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Discussion on Diva Horse's Condition?
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 11, 2009 - 7:56 pm:
OK experienced HA people, what do you rate her weight condition?
Am I doing ok? I'd like to add some flax seed/oil to shine up her coat.
She is fed Purina Strategy 2x day. 2 cups each time. Grass/Alfalfa hay, mostly grass. Pasture any where from 2 - 7 hrs a day. All clover was killed in June.
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 11, 2009 - 7:58 pm:
Here's a closer broadside. Ignore the mud...
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 11, 2009 - 8:03 pm:
A close up of her neck and she was stretched down grazing. OK? Ignore the dirt.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 11, 2009 - 8:34 pm:
HMMMM hard to tell from your pics...why did you post in the fat section? Do you think she is fat?
The first pic it looks like she has fat wrinkles high up on her back?...My old girls has them
Vicki what would you rate her on the hennke scale? IF I had to guess I say a 6-7 fleshy. She looks good in the pictures from what I can tell. Does her neck have a bit of a crest starting?
She appears to be close to Hank and I would put him between a 6-7 and he needs to loose some weight! except his neck is crestier.
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 11, 2009 - 8:41 pm:
I feel like she has put on a little weight, but didn't know if my eyes were deceiving me. I didn't know exactly where to post the pix but was thinking she was a little fleshy myself. She is a big barreled horse but...
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 11, 2009 - 8:43 pm:
Why is hard to tell from my pix? How should I take them?
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 11, 2009 - 8:59 pm:
It is hard to tell because we can not tell if the ribs are easily felt or have a good covering of fat, if her tail head is spongy, if she has "rain gutters"
It's not your pix, ANY pictures it's hard to tell, but gives us an idea. Your best bet is to check out the Henneke scale towards the bottom here if you haven't already and tell us what you think she is
https://www.horseadvice.com/horse/messages/3/5227.html
BTW I love her coloring!
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 11, 2009 - 9:07 pm:
I was thinking a six.
Found the discussion about body condition. I should have posted there.
She is a pretty gold in the sunlight.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 11, 2009 - 9:21 pm:
Then IMHO she is perfect!
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Member:
leslie1
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 11, 2009 - 9:40 pm:
she looks good Vicki. I always like to put a little weight on them heading into winter.
Leslie
She is lovely btw.:0
L
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Member:
shirl
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 11, 2009 - 11:58 pm:
Beautiful Horse and her weight looks good to me.
Shirl
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Monday, Oct 12, 2009 - 7:39 am:
Hello Vicki,
Diane is right photos cannot relay some of the most important factors by which we judge condition. You have also left out one of the most important views: one that demonstrated with contours around the spine.
Also labelling photos does not really help you learn to critically evaluate the horse. If you find judging a horse's condition a bit difficult why don't you write down the observations that lead you to your conclusion rather than just the evaluation. I think your first photo above suggests the ribs are visible if in just the right light, suggesting a evaluation lower than a 6 but this could be a artifact as there is some odd banding effect on the torso.
Whether you call this a 5.5 or 6 is really a bit esoteric however the horse appears to be in a healthy condition.
DrO
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Monday, Oct 12, 2009 - 7:43 am:
Thanks ladies. I obsess over this mare like I did my first child. I'm surprised I haven't gotten a baby monitor and camera installed over her stall. It could still happen. We have cameras here already...so running conduit to the horse barn isn't too much of a stretch... And no, I'm not kidding.
After resigning from teaching 8th grade for 22 years and my kids are almost all grown...I guess I need a something to mother. Heavens, this one mare takes the energy 120 students and my own four adolescents used to take...and I'm not even sure she likes me either...lol
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Monday, Oct 12, 2009 - 7:55 am:
Thanks Dr. O. I realize a flat picture doesn't tell the whole story. I was just curious what the old timers (as in long time owners) thought as I'm not all that experienced as a horse keeper. I'll take a picture of her spine and rump.
Diane, is a "rain gutter" when there is a deep crease down the spine with the "fat" being the curbs?
She has had less exercise this summer due to injury issues and I just didn't want her weight to get away from me. I believe she has a pretty high metabolism. If I fed the Haflingers what she gets, they would weigh a million pounds.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Monday, Oct 12, 2009 - 8:13 am:
yes that's what "rain gutters" are a crease down the back, doesn't necessarily have to be a Deep crease...just a crease
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Monday, Oct 12, 2009 - 8:36 am:
Vicki
I think she looks good, also love her coloring. I like my horses to look like that over the summer, and a bit more padding over the winter. I check the feel of the ribs everytime I do anything with a horse, or when just putting hay out, and use that comparison to moniter their weight/condition. Winter coats can be misleading, that furry horse can be alll hair, lol!
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Monday, Oct 12, 2009 - 8:54 am:
Well, just came in from the barn and I think there is a crease along her spine somewhat that flattens out over her rump. I can feel her ribs but not as easily as in the late spring. Hmmm. The Haflingers of course are a different breed, different build and when I look at them, she looks thinner, but perhaps she is leaning a little closer on the heavy 6 to early 7...and her coat isn't that thick yet. I suppose everyone has his/her preference, esoteric as it were, but a little more exercise and few less calories isn't going to hurt. I have read so much on here about weight, IR, Cushings, etc. that I'm starting to wonder if I have been in a fog and never realized that those conditions were so prevalent. I went to a clinic this past weekend, and I felt like 2/3rds of the horses (trail and backyard pleasure type) were overweight. ? Not that I opened my mouth of course. What do I know?
Thanks for the comments regarding her coloring. That of course was pure accident. I was hoping for a bay tobiano gelding, and wound up with a palomino overo mare with hardly any white. I shopped for temperament and training and the rest was accidental. Took awhile to get used to the blue eyes! And a mare. Never been around mares much which would account for her Diva nickname.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Monday, Oct 12, 2009 - 10:36 am:
It is not that she has a high metabolism but that Haflingers have so little. It is the easiest keeping breed of horse in my practice and keeping them from getting obese is a chore for anyone with pastures of almost any quality. Air seems to provide all the energy and protein a Haflinger needs.
DrO
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Member:
kpaint
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Posted on Monday, Oct 12, 2009 - 12:39 pm:
I agree wholeheartedly Dr. O. Air and straw would keep our Haflingers at the proper weight. They have the sweetest dispositions and are a wonderful breed to learn about horsekeeping--very forgiving and trusting.
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