Is my 15 yr old gelding overweight? Or does he have just have a hay belly? If it's a hay bally how can i get rid of it? Here is a pic of him.
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o51/k.
Answers:
I can't believe how many people can't tell what an overweight horse looks like! *laughs*
Sweetie, your cutie horse is overweight, but he's not bad. Just pleasantly plump. You've taken excellent care of him.
The way you can tell that a horse is overweight is by looking at his crest (his neck). The crest will hold fat and if you look at right below the mane and right above the muscle of the neck he has a slight pocket of fat midway on his neck.
Next look at his withers. He also has another fat pocket on the side of his withers.
Look at the base of his tail. The point where his tail meets his hindquarters, there to is another fat pocket as evidence by the slight bulge in the photo, which makes the hind quarters at the top look just a bit uneven, instead of a smooth curved line.
Someone said he was even a little sway back. That's crazy talk. I laughed when I read that. He isn't the slighest bit sway backed and he actually has a very nice top line.
Really, your horse is under muscled and over weight. His chest is small, his shoulder is small, his hindquarters are underdeveloped. Your boy needs exercise! :)
Cut back on the rations about a 1/3 (leave his hay alone, you can keep feeding him his normal ration) and start exercising your boy. He need some muscle building and it will also help him lose weight. The fat pocket on his crest may need some help with a neck sweat, but make sure you know how to use one before applying it and even then only for 30 minutes.
Good luck!
He is too cute. But he definatly has a hay belly and a slight sway back. Unfortunatly I have never had this probelm with any of my other horses so I dont know how to fix it.
Your gelding does not appear to be overweight. It looks as though he has a slight hay belly but thats nothing to worry about. I would recommend just slightly decreasing the amount of grain he is given a day.
Beautiful horse. Farm Gal here, I have heard of grass belly, but never hay belly. Riding is the best way to get ride of grass belly. Try decreasing the amount of hay a little and increase the oats, or horse and mule feed. Add a little corn to the oats, and some Milo. All of this is more protein, and less carbohydrates than just hay. Again a beautiful horse, well cared for, appears to be show animal.
Your horse looks great, He does not have a hay belly, He looks perfect .
Oh, he's cute! I like him. He definately looks like he's in good flesh. He doesn't look wormy, but if you think he's got a "hay belly" appearance, have you wormed him lately? Or if you have a vet available, maybe have a fecal done to make sure he doesn't have worms.
It could just be his age and his weight. He looks real good to me and his feet look in good health. The hooves are always the thing I look at first. Does he have a lot of rings on his hooves? It doesn't appear so from the photo, but it's hard to tell.
he's beautiful but I think he is overweight, try riding more and
more exercise for him
He's adorable! but a bit overweight. Try feeding him more hay and less grain, and riding him a bit more.
NICE LOOKING HORSE!! hay belly! need to ride him more. and cut his hay down a bit. if you scatter it around in the paddock so he has to work for it that'll help. he eats out of boredom. put some toys out there for him too.
Hes not that bad. parhaps a *slight* hay belly but better a slight hay belly then under weight. Ride him more or longe him, a bigger pasture that he could run around in. You could also decrease his sweet feed an increase his oats if he needs the energy. if you have cold winters add whole corn as a helper with heat.
A hay belly isn't a bad thing, especially with winter coming!
Hard to tell from the pic of he's overweight. If he's a QH, the curves over his rump may be muscle and not fat. What is his breed? When you touch the area does it feel firm like muscle?
I like Keylime's answer. She is right. You horse is not sway back. He's "downhill" but not sway back. She gave you great tips on how to check for over weight. Another tip would be to look at the spine part of his back. If you bathe him and water is still standing on his back like a little river. That is another sign that your horse has excess fat. However, based on this picture your gelding is not significantly over weight. I would say maybe a little pleasantly plumped. Since we are going into winter, I would not cut back on his food. Unless he is blanketed and housed in a warm barn. The reason I say this, is because horses need the forge to keep themselves warm. And they burn a lot of calories shivering. There will likely be a few times this winter that your horse will shiver. I personally would let him go into the winter w/ a few extra pounds and then as the weather gets better focus on building more muscle. Once he has more muscle he will metabolize his food better and less likely to get plump.
You've already gotten some great answers, but I HAD to tell you, your horse is ADORABLE.
Made me giggle when I saw his sleepy face.
The only bad thing about PetQnA.com is that people answer questions without knowing what they are talking about.
Your gelding looks fine to me. Maybe needs some muscling up, but if you don't show him and just pleasure ride a little, don't worry about it. He is not swaybacked nor terribly fat - just well-fed. He's Quarter Horse, right? Hay or grass belly - like some said, going into winter, don't cut back. I don't see anything wrong with him. I'd rather see them like this than ribby and with a WORM belly!
I don't particularly mind bit of extra weight on my horses, and your horse really isn't that fat. More excersize will help shape him up.
The picture you posted is at least a year old - it is impossible to judge a horse's current weight by such an out dated picture. The horse in this picture, at the time the pictures was taken, is carrying more weight than necessary. He is not danerously overweight, but he scores an easy 6. 5 is ideal, and going into winter it is not so bad to have a bit on the plump side if your horse is living outdoors. He does look otherwise healthy.
Your boy looks fine to me. I wouldn't consider him overweight at all. Even if some would consider him to be (I don't know why as he is appears to be a QH), Big belly, guess I don't see it . Having a little extra padding is not going to hurt a darn thing with winter on us. No worries, but if you are worried excersise him more. Really nice looking horse.you should be proud! My Dad always said that "Horses are proof that the Lord loves us and wants us to be happy!"
He is adorible! He looks fine
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