Fat Club

diplomaticandtactful

diplomaticandtactful

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Apr 25, 2003
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I measure our gang every week. The two donkey geldings and Leo comtois are in fat club, Suze and Fleurette were steady, Buddy always the same, Aimee the oldest 30 year old donkey needs as much as she can get and her bond pair Tintin doesn't fluctuate.

Last week Suze and Fleur had both gained, so they were muzzled during the day. Fleur came in at night and suze stayed out on a smaller field without a muzzle. they have both gained. So last night stabled Buddy, Aimee and Tintin (so Aimee isn't bullied as she is tiny) and left the others on the yard with one small haylage net and tubs with straw in them.

Wasn't quite sure what carnage I would find this morning but relatively tidy. No one had died of starvation overnight. Will see if this makes any difference otherwise the three comtois are going to have to be lunged daily....which I really don't have the time to do.

They are in small paddocks strips during the day, Suze Fleur Buiddy Aimee and Tintin and the other three are in the starvation paddock next to the yard during the day. Hopefully having 5 of them on the yard keeps them moving around more.

Before winter will put a circle around the winter field - still skipping it out from winter - and put the three comtois and possibly the two donks on it. Maybe 24/7 or come in at night. Suze and Leo wintered out last year but with Fleur having had laminitis I have to watch her in the frost.

Oh to have a yard full of poor doers.
 
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My two have actually lost weight. They had been on about 2 acres for the last two months whilst I was lambing and there was still grass in there and I was putting out hay but they were only eating it on and off. In fact it's got to the point where they must be getting enough. I'd had a few saddle slips and thought nothing of it. Grith was done up tight. Then in the last couple of weeks saddle slip got worse and a managed to get girth up 4 and 4 one day almost 5 and 4. Normally its 3 and 3.
I shouldnt laugh as it could have been serious. But one of the girls was cantering chunky. We get to the top of the field and she says her saddles slipped. I look down and girth is not behind the front leg area, but half way down underneath along his belly. Shes trying to straighten it from on board but I told her she needed to get off and completely reposition the saddle. The same thing happened the following last weekend to. His driving harness was also doing up to 4 on the girth and that's usually on hole 2 or 3.
So with two horses having bad saddle slip I figure they need to be moved to some grass. Neither were showing any ribs and certainly didnt look starved. Pleased to say that since they moved fields they have both filled out nicely in a week. I had only a minor saddle slip yesterday.
 
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Ben is most definitely in fat club. He is out overnight for 14 hours wearing his muzzle (which I have finally worked out how to get him to keep it on). He comes in all day to a tiny haynet and a small feed within his supplements. He can only walk, so he walks out for 45 minutes daily.

It’s my own fault because when he was on box rest over the winter I was so sure he was going to have to be put to sleep that I fed him as lib haylege to keep him happy. He therefore came off box rest in April the size of a house, and then went out onto spring grass. That’s a lesson in box rest management for me, but he was so wild that haylege was the only thing to keep him sane and I was just doing what I could to get through each day.
 
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So far this year Belle has remained steady, she came out of winter at 432kg and has stayed 438kg since, so I'm more than happy.
 
I'm too scared to measure Hogan - I comfort myself he's about 2cm smaller than when I got him this time last year. I also have saddle slip :(
 
chunky monkey said:
My two have actually lost weight. They had been on about 2 acres for the last two months whilst I was lambing and there was still grass in there and I was putting out hay but they were only eating it on and off. In fact it's got to the point where they must be getting enough. I'd had a few saddle slips and thought nothing of it. Grith was done up tight. Then in the last couple of weeks saddle slip got worse and a managed to get girth up 4 and 4 one day almost 5 and 4. Normally its 3 and 3.
I shouldnt laugh as it could have been serious. But one of the girls was cantering chunky. We get to the top of the field and she says her saddles slipped. I look down and girth is not behind the front leg area, but half way down underneath along his belly. Shes trying to straighten it from on board but I told her she needed to get off and completely reposition the saddle. The same thing happened the following last weekend to. His driving harness was also doing up to 4 on the girth and that's usually on hole 2 or 3.
So with two horses having bad saddle slip I figure they need to be moved to some grass. Neither were showing any ribs and certainly didnt look starved. Pleased to say that since they moved fields they have both filled out nicely in a week. I had only a minor saddle slip yesterday.
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lucky you.....
 
Mary Poppins said:
Ben is most definitely in fat club. He is out overnight for 14 hours wearing his muzzle (which I have finally worked out how to get him to keep it on). He comes in all day to a tiny haynet and a small feed within his supplements. He can only walk, so he walks out for 45 minutes daily.

It’s my own fault because when he was on box rest over the winter I was so sure he was going to have to be put to sleep that I fed him as lib haylege to keep him happy. He therefore came off box rest in April the size of a house, and then went out onto spring grass. That’s a lesson in box rest management for me, but he was so wild that haylege was the only thing to keep him sane and I was just doing what I could to get through each day.
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Better to do that than have him stressed and do more damage to himself
 
Mine are always in fat club, their all such good doers they have to be.

The boys are on a paddock that is mostly scrub and nettles and somehow they have gone from a little bit too skinny coming out of winter (ribby and a little spine-y) to very rotund! I feel like I should give them something (more) to eat but I can't find their ribs so decided against it.

Jess has very gradually crept up but isn't worrying me yet, it's been difficult when she's had to have 2 meals a day for meds and her meagre feed isn't enough to split and she's not been worked consistently since February, fingers crossed Tuesday gives us some good news and she can get back to work when I get back from the states.
 
Fat bottom question! Does an apple shaped bottom (so looking from behind it dips wear the spine is - creating an apple shape outline) signify over weight?
 
Zannah said:
Fat bottom question! Does an apple shaped bottom (so looking from behind it dips wear the spine is - creating an apple shape outline) signify over weight?
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Yes it does, although with some heavy breeds they will always have that type of bottom. I have a shire x and even when he was in full work and very fit (doing 2 hours ridden work per day), he still had an apple bottom to some extent. After 18 months of lameness and very little ridden work, his apple bottom is now enormous!

Condition scoring is really the best way to look at fatness so they whole body is taken into consideration.
 
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Mary Poppins said:
Yes it does, although with some heavy breeds they will always have that type of bottom. I have a shire x and even when he was in full work and very fit (doing 2 hours ridden work per day), he still had an apple bottom to some extent. After 18 months of lameness and very little ridden work, his apple bottom is now enormous!

Condition scoring is really the best way to look at fatness so they whole body is taken into consideration.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks. I've just looked up Condition scoring. She is a gypsy style cob so a chunky breed anyway but I think she scores between healthy and overweight. I can't feel her ribs but she definitely isn't developing a crest. I'm a bit stuck as I part loan her from a riding school who only use her on a Saturday. So they decide on her time with the grass etc. She is definitely a little over weight. She only has to smell the spring grass to put weight on!
 
Zannah said:
Thanks. I've just looked up Condition scoring. She is a gypsy style cob so a chunky breed anyway but I think she scores between healthy and overweight. I can't feel her ribs but she definitely isn't developing a crest. I'm a bit stuck as I part loan her from a riding school who only use her on a Saturday. So they decide on her time with the grass etc. She is definitely a little over weight. She only has to smell the spring grass to put weight on!
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Condition scoring should always be done with hands on the pony :) score each area separately (not considering the rest of the ponies condition), then add up the scores and divide that by the number of areas scored to get an accurate and objective BCS.
 
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