Piccolo has a condition score of 2.5-3. Showing wise I think both need to be more of a condition score of 3 as although the right weight according to the web site in real life Harvey still looks a bit thin for showing as you can see his ribs.

Incidentally Harvey is 13.3hh and weighs 318kg and Piccolo is 11.2hh/ish and weighs 245kg.
 
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