Why are so many horses fat?

[Arksly123]

I've noticed that a lot of players keep their horses fat. Is there any reason for this? Any pros/cons?

All of my horses are for endurance, does that make a difference?

[Tisha]

I've noticed that a lot of players keep their horses fat. Is there any reason for this? Any pros/cons?

All of my horses are for endurance, does that make a difference?

It's not so much of a pro and con thing, it's simply because they don't bother to manage their weight. For me, I have to work with 100+ horses at once and I simply do not have the time and energy to check all my horses to check their weight.

If you're talking about competing with horses that are fat, some disciplines require horses on the heavier side such as Moderately Fleshy for Log Pull. There are pros and cons for sure, since every horse is different, the weight needs to be adjusted to give the horse the best advantage in competing.

[Hilayla]

A lot of people keep their showing horses in barns where feed can be managed and a horse's weight kept stable. Because grass has a growing season, you must increase/decrease feed in addition to summer mowing in order to try to manage weight. Larger horses eat more grass and while smaller can overeat even in a full pasture because the grass is more plentiful year round. Since there are no health effects to overweight horses coded into the game at the moment there is not much incentive to go through all that extra work.

[Xant’hippe]

I've noticed that a lot of players keep their horses fat. Is there any reason for this? Any pros/cons?

All of my horses are for endurance, does that make a difference?

It is not always easy to tell whether, and to what degree, a horse's condition affects its competition success. I do the best I can on the theory "can't hurt, may help." Comparatively easy for a full-sized adult in a barn where you can control the feeding and set up a 100% or maybe 105 to 110% feed if the animal is "Spirited", a member of a hot bloodline (example: Turkmene or descended from that, Akhal-Teke to Thoroughbred and others), or, possibly, being competed in Racing disciplines.

Your Endurance horses will be at their best for competition with 100% energy and BCS (Body Condition Score) 4, expressed as "Moderately Thin."

The topics of Feeding, BCS, and competition readiness are occasionally discussed on the boards, but the User's Guide postings don't seem to have much about them.

Although overly fat/thin horses aren't being penalized yet, Admin watches everything and everyone, and may decide to make things harder for us in any way at any time.

Want to really have a "fun challenge" / actually, a lot of trouble? Try keeping ponies or minis in trim!

[Nazarach]

Want to really have a "fun challenge" / actually, a lot of trouble? Try keeping ponies or minis in trim!

Actually, keeping them about moderate/ mt works best (at least for my tarpans, przes and mongos) at 40-60% gras with mowing when over 60%