Fat Mini?

Miniature Horse Talk Forums

Help Support Miniature Horse Talk Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
OI! I liked that filly when you got her and I STILL DO!

What a great set of pics to showing conditioning - thank you for sharing.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You can have her! Lol she's a spitfire but really a good girl, a once in a lifetime kind of horse; but god is she a lot of horse some days!
 
She's very pretty. I can't really tell from your photos, but she might have a slight divet running down her backbone?

I've spent 4 years trying to figure out overweight minis, feeding regimes, etc. and still don't have it figured out entirely.
What I can tell you is:

--You're not going to see any significant weight reduction in 4 days. Four months is more likely.

--Vets... I understand the expense involved; unless you have a weight related problem, it's probably not necessary. I wouldn't spend just to get a weight. But it would make your life easier if you could weigh her or at least estimate her weight with measurements. That would give you a baseline, and you could continue to measure over a period of time (like 6 months to a year) to see if there's a decrease in heart girth. Also... there's body condition scores. But I've had two different vets give me different visual scoring on the same horse within six months. Most of the stuff you see on body condition scores is accompanied by line drawings that make little sense to me. Here's a link where they show photos with the scoring. It's somewhat more helpful, except the photos are full-sized horses; ponies/minis are built differently:
http://www.admani.com/horse/Equine%20Library/PDFs/S9748D%20Equine%20body%20codition%20scoring.pdf

--Weigh your hay; flakes (biscuits) can be many different sizes in the same bale.
After our filly had laminitis, the vet instructed weighing out grass hay only, soaked/drained to remove sugars. No slivers of carrots, no Dr. Dobbs apple treats, no grains (bagged feed, which here in the US are drenched in sugary molasses.) Absolutely no alfalfa (lucerne.)

--My farrier is my "weight tape." He's a man of few words; in the early days he used to run his eyes down their bodies; then he'd feel the crest of the neck; I'd either get a nod or that one raised eyebrow (which meant I was doing bad on the food front.) Since then I had him teach me how to feel the crest. I couldn't even begin to explain because there's a difference between fat and muscle, but for me grabbing the neck and giving it a squeeze is the easiest way for me to determine.

--In regards to jumping, go with your gut feeling; if impact sounds bad, maybe it is--maybe it's not? But how much do you love her and if you don't know, are a few jumps worth the risk?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thank you,

That helped a lot
default_smile.png
she is jumping 30 cm off the ground (ruler length) and a little higher she has a really nice going jump but if i put it too high thats when her impact sounds bad, but we can stick to running as our exercises if it could be dangerous.

What does the slight divet mean? does that mean she has a divet in her back from the weight? Sorry I have never heard of that before.
 
I was wondering if a critique on my colts would be possible?

They are no where near as big as Snickas but since they are still growing I was wondering of anyone can tell me if they are good (overweight, underweight or our of shape)

I understand that it is hard to critique through images but maybe just a rough idea? Thanks!

So here is Toby he turns 2 years old on the 3rd of November and he is the 'apple of my eye' I love Toby so much he has a beautiful nature and is so placid for a young colt. He has just had farrier work done so his hooves are all nice, but do you think he is out of shape? I am not sure if its his body shape or not (I am still learning all this sorry) Does he still need do 'fill out' build some muscle as he grows (I am giving him the same exercise as Snickas but not much jumping, Jumping has confused me because some people say not to jump them until 4 years of age and some say it doesn't matter so we just to little jumps sometimes and he jumps nice and easy) But yeah here are the photos, he is actually a palomino pinto in summer
default_smile.png


This is Kevin he is still a 'baby'
default_smile.png
he is 11 months old and I got him off an old couple completely un-handled, he is the most cuddliest thing now and you literally couldn't touch him he was so timid but he has calmed right down now and I just wanted to know how he is growing? Does he look out of shape or anything?
 
Personally I don't think she has any muscle tone. I can't post pics but my stallion has natural muscle tone and is a good weight atm. My mates and gelding are all fat.
 
Carly Rae: I'm just curious (not being rude or nosy)-how old are you?
default_biggrin.png
It sounds too like you are basically on your own with your little horses?

I think finding some kind of equine mentor (adult well educated horse person who is willing to help you learn 'the ropes') would be a tremendous help to you; besides this wonderful forum. Are there any well received stables, breeders or trainers in your vicinity that might be willing to help you out? Are there any agricultural clubs (like 4-H or FFA here in the states) that you could join or at least reach out to for some 'in person' help? These could be affordable (or even basically free) avenues of learning for you. I would definitely check it out. You sound like you really want to learn all you can and enjoy your horses.
default_thumbup.gif
Like others have said; your pictures show that you have made a good start. I hope this forum and all the good advice helps you to grow more and more into a knowledgable horseperson.
default_firstprize.gif
 
I am in Australia and yeah its still a bit cold here but we are coming into spring soon! Cant wait!

