I've never seen a horse that was fat. They've all been ripped and muscled. Even the ones who weren't racing. Can horses get fat? It seems logical, but I've never seen it.
2006-10-03 16:35:22 · 14 answers · asked by Murda Mook 2 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
Yes, horses can get fat...mine got fat over the summer for lack of exercise, and too much food.
2006-10-03 16:39:29 · answer #1 · answered by fanciergirl2002 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes horses can get fat. Some overweight horses will get a medical condition called founder. Some signs of founder is the horse will have a really thick hard neck and it will also spread to their feet which will result to lameness. If you see Shetland ponies or smaller horses most of the time they are fat because they eat all the time. Even though a horse gets exercise and are rode they can get fat because my horse still puts on weight when she is rode.
2006-10-03 17:31:31 · answer #2 · answered by Sandra 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes they can get fat. Usually you see it in horses that have nothing to do but eat all day. In nature (when horses were in nature way back when before the mustangs roamed the west) they developed the ability to graze all day long and get their nutritional needs met that way. When you pen them up they are fed more concentrated food which gives them plenty of calories but they become bored because instead of taking all day they have finished their bucket of grain in a few minutes. A bored horse is a dangerous horse so they are also given hay to munch on or pasture to graze in to keep them happy. Since they aren't roaming loose, running from predators and traveling to distant water sources they don't get enough exercise to burn off all those calories and they get fat. The solution is a balance of feed and exercise because you can't simply put a horse in a barn on a diet without it becoming bored and developing dangerous habits like biting, breaking loose, and cribbing.
2006-10-03 16:50:52 · answer #3 · answered by twistedmouse 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have a fat horse. There are different stages, and fortunately my horse is just fat, not obese. It happens the same way it happens to people: not enough exercise coupled with too much to eat. Sometimes it can be caused by hormone problems, too.
2006-10-04 04:07:41 · answer #4 · answered by Mikki 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A horse can indeed get overweight, and when they do, it shows!
As with anything, obesity has severe health problems in horses. Its called "founder". A horses feet and legs can become deformed from supporting thier own weight.
A horse weighs so much that it cannot lay down for long once it reaches maturity. A horse who founders is at real risk, for if its legs and hooves no longer support it, it wont be able to stand. A horse who lays down too long will suffocate from thier own weight pressure on thier lungs (thats a normal horse!).
2006-10-03 16:43:55 · answer #5 · answered by indigowulf 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes. A horse can get fat just like any other animal.
2006-10-03 17:16:39 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
ohhh yes. If you want, I got proof of my own as I owned some "fat" horses who I had to get in shape after buying or having them be given to me.
I can send pictures.
A fat horse is just as unhealthy as a skinny horse.
Just as a overly fat person is unhealthy as a overly skinny (anorexic) person.
Same with humans. Same with animals.
2006-10-03 19:12:26 · answer #7 · answered by Mutchkin 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
sure, horses can get fat.... but they usually are the ones forced to live in a little pen, and eat all day, but just like people, that leads to being overweight in some horses.
2006-10-03 16:42:05 · answer #8 · answered by petluvr 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sure there is. We have three of them our self and none fat but, like someone said if you over feed them and do not exercise them yes they can get fat like any other animal can.
2006-10-03 18:03:54 · answer #9 · answered by sammy 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
any animal can get fat if they overeat and don't exercise. I could imagine an old horse might be fat.
2006-10-03 16:54:24 · answer #10 · answered by J. A. M. 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