Horse care tips

If your horse is overweight, ask whether it really needs a rug, or a lighter one. Digesting fibre keeps horses warm, and using energy to keep warm helps weight loss.

For an overweight horse, a small neck-and-belly clip without a rug can — done carefully — help it burn more energy over winter.

If your horse scores below 2 out of 5 for fat, talk to your vet about its health, and use a rug when temperatures drop.

You can't judge a horse's fat by eye. Fat score with your hands — fat feels spongy, muscle feels firmer — across the neck, middle and hindquarters.

On the 0–5 fat scoring scale, 2.5–3 is a healthy score for most horses, unless your vet advises otherwise.

Fat score and weigh-tape your horse every two weeks and write the results down. Horses can gain weight quickly, and records show changes before your eye does.

A weigh tape shows whether weight is going up or down, but not whether it's the right weight. Use it together with fat scoring.

Use the correct side of the weigh tape: the more accurate tapes have a horse side and a pony side, chosen by your horse's height.

Quick rib check: you should feel the ribs easily with light pressure but not see them. Needing firm pressure means too much fat.

Feel the crest. Hard fat that's difficult to wobble from side to side is a warning sign worth discussing with your vet.

Stand a safe distance behind your horse: the quarters should be gently rounded like a letter C. An 'M' shape with a gutter along the spine means excess fat.

Native ponies, cobs and draught types evolved for harsh winters and poor grazing, so they gain weight easily on good pasture, rugs and stabling.

Being overweight more than doubles the risk of laminitis in horses and ponies — one more reason to keep fat scoring year round.

Never crash diet a horse. Cut calories, not the time spent eating — horses need a steady supply of forage to stay healthy.

Make titbits and treats the exception rather than the rule, especially for a good doer.

An overweight horse that lacks energy won't be helped by a high-energy feed — it just adds fat. Weight loss and fitness work bring the energy back.

Don't feed or rug your horse just because others on the yard do. Each horse needs what suits it, even alongside a similar type.

As a good doer's exercise increases, resist adding extra feed. Weight loss needs a calorie deficit; keep the diet forage-based and balanced.

Grazing muzzles aren't recommended for donkeys and their hybrids — restricted diets carry a risk of hyperlipaemia. Ask your vet about alternatives.

Take regular photos of your horse from the same angle. Alongside weigh tapes and fat scoring, they make gradual changes in shape easier to see.

Straw bedding encourages foraging and lying down, but a horse on a weight-loss diet may eat too much of it. Choose bedding to suit the horse.

Most leisure horses get more calories than they need from grass alone. Restricting grass intake is often necessary — but they'll still need vitamins and minerals.

The first time a horse wears a grazing muzzle, stay with it and check it can graze and drink comfortably. Never leave a muzzle on 24 hours a day.

Overweight horses are more at risk of heatstroke than lean ones. Take extra care with good doers in hot weather.