The Horse Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

How is his weight? Opinions?

2K views 12 replies 7 participants last post by  loosie 
#1 ·
Would love honest opinions. History is 20 yr old Appy, hard keeper especially in winter. All pics are from today except last two pics are October 31 when I moved him to new barn - his first day there. He is not a stocky App typically - built more like a TB. He is ridden 3-4 times per week, light work, hacks and weekly lesson. When I palpate his sides, I cannot overtly feel ribs. When I touch his shoulder area, it jiggles a bit - good padding of fat there. His weight tape is slightly down. I have been supplementing his daily feed with "lunch" or snack of 1.5 lb. soaked alf cubes with 1 lb. TC senior. It soaks up to a nice amount, filling his food pan. He also eats: 3 lbs senior feed a.m. & p.m., 1 lb. Legends Omega Plus a.m. and p.m. (1800 cals. per pound, 25% fat) and he is on Plat. Performance CJ.

His back teeth are worn to gums. He can chew soft hays but isn't a big hay eater. He has free choice alfalfa mix in his stall - he eats maybe a flake or two....and he has free choice in field but prefers to graze on grass. Believe it or not, here in VA, we still have lots of grass - albeit brown, it's long and still out there and he chooses more to munch on that.

Anyway, would love opionions on his weight. Some angles he looks worse, some better. I am trying not to be paranoid when his weight tape measurement drops slightly, but if you saw what he looked like when I got him 4 years ago, he was emaciated and it took alot to get him healthy. His teeth were just done (not alot to do but I have dentist out every 6 mos. regardless) and he had negative fecal end of Oct, and had Equimax Dec. 15. He never gets great winter coat - this is about the best. He is blanketed heavy below 35 degrees, and medium when it's a bit warmer.

Thoughts? Would you be concerned? Pics are at this link. Thanks!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9QZs2zdm0ZiE

 
See less See more
#3 ·
I think you're doing a great job with him! My horse looks better at some angles and worse at others too. He's actually got a very similar build to your horse. I agree with L2R on muscling him up a little more. I need to work on this with my boy too.
 
#5 ·
Yeah, his weight looks good from those pics, although if you can hardly feel his ribs, he's probably a bit on the heavy side. I would personally do a basic feed analysis(I use feedXL.com) & check out what he's getting from that combination of products. Eg. especially for his age, you might be better feeding him more hay - or beet pulp or such if he has probs with hay - & less lucerne/alfalfa, as it may be too high in protein etc for him. I would also personally replace the feeds with molasses & grain in them too, for low starch/sugar alternatives. I would also, particularly with starchy feeds, split them up into more/smaller feeds.
 
#7 ·
I think he looks great now, but if he lost more I think he would look thin. I'm mainly judging by his topline and the top of his hips.

Me being me, I would probably increase his feed just a tad just to make sure he doesn't keep dropping. But if he stayed where he is at right now, he is probably close to perfect. :)
 
#11 ·
thanks everyone! I am encouraged that most think his weight is pretty good....I may just be paranoid after seeing him at his worst (think at least 100 lbs. less when I got him)

I was at the barn today and if I lightly run my hand along his side, I can't feel ribs. I have to press fairly firm to feel them so that is good news. I upped his soaked alfalfa by a pound and will watch him closely to make sure he doesn't lose anymore. I think he is borderline. Hard to work on building muscle in winter as the ground has been frozen for days. I can trailer to an indoor about once a week but we haven't done our hills/trails in a bit.

Do trot poles work the back? We did some of those today.
 
#13 ·
I was at the barn today and if I lightly run my hand along his side, I can't feel ribs. I have to press fairly firm to feel them so that is good news. I upped his soaked alfalfa by a pound and will watch him closely to make sure he doesn't lose anymore.
Of course you don't want his ribs hanging out, and he doesn't look the other way either, but still if it's hard to feel his ribs, it's not generally that good news, as it often means they're over weight, which is actually more of a health risk than being a bit light on.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top