OK, I'm doing it again........ (skinny skinny)

[HilltopDaisy]

Craigslist link, I've posted before and you guys told me I was wrong,but here I am again.

http://binghamton.craigslist.org/grd/2764284369.html

[SFM in KY]

A bit on the thin side but I would certainly not call him 'skinny, skinny'. That doesn't really look like a heavy winter coat, more like late summer going into fall and you can see a suggestion of ribs in direct sunlight. I would call him somewhat underweight, not skinny. If he's Amish broke (and was Amish owned especially) working all summer his condition may well be with his age and teeth that needed floating, he wasn't getting quite enough feed to maintain his weight with an all-day schedule of hard work.

If I saw this horse in a field, I would not consider him 'at risk'. We worked our ranch horses hard in the spring/summer and fall and some of our older ranch horses would look like this after the fall work. Hard work, long hours, not quite enough calories coming in to maintain the weight under those conditions but they certainly weren't at risk and we didn't consider it a problem ... heck, most of us lost some weight in the summer and fall as well!

[DamnearaFarm]

Originally Posted by SFM in KY

A bit on the thin side but I would certainly not call him 'skinny, skinny'. That doesn't really look like a heavy winter coat, more like late summer going into fall and you can see a suggestion of ribs in direct sunlight. I would call him somewhat underweight, not skinny. If he's Amish broke (and was Amish owned especially) working all summer his condition may well be with his age and teeth that needed floating, he wasn't getting quite enough feed to maintain his weight with an all-day schedule of hard work.

If I saw this horse in a field, I would not consider him 'at risk'. We worked our ranch horses hard in the spring/summer and fall and some of our older ranch horses would look like this after the fall work. Hard work, long hours, not quite enough calories coming in to maintain the weight under those conditions but they certainly weren't at risk and we didn't consider it a problem ... heck, most of us lost some weight in the summer and fall as well!

Ditto. With the muscling visible, I'd say it's just a horse whose feed isn't in accordance with his level of work at the time the picture was taken.

[SFM in KY]

After a lifetime with horses and ponies, I'm actually more concerned with an obese horse or pony ... and especially pony ... than I am with something that is showing a little rib.

I've seen a lot of photos of TBs in racing condition that people are apparently horrified over because you can see they have ribs, something that is pretty normal for a horse in hard working condition. How many people that do marathon running do you think have fat over their ribs ... they are considered healthy and the people that have an inch or two (or more) of fat over the ribs are usually seen as being overweight.

This photo of the little Welsh mare I bought this fall is an example of what I consider to be 'seriously overweight' ... and it is, in my opinion, more of a health issue than a horse that you can see a little rib on. This pony mare is heavy enough to be at risk for founder, for one thing ... and could well be at risk for reproductive issues as well. She went on a serious diet the minute she walked off the trailer here at the farm and it's taking a lot more than a month to get her down to what I consider a 'good' healthy weight.



This is a very good example of what I like my horses to look like ... good flesh, good muscle tone and if you look closely you can see just a hint of rib ... this would be what I would consider a good working weight for a horse.




The draft horse in the Craigs list post is thinner than I would prefer, but is a weight that could be easily corrected and he could easily handle a day of light work without a problem. Something that is as overweight as the pony mare could not go out and do a full day's work without serious effort and a hard day's work, riding or driving would be very difficult and possibly dangerous to her health.

[chewie]

look at our own bodies--we're better off with a hint of rib instead of muffin tops!

yeah, that cl horse is a bit thin but i think he looks pretty aged as well, our gelding is similar, we've done the teeth, wormings, etc., he gets a bit of grain but he's active and seems happy and healthy so i'm not oging to worry unless it slips.

[SFM in KY]

Originally Posted by chewie

look at our own bodies--we're better off with a hint of rib instead of muffin tops!

Yep ... I'm afraid if someone took a photo of me now, I'd be more in the 'fluffy and needs serious diet program' category myself!

As soon as the chocolate is all gone ... I promise!

[Molly Mckee]

At least you can put weight on him----but you can't fix ugly! Hope that's just a really bad picture!

[Jackie]

I would be happy if my horses looked like that instead of fat. A bit ribby never killed anyone....Fat does. If I lift my arms up you can see my ribs too. The horse is a touch thinner than I would like to see..but I would much prefer that to fat. I pass up buying overly fat horses but I wouldnt pass up buying one like that.

