Ours tend to gain a bit in the winter, too. I would rather have them with a little extra weight in the winter rather than winding up skinny.
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yea we do too but hes like obese but like still healthy.. my other gelding gets a small belly but keeps close to his weight and looks normal and so does my other one so far. but his belly looks like he 10 months pregnant. my saddle barely fits around him.

 

Do you ride less in the winter?

 

nope i ride the same as i would in the summer as in the winter.

 

in the winter my paint horse gets fat like really fat, ive had people come out to see them and ask when hes due..

is this normal? is there a way i can keep him slimmer?

Oh my gosh sounds like my gelding mr prego boy come spring,back cinch wont even fit,have to take it off saddle.:shock:

I'd cut out the oats and put his hay in a small hole hay net,this does seem to keep my boy from porking out. Last winter he didn't get fat but did do the hay nets, and even doubled up nets to really slow him down. :wink:

 

He does have a slow net on the bales. We started this last summer. And he gets oats for the winter and it's not much as he shares with my other gelding just so my other guy can eat all his in peace. Come spring I'll get my thin boy back!

 

what kind of round bale? i would change it to be lower calorie hay if you can...1st cut only and grass hay, and cut the oats...

 

Why are you feeding him oats if he gets fat? I'd cut those for a start(tho maybe he can do with them over summer... if 'lean' isn't just a comparison to how he is in winter). Providing adequate minerals for balanced nutrition, esp Mg, horses can indeed afford to get fat & remain relatively healthy, so long as they have regular 'hard seasons' to use up those fat stores. Generally, winter is thought of as the 'hard season', but in many places, summers are.

 

What I was always told was, hay bellys keep em warm in the winter, but don't make em fat.

So as I was told, pregnant geldings Is a good thing so long as it doesn't carry over to fat everywhere all year.

 

I actually like my boys to lose a little weight over winter so they don't have issues putting it on again in spring and summer when the grass grows again...cause you can control what is out there in the fields in the wintertime for them but you sure cant in the summer time...

 

I'm wondering what "fat" actually looks like to you. Without some pics we're just guessing but it sounds more like hay belly than fat. Does he have a cresty neck, fat deposits around his tail head, behind his shoulders, a gully down his back, "man boobs?" Those sorts of things are fat/obese. A distended belly is something else.