ideal weight

[wondergirl]

Does anyone have (or know of) a chart which can give you an idea of the ideal weight for your horse?

I have been using my weight tape every week to monitor Molly's weight, however Im not entrely sure what her ideal weight should be.

She's a 15.3hh cob type mare if that helps?!

 

[Joyscarer]

I don't bother taping my sec d. I just keep an eye on all her flabby wibbly wobbly bits (that's condition scoring to the rest of you!)

Let me put it this way, take 2 women the same height. Their waist size isn't a good indicator of how fat or thin they are.

To keep track of progress just take photos every couple of weeks. The most telling ones of Joy are when stood directly behind her pointing at her bum (the first place she puts on weight along with her ribs but they aren't easilly monitored by photographs so is fingertips for that) and side view of her her neck (doesn't really put weight on there) and the fat pad behind her shoulder (the next place she does).

This really is a good site to explain all this. It shows you where to look and how to condition score so it really is well worth clicking on. It is based on a scoring system of 1-9 and most people go on the 1-5 system. I prefer the 1-9 system 'cause is has better differentials between the next score up and down making it easier to track progress.


http://www.equistat.co.uk/products/c...on_scoring.php

 

[carthorse]

From the Baileys horse feed site

THIS TABLE OFFERS A ROUGH GUIDE TO THE APPROXIMATE BODYWEIGHT ACCORDING TO HEIGHT
11hh 120 - 230kg
12hh 230 - 290kg
13hh 290 - 350kg
14hh 350 - 420kg
15hh 420 - 520kg
16hh 520 - 600kg
17hh 600 - 725kg

These figures are only approximate & I would expect a cob type to be towards the heavier end of the weight range for her height.

A better guide is to look at her overall condition. If you run a hand firmly along her side you should be just able to feel ribs, there shouldn't be a gutter along her backbone but neither should it be prominant, there shouldn't be fatty pads at the top of her tail or along her neck, she shouldn't be cresty (though bear in mind cobs do often have a big front). The type & amount of work she's in will also have an effect on her shape but as a general rule muscle is firm & toned while fat wobbles!

I hope this helps.

 

[wondergirl]

Thanks.
She's ridden every day for an hour+ purely to keep her weight down.
I'll try to get some pcs this week and post them up here so you can have a look and see what you think.

 

[*Sez*]

I weight tape regularly to keep an eye on any loss, but condition scoring is definitely the best way to judge it. As with people, build plays a huge part. Loads of people keep telling me that Sal needs to be 500kg but I just don't think he can carry that kind of weight without being a chunkier build. He's currently 470kg and condition scored as "good" (I use D&H's Condition Scoring leaflet).

 

[eml]

Like people there is no such thing as ideal weight for height. Sometimes even weight-tapes can be misleading as most are made for horses and can totally get ponies wrong...try 'weighting' a shetland with one of these and it will be no where near its real weight!

As others have said use condition scoring, preferably a chart made by a vet not a feed company There are two types, one scaled from 1-10. the other 1-5. Desirable condition for fitness is normally 5/6 on the former and 2.5/3 on the latter.

We are lucky that part of our RS licence requirements are to have an annual vet check of all horses and part of that is year on years condition scoring by a very experienced vet ...usually a higher score than many charts would lead you to believe. Why not ask your vets advice on weight next time you have vaccinations. Then you can use the weight tape as an indication of changes from that.