correct weight for a dales x ?

[shysmum]

Hi !

My pony is a dales build (mum full dales), and he has a real tendency to put on weight. He's in the fatty paddock, with soaked hay at night, and a dengie garlic lick.

I weigh tape him every week, and yesterday he was 451 kg, and he's 14.2 hh. I've put pics of him on my newbie thread.

I'd be very grateful if you could tell me what we should be aiming for, as I'm not really sure - can't feel his ribs, but he has lost weight over the last month.

many thanks ! sm x

[jap]

we had the ILPH weight clinic here last year and it weighed some of the horses and checked the accuracy of the tapes.We found for Dales ponies you need to do the horse side of the tape.If it is accurate 45o kgs sounds about right but you might be better condition scoring him.

[shysmum]

thanks so much ! i think i'll try to get him down to 445 ish then, just to be safe on the lami side of things. He's turned away atm, so not getting much exercise other than a walk down the lane (with the dogs).

thanks again, sm x

[SuzieP]

This is a useful doc, with pictures (I always work better with illustrations LOL).

www.saracen-horse-feeds.co.uk/feedcheck/condition_scoring/

And this is a height/weight chart

www.saracen-horse-feeds.co.uk/feedcheck/height_to_weight_guide/

According to that Bea is spot on at 500kg although the vet scored him at 5/6 a fortnight ago.

[olivia]

I tend to think that just going by weight isn't really useful for the stockier type of horse. 14hh2" of TB pony is going to weigh a lot less than 14hh2" of dales pony - even when they both weigh the correct amount.

This is a good video from World Horse Welfare on how to condition (or fat) score:

www.yourhorse.co.uk/Right-Weight-Campaign/How-to-fat-score-your-horse/

Although Tilly (despite all our best efforts) remains stubbornly at about 3.5 - I find it a better way to guage what her weight is doing than just how many kilos she is.

[SuzieP]

Isn't it interesting how the two charts differ in terms of fat/condition scores? Bea's certainly not a 5/6 on the WHW chart!

[olivia]

Is it not because one (saracen and your vet) uses a score of 1-10, and the other (WHW) 1-5

So Tilly's 3.5 on WHW, but probably a 6/7 on the saracen one.

So Bea would be a 3 on the WHW version???

[shysmum]

haha, according to chart, we are just 1 kg over
but on the picture chart he is "very fleshy"

maybe I am worrying too much - I'll just keep up the routine in the fatty paddock and see what happens ! thanks so much, sm xx

[olivia]

That CNS stuff is really interesting Heather. My RI always wobbles Tilly's crest when I'm mithering about her being too fat - I knew why she did it, but was never quite sure what I was feeling for myself. now I know

many thanks

Olivia

[DalesLady]

it is interesting. I have one mare though who has always had a cresty neck, even as a foal. You can clearly see it in her foal pictures from when she was 3 weeks old. She has always been a very fit pony too, not overweight in other ways and I wonder how they CNS score her or whether that is ever taken into account, or is she always to be scored exactly the same way as other horses....her colt foal this year has inherited this neck from her too. We are always careful with her and will remain so, but I just wondered if some do have naturally cresty necks and are therefore not quite as at risk as others who don't and then have one with weight. Hope you know what I am trying to say.

[harveydales]

That's very interesting Heather, thanks for posting. It goes back to the traditional way we always assessed a pony for lami risk in the old days, before we knew of condition scoring. Based on that Frankie and Lillie are fine (I was worried that they've both put on weight over the summer) but I will still be cautious.

Interesting what you say too, Penny. I guess it is a genetically inherited hormonal thing in your pony's case. Would it put them at higher risk of lami/metabolic disease in later life? There is so much we still don't know about these conditions.

Quest started with his metabolic problems a couple of years after developing a stage 3/4 crest and the problems remained even when the crest went. Dolly has had a stage 3 crest for a few years and is fine in herself but we re being very careful with her.................

[greydales]

I never think that weigh tapes are very accurate, I have three that all read differently! I just go by looks - if mine look fat, then they are (and they do ).

[tomasnrichy]

Mostly Valerie and i go by looking and Feeling, you can usually tell if pony is starting to get fat , lose shape etc ! the simple technics are best fist , then monitor daily, always give them some exercise this should help keep them fairly ok .............. as we all know each Pony / horse is different . We also use a weigh tape , but they are not that accurate, Good Luck Richy

[shysmum]

Well the mini shettie has a belly on him - they sort of droop downwards, don't they ! He's on the same fatty regime, and yesterday I tried lungeing him, and bless him, he was brilliant ;D

Shy is a real handful to lunge (hasn't worked circles out yet), but I'm totally resting him now, so I can try that again next spring. I think once he's in light work, it will all come together.

Thanks so much for the replies - the weight charts are now stuck up in the feed room.......there's no escape now ! sm x

[NFK Dumpling]

Aug 25, 2010 14:18:25 GMT -1 heathera said:

I like to be able to feel ribs and my vet agrees.

There's also a new cresty neck score (CNS) that was launched following new research results last year. Apparently it's a better predictor of laminitis risk than the overall condition score and explains why some with a thinner body come down with it. You can read how to do it and see pictures online.

That's really helpful; James is the thinnest he has ever been but he has a definate crest - somewhere between 2 and 3.