RE: [RC] Overweight Horse - Susan E. Garlinghouse, D.V.M.
I think a lot of horses are accused of
being “fat”, when just as likely, they just need to develop the
musculature that comes from moving in an engaged frame, ie stretching the
topline, bringing their hindquarters underneath themselves, getting off the
forehand and so on. That being said, maybe your horse *is* fat, but you have to look at a lot more
than just whether or not he has a big belly (and being a huge fan of forage
pigs, I would much rather see a haybelly on an endurance horse than a sucked-up
flank area). Does he have a ‘gully’ running down his
spine---if so, is it just barely there over the hindquarters, or does it run
all the way up the withers, deep enough to raise mosquito fish in? Can
you feel his ribs with the flat of your hand, or do you have to rely on anatomy
books to guess at their whereabouts? Does he have a big fat pad
around the tailhead? Do his thighs rub together more than a few inches up
at the top? Are his thighs rubbing together somewhere down around his
hocks? Does he qualify as a flotation device in the unlikely event of a
water landing? Do French chefs come to visit you and spend the whole time
staring at him?
Okay, I’m going a little overboard
but you get the idea. If he’s truly pig fat, then the answer is to
ride him more. If he’s just lacking in muscle, then the answer is
to ride him more. Easy, huh?
Susan Garlinghouse, DVM
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Dlpugli@xxxxxxx Sent: Saturday, January 01, 2005
8:50 AM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] Overweight Horse
Does
anyone have any suggestions for getting the hay belly off a horse? My 8
year old Arabian gelding is the easiest keeper I've ever known. He is in
a pasture with no forage, just hay twice a day. He is the boss hoss, so
he helps himself to every horse's hay. He is in a hill pasture and
has to climb from the hay trough to the waterer. He only gets two cups of
complete feed daily for the vitamin value. Still, he's fat! Help.