[oregon woodsmok]

To me, he looks more like he's been filling up on too much poor quality hay (hay belly) or else he is overdue for a good worming. I'd suspect he was pregnant if the ad didn't say it is a gelding.

He's homely, but that is a cheap price for a broke draft horse, if he is sound. I think a good grooming would do a lot to improve his looks. Not turn him handsome, but it would sure make him look more presentable.

[oregon woodsmok]

Gotta say, he sure looks a long ways short of 16-2. Unless that trailer was built to carry giraffes.

[tinknal]

He looks to me like a horse who has just put in a hard days work. A bit dehydrated but fit and healthy. I'm betting a bit of grub and water he looks much better in the morning.

Looks like he got sweated up good and his hair is just laying flat. Curry him up and dry him off and you wouldn't even notice them ribs. You wouldn't notice them if he had a winter coat either.

[southerngurl]

I agree, not skinny. When you look at a horse, think "athlete".

[Lazy J]

Nothing wrong with that horse. I wonder where people get their ideas on what a healthy animal looks like.

[SFM in KY]

Originally Posted by Lazy J

Nothing wrong with that horse. I wonder where people get their ideas on what a healthy animal looks like.

Not so much here, but on the Chronicle board, I'm convinced there are people who look at posted photos with a magnifying glass and if they can see even one rib they immediately post with a "skinny/underweight/feed this horse" response.

I posted a photo once several years ago of a foal just a day or so old and the mare, of course, was showing some rib ... immediately post foaling and a big rawboned mare that would back off feed the last 30 days anyway and she photographed even thinner than she actually was. I had a number of 'shame on you' posts and finally with one particular poster who was getting nasty, I posted that the vet had seen the mare, as well as all the other horses on my farm and that if this particular poster would contact me from their personal email with a phone number, I would pass that on to my vet with instructions to call with a veterinarian's view on whether the mare was 'dangerously thin' or not but that I didn't feel I needed to waste my time defending myself to an anonymous poster.

Never got another post from that person for some reason.

I do think that people who have never actually had horses that 'worked', whether it is draft horses or under saddle horses, do not understand what real working condition is.

[offthegrid]

Well....I wouldn't necessarily call that horse skinny skinny, but I also wouldn't consider it to be in *good* working condition either. Topline is unmuscled and showing prominent backbone -- if the horse was 23 I would say that is ok. But at 13, I would expect it to be in better "working" condition if it is truly a "horse that has put in a full day's work" - more muscle on the topline and without the fairly prominent ribcage and "big belly" look....

If it were MY working horse, I'd want more weight on it... 200+ lbs or more - mostly in the form of muscle. In the shape it's in, I'd say it's probably not getting enough food if it is working, or it's not actually in work (and still needs another 100+lbs), or it's actually older than 13....or all of the above.

Here's a couple pictures of what I'd consider a better weight for working draft horses:



or this



Just for easier comparison, here's the original picture from the CL ad...

[wolffeathers]

I think people just simply have different ideas of healthy. I know people who feel their horses aren't healthy until their fat and I know folks who would deny their horses are skinny/underweight until Animal Control shows up(and even then it's "AC doesn't know what they're talking about).

If you guys remember what Fenix looked like(hips, vetebrae, ribs, shoulders, pretty much a skeleton) when she first came here, her previous owner called her "a little underweight" and "pulled down because of the summer heat" and would get deny it when I would call it "emaciated".

[GrannyCarol]

I think the original horse looks wormy (supposed to be a gelding, so not pregnant!). He's got a big belly and is thin over the top. I'd like to see more muscle on him and less tummy. I've seen pictures of horses so much worse that he isn't so troubling. He doesn't look like he's in tip top condition though.

[jennigrey]

The lack of muscling in his topline is of concern. A draft should have a good hard slab of muscle there. The hollow behind his withers shouldn't be there. I wouldn't call him skinny-skinny but he does need some condition. Clydes are typically of a lankier build than Percherons and Belgians, but he's a little too lean. I don't think he would have the stamina to go all day. I've seen a lot of photos of the hard, fit, slightly-underfed work horses of the '20s. They looked like the farmers that worked them - lean and ribby. But they had muscle behind their wither. I think that's what jumps out at me as being "not quite right".