One of the silliest things I've observed in Germany is the obsession to weigh your horse on a scale. Forgive me for the misuse of the word obsession - that is the word Germans use when they think of Americans and our guns. So....not obsession, just, the need to regularly experience your horse's weight, or test your shooting skills at a gun range.
On facebook today this dude advertised his services to come to riding stables and let your horse step onto his scale. He gives you an entry in your booklets. Every year or less he's there for you. There is, indeed, a weight booklet where you can track your horse's weight as you do your pregnancies (in Germany, it's called a Mother's Passport) and your own immunizations called an Impf Passport (which are currently being stamped with Covid19 shots!).
As a slacker American I laugh at this cuz I can look at my horse and tell if he's low or high on weight. Or if I need help, the girth hole tells.
Americans have weight tapes, which mght work, I have no idea.
I have always had a vet who tells me my horse's weight by simply looking at him.
That's the thing, cuz vets need to know how much medication to administer. So it's *crucial* to know a horse's weight down to the kilo, Germans will tell you.
But, somehow, in America, the vets just look at a horse and say a number and put the syringe into its neck.
So please, any scale-followers out there, convince me that weighing a horse on a scale is important.
I'm happy to hear why this trend is so adhered to in Germany.
If you go back to my blog, Winter 2016, you'll see a whole mess of horses getting weighed, while Mag and I watched.
6 comments:
This could be very useful for horses prone to insulin resistance like haflingers, cobs, QH, andalusians, especially if the weighing is less expensive than the bloodwork to track the syndrome.
I appreciated knowing Farah's actual weight from year to year. If she was at a perfect weight & maintaining it from year to year, I knew her feeding program was spot on.
Sarah Metcalf DVM told me that "modern" weight tapes are not very accurate, but she had an old one from vet school that WAS accurate. And she ALWAYS used it before giving sedation. My regular vet always weight tapes before sedation also...and both vets have notes in the Dragon's file that she is a "cheap date, but compliant" lol
I think the weight tapes are good for tracking *relative* weight gain or loss, just as a girth hole does. But having a “baseline” actual weight is nice. When our vet built his new clinic they put in a scale, so every year when I take boarders in, I know how they’re doing, and, as HHm says, how my feeding program is doing.
Evensong, in your business, it is more important. Just, allow me to shake my head at pleasure riders peer pressured into paying a fee for a bi-yearly fee for reasons unbeknownst to me. Also, we hope to see you this year!
Ah, peer pressure! Especially when it costs money! I long resisted the “uniform” of mountain trail competitions, echoing the vaquero cowboy. Finally broke down and got a pair of chinks, but only because my full length chaps don’t fit me right. But I ALWAYS wear a helmet, so the flat brimmed hats won’t ever happen!
And YES! I’m looking forward to seeing you, live and in person!
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