Good doers - human and equine!

[LuckyRed]

Hi there - after a conversation at the yard recently about weight control for a 'good doer' and how putting a less-warm rug on her would mean that she used more energy keeping warm and so would assist in weight control, I started wondering...

...if I were a horse, I would be described as a 'good doer' as just looking at food makes me put on weight! If I didn't dress up quite so warmly when going down to the yard (thermal vest, polo neck jumper, thick woolen jumper and winter coat with hat and gloves), and turned my heating off at home, would I use up more energy shivering and therefore find weight control easier....?

[jennyb]

Yes, I think you would! It's a simple calories in vs calories out calculation. You would expend more calories exercising though, than dressing lightly.

I certainly find that my weight and muscle tone is very stable when I'm exercising regularly, and I don't gain weight. Exercise increases your metabolism I think and you use food more efficiently. When I have had periods of less activity, say due to injury, I notice the weight gain so much more!

[arabiangem]

I was pondering this this morning. Marjorie is a good doer, I'm not. She's very plump at the moment, but she's in a MW rug as I'm not prepared to let her shiver. Personally I think it cruel. So I've cut out the feed altogether, and she's not getting any hay. Still plenty of grass so she doesn't need it. And I'm going to have to increase her workload.

I'm lean - partly genetic, partly the amount of exercise I do. Go on, hate me....!

[clara81]

Yep! I lose weight in the winter cos we don't really have heating in the house. Pile it back on in the summer though lol!

[karin66]

Sorry, as a good doer myself, I had visions of doing the horses in a bikini today! Titter titter ....

[bertie666]

Dec 5, 2012 11:51:18 GMT 1 arabiangem said:

I was pondering this this morning. Marjorie is a good doer, I'm not. She's very plump at the moment, but she's in a MW rug as I'm not prepared to let her shiver. Personally I think it cruel. So I've cut out the feed altogether, and she's not getting any hay. Still plenty of grass so she doesn't need it. And I'm going to have to increase her workload.

I'm lean - partly genetic, partly the amount of exercise I do. Go on, hate me....!

Why is it cruel for a horse to shiver? Its just its body choosing the natural way to warm itself up - using the fat storage. Its a human thing to want to wrap animals up and cosset them - the animal would be fine without it!

To me its crueler for a horse to be overweight - the extra stress on the internal organs, circulation, joints and massively increased risk of lami/EMS

[arabiangem]

Because shivering means that the waterproof coat is no longer working and my horse is cold. I'd not leave her to shiver any more than I'd leave my niece to shiver.

I agree wholeheartedly that an overweight horse is a bad thing. But then to my eyes, maybe what I think is plump other people would deem normal. I'm used to seeing a muscled up, endurance-fit Marjorie! She's 430kg at the moment with a condition score of between 2.5 and 3. She's usually around 420kg and a score of 2 - 2.5.

Dec 5, 2012 12:03:35 GMT 1 bertie666 said:

Dec 5, 2012 11:51:18 GMT 1 arabiangem said:

I was pondering this this morning. Marjorie is a good doer, I'm not. She's very plump at the moment, but she's in a MW rug as I'm not prepared to let her shiver. Personally I think it cruel. So I've cut out the feed altogether, and she's not getting any hay. Still plenty of grass so she doesn't need it. And I'm going to have to increase her workload.

I'm lean - partly genetic, partly the amount of exercise I do. Go on, hate me....!

Why is it cruel for a horse to shiver? Its just its body choosing the natural way to warm itself up - using the fat storage. Its a human thing to want to wrap animals up and cosset them - the animal would be fine without it!

To me its crueler for a horse to be overweight - the extra stress on the internal organs, circulation, joints and massively increased risk of lami/EMS

[cobgirl]

oh dear, both my horse and i are good-doers!! i do leave my boy in a rug (either a MW or a newmarket fleece with magnetic back pad underneath) as i dont want my horse shivering too much due to an old back injury. i feed little and often and keep him in regular work. as for me i do regular exercise but do not control my food as well as i do with my horse

[mandal]

Shivering... I hate it when I'm so cold I shiver tbh. I believe the shivering response kicks in when your core temperature drops below a certain point. I'm also pretty sure horses have a similar mechanism. I personally also don't think we should use it for weight control in horses.

[spanisheyes]

I think its cruel to 'shiver the weight off' a horse. How many people who say its not have a perfect physique themselves and would be happy to shiver and shake to keep themselves that way.

My horses and me are all good doers but all of us hate being cold. I have aches and pains from old injuries and know how dismal it is when the cold gets to you. I keep our weight down through sensible eating and being active. We are all a size 12 equivalent so not fat.

[arabiangem]

When I need to fitten up, or get into a tight LBD, I wrap up warm and go for a few more runs. Same principle for Marjorie. Which is why we did an hour's interval session this morning and I'm about to head out for my lunchtime run...!

[shan]

I don't like to see a shivering neddy either. When mine stays out on a cold night I always rug her (70g) because she'll just stand in one spot opposite the stabled neds for most of the night, I don't think it's fair for her to be stood shivering.
Back to the original question though, lol... I'm not a good doer, but there's nothing worse for me than being freezing in winter, I prefer to work up a bit of heat... if I'm cold for too long I just want to dive into a massive hot dinner!

[antares]

I wouldn't shiver my horses thin either, they seem to really be quite upset and on edge when I have misjudged the weather and they have got too cold, I certainly wouldn't do it on purpose.

My boys are all good doers, I must admit I looked at Antares last night and said to hubby he needs to go on a diet, I would say on a scale of 1-10 Antares and Winston are about a 6 to 6.5 and Kiwi a 7 so I have given them all slightly less hay today and this will gradually be cut down until they are a little more slender (no hard feed anyway). Unfortunately no real chance of work for them at the moment so diets it will have to be!!

I am also a good doer and I find it hard not to put weight on, particularly in the winter - agree with JennyB this is likely to do with lack of exercise (+ I do like cake!) but I have no time to exercise at the moment apart from the daily mucking out and dog walking. I really need to do a bit more to keep the extra winter lbs at bay. Unfortunately I am already on the go from 7am to 9pm every week day and I just can't fit any more in!

Dieting comes easier to me between Christmas & Easter so this will be a big push for me in 2013

[hammie]

Dunno, but thin people do seem to feel the cold more.

Incidentally, I have a fatty horse and I have never seen him shiver. He has a bib clip and no rug, and several times this week, even on icy days, I have found him sweaty just standing in the field! (He has also actually put on weight in the last week, after a move to a field full of grass...)

[Deleted]

You can feel the nip a little which will stimulate the body to metabolise fat to keep warm without having to go to the extreme of shivering. Shivering means that metabolic response isn't working well enough and usually also leads to tight muscles.

I would rug minimally to help weight loss but not to the extent of letting them shiver.