Horse people (Becky, others..) is she too fat?

[Ginevive]

I was looking over some photos of Cuesta, and I am upset that she looks a little overfat. Now, usually going into winter at this time, we Up their grain ration to allow for the cold temps; we have been getting unusually warm temps in the 40-50s now.. I am worried that I may have to decrease her graining. There is no pasture to speak of at this late stage in the year, but we do offer hay free-choice outside, and in their stalls at night; they are kept out all day 90% of the time unless the winds are too harsh or freezing rain; stalled nightly... but i didn't really think that hay alone could contribute to obesity?
Your educated opinion, please? Emma, the white paint mare, does not at all seem overweight; she is a tad more active and "spooky" than Cues though, which could explain that a bit..
See, when I look at her in the flesh, she is just Cuesta.. hard to believe she was a bag of bones 2 years ago; you could count her ribs when the other people had her. But in pics, she looks fat. She is an unpapered Paint on what I call "A quarter horse platform."

[Kilo]

Hmm... I like horses but know nothing about them at all. IMO I would say the grain should be reduced during winter/cold time. Colder weather would in theory slow down the vital organs and activity overall for the horse.... therefore with a slowed metabolism the Horse would put more wieght on then necessary.

[Ginevive]

I do need to increase their grain in the winter though; it is like stoking a stove. They use the energy to keep warm, and though they are doing little actual work, they still need to maintain; but this warm weather has me rethinking my "natural" response to the onset of winter, that prompts me to increase grain..

[tigerlily]

Hmm... I like horses but know nothing about them at all. IMO I would say the grain should be reduced during winter/cold time. Colder weather would in theory slow down the vital organs and activity overall for the horse.... therefore with a slowed metabolism the Horse would put more wieght on then necessary.

No, warm blooded animals use energy to maintain their body temperatures. So it makes sense that they would need a higher caloric intake in order to maintain their body weight. Of course, I don't know how much more percentage wise.

She doesn't look fat to me, but I'm not a horse person. I wouldn't say she's on the thin side either. My first instinct was to tell you to put her on the scale and weight her, and then reality clicked in.

[jessie_k_pythons]

in all of my years of breeding Quarter horses, she seems to be ok. What kind of hay and grain do you have her on?

[Ginevive]

The hay we use is a timothy/alfalfa mix; Not much alf. I had the bag of seed that they used, but sadly it blew away in the wind (that sounds lamer than the dog-ate-homework excuse, lol, but it's true..) The grain we use is from Pierce Milling, a local mill; 15% protein horse feed. We get the alfa pellets and mix with the sweet feed, roughly 50-50. We get the large 100lb bags and mix at home.

[Amy05]

I would not say she is too fat, but if she gets any more over weight, then yes, you should do something about it, but if you want to know my opinion, she just needs to be worked more. See towards the front of her butt, there is a bump? that is because she was naturally born with muscles, but she is not worked out enough to develop the rest of them. Hay is important for the horses to keep their bowels and body functions going well, and grain is good for their diet. What kind of grain are you feeding her? If she is on sweet feed, you might want to switch her over to oats or pellets. and, how much/often are you feeding?
What i feed my horse is: 2 flakes of T&A everyday, and he is on a performance feed, which he gets 1/2 a scoop, twice a day. He is a thoroughbred, so he is find on a performance feed, but yours probably wont be. Another good thing if you are trying to get them to loose weight is to feed them 3-4 times a day...Say you are feeding her 1 scoop of feed a day, feed her 1/4 of feed in the morning 1/4 for brunch, 1/4 for lunch, and 1/4 for dinner.

Hope some of that helps you out, i would like to think i know a lot about horses (it is my passion...horses always come first ), so let me know if you ever need anymore help

[Amy05]

The hay we use is a timothy/alfalfa mix; Not much alf. I had the bag of seed that they used, but sadly it blew away in the wind (that sounds lamer than the dog-ate-homework excuse, lol, but it's true..) The grain we use is from Pierce Milling, a local mill; 15% protein horse feed. We get the alfa pellets and mix with the sweet feed, roughly 50-50. We get the large 100lb bags and mix at home.

sorry, i just read this....take her off the sweet feed if you can. And, i don't think she needs that much alfalfa...between the T&A and the pellets, one of the most caloric things that you can feed a horse is Alfalfa, and it makes them gain weight like crazy. When i was at my old barn, the horses got a lot of alfalfa, and they all were 400+ LBs overweight. Some is good for them because it has a lot of good nutrients, but 2 things with alfalfa in it is probably a bit too much. Try reducing her alfalfa pellets. If you can't take her off sweet feed completely, try bringing her down to a 12%. And if you do change it, or take her off of it, make sure you do it really really gradually, you dont want a collic or a founder

[Ginevive]

I know, I do feel bad that they are not in tiptop shape. I have a few reasons though. They were unwittingly bred by my friend and had foals at-side all of last summer. This really scrapped any plans for much training, as I wanted them to relax, enjoy their babies while they had them, and not be overworked (Emma was losing a bit too much weight for my tastes before her colt was weaned in Sept.) Now it is winter, but really more of a mud season, where I am actually afraid to do much with them; NOT that I am scared of them, it is the muddy turf we would be lunging on; I fear that one of them would slip or get a strain in the deep mud. But Mark and I do walk them in-hand for about half-hour intervals almost every day down the farm road, and they do get worked up then; they also work each other in the field, hehe, chasing/galloping around.. haven't been riding much because we need to build a roundpen this spring, as I really can admit I am not comfortable riding unconfined at this point; it is an issue of seperation anxiety with them; they go nuts when seperated, and I do not want to get ran away with; a roundpen is what I need to build on the groundwork we have started, in a safer confined place; the pasture is WAY too big for join-up or similar horsemanship.

[Amy05]

oh, dont worry about making excuses, by no means is my horse muscled correctly either, i have to get our butts in gear too. lol. Yeah, the mudd is not a safe place to do anything in. You dont want hurt/killed horses! The only thing i can suggest working wise is if you do have a time when it is not muddy, try to work them on uneven terrain. It is GREAT for their footing, and for their muscling, it will get them tip top in no time.
Oh, and i perfectly understand about the roundpen....I practice Natural Horse.man.ship... and i believe that if you are not comfortable with it then you shouldn't be doing it, so stick with the round pen as long as you want to