I am only 15 and I am in a non horsey family so my parents bought me some miniatures after my last riding horse because I lost all confidence but my parents try to learn so they can help me out. One of my dads friends are hopefully going to teach me some things, he has been around horses for a while and his wife rides a lot, so I am going to see if they can teach me more things
default_smile.png


I love this forum and it has helped me a lot since I started and it has a nice friendly atmosphere compared to some horse forums I have been on in the past, I was told that I shouldnt own a horse simply because I didnt know the meaning of 'discipline' but that was a while ago. All the other forums were so competitive and when I asked about something small about their health everyone said "GET A VET NOW!" And they were only things like weight ect, no help or suggestions just demanding me to get a vet.

So I am so glad everyone is so nice here and give me great advice thank you!
 
I think a lot of people who get into miniatures are either older and past all the teenage drama or new to horses so have no desire for the drama. Personally I've had horses since I was 12 (now 28) and all the horse competition and up your own arseness is just tiresome and why bother.

Everyone here is here for the betterment of the miniature horse, not the belittlement of others.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I call the crease down the spine a divot (geez, I didn't even spell it correctly) which is that chunk golfers take out of the course when they strike too deep. Sorry for bad terminology.

I found the other link I was looking for that has photos for body condition scoring:
http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/asc/asc187/asc187.pdf

This one shows a real horse with someone poking their fingers into the fat. ...somewhat more helpful.

I found one photo of Baby that shows the "fat" crease down her spine and put it here:
http://horseyhouse.com/
I drew a red line above the "fat" crease. Can you see it? This is six months of strict dieting after she had laminitis. Baby was mostly shed out. On your Snickas, I can't tell because of the winter fuzz.

Regarding the Kevin and Toby photos... again, winter fuzz, but they do look slimmer than your Snickas. It really is hard to tell from the photos; for example, a couple of them show camera distortion where their heads look a bit oversized due to the lens angle.

Regarding horse asses of the human form.... there's a couple "big horse" forums I stumble across when Google searching. They appear to be populated by nasty little teen-age females with nothing better to do than rip each other a new one. Typically, in addition to snitty-fits, their advice/logic seems rather flawed to me.
 
Thanks for that, they are really helpful! I think ill print that condition scoring chart out, looks great
default_smile.png


Also, With Toby and Kevin is it better to get someone to look at him in person?
 
Also, With Toby and Kevin is it better to get someone to look at him in person?
That may be helpful, but also get down on their level and take pictures.

Side views need to be directly from the side - sitting on either the ground or a bucket. Your lens or camera eye should be lined up/centered on their "barrel" for a side view - w/ head and rump equidistant from the "eye". My camera is easier for me to center than my cell phone is because the eye lens of my cell is not centered!

A front or rear view should be taken the same way - w/ the "eye" of the camera centered between the tail head and hocks from the rear or right around the chest in front.

A top view of a horse doesn't really show much (I can't tell anything from such shots and usually skip right past them since I find them irritating - SMILE) - and I've never seen any condition scoring chart that showed angles from the top.

As to the colts - here are some pics I did to show how deceiving all that hair can be! I DID know that this colt was a bit "lite" before I clipped him - could feel it thru the hair... The 1st pic taken 8 March 2010. Neither he nor the filly behind him look underweight BUT when clipped, they both were - more so than we thought by feel!

10mar8kr49.jpg


this pic taken on 8 April 2010, after I started clipping him. Daughter is standing up to take picture and it's a downward angle and it's deceiving, too.

10apr8kr623.jpg


His lower legs haven't been clipped (don't think I ever did get around to clipping them off).

10apr10kr673.jpg


27 April - my notes show an increase of 1/2 pound in the feed I was feeding per day PLUS when the four yearlings in the roundpen over night they are getting free choice alfalfa pellets. W/ 4 youngsters, I had no idea exactly how much each was eating but they were gaining weight and looking better and lost that "wormy belly look" (they were not considered wormy by either of two different vets).

10apr27kr196.jpg


and on the 15th of June (the angle of this photo is off - but is the only one that I have. I was driving a pony and stopped and took this pic from the cart...). He is 11 months old in this shot.

10jun13kr193.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Here is what the colt looked like at 2 months of age (when we purchased him) right after an 1100 mile trip from the midwest to our home in NC. This is then afternoon after he arrived - all the mud/gook washed off and the cockle burrs being pulled out of his mane and tail... This was an angled shot from above.

09sep22kr591.jpg


09sep22kr611.jpg


09oct17kr962.jpg


and then skip forward a few years - this is 2015 and "Kreature" is now 6 yrs old.

15apr28kr183711.jpg

15may8kr503.jpg

15may1mix154703.jpg

And since so many folks have asked for his color - He is NOT palomino. He is black based w/ one agouti, one cream, and one silver gene - making him a silver buckskin...
 
I forgot to add in - when we clipped this colt - we measured the length of the hair. That "round belly" is mostly longer hair hanging down. The belly hair is 1.5" longer than the hair from the top of his back! AND then it's "fluffed" most of the time by the way it "lays" while the hair on the top of the back is usually laying pretty flat (it does poof up during the cold - which is what you want for protection).
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Latest posts

Back
Top