For horses as well as for humans, being in shape is an indicator of general well-being and health. The weight is not only strictly connected to health, but its excesses can cause problems on horses’ health in long time period.
A good weight represents a good relationship between body fat and lean mass and this means a balanced diet, nourishing and quality food, a good dose of exercise and psychological wellbeing. By the way, it doesn’t exist a perfect horse body weight and even a always good diet, but both of them should be adapt to age; breed; health; exercise; life style if in paddock or in stable and the wheatear the horse is exposed to.
All excesses are always risky. An undernourished horse, which is visibly too skinny has low energy to exercise, can have digestive disease and its low nutrients intake can undermine an accurate training by affecting its learning abilities. On the contrary a fat horse is fatigued during exercise and each movement is difficult for him. The excessive weight can tire joints causing inflammation and can impact on apparatus and organs: circulatory and respiratory systems are ever the most fatigued.
Sadly a widespread trend is to fatten horses since this make them more morphologically appreciated and allows to hide some physical flaws. The evaluation of the beauty and the health status of a horse should focus instead on the its wellbeing and all its indicators.
There are many ways to check a horse weight condition: the first and easiest is watching. A too skinny horse has usually too visible bones on withers and hips, slightly toned muscles and a dull coat. On the other side a fat horse doesn’t have even slightly clear bones and muscle, seeming “rounded”, which can be judged pleasant at first sight, in fact there is a completely lack of muscular tone.
Other methods for the weight evaluation are the lean/fat mass relations and specific blood tests, which can be done by veterinarian.
It is important to use a balanced and quality-constant feed rich in nutrients, to reach and maintain a healthy condition and a good body weight. A good solution is Wafer Fioc Horses, a complete horse feed created for the maintenance of the in-shape condition with long fiber hay, alfalfa and premium quality flaked cereals. There are two richer versions: Wafer Fioc Premium and Wafer Fioc Plus, with many different cereals and the addition of vitamins and minerals to support skinny horses to gain back weight and a healthy shape. Moreover, for too fat horses Wafer Fioc Prestige and Wafer Fioc Light satisfy the need of a nourishing complete meal through lighter formulation to help them lose pounds avoiding dangerous nutrients lack.
