Monday November 9 2009
Alright, help me out here. Look at that picture up there. Is Stormy fat? I can see his ribs from the side through his winter coat.
Now look at him from this angle.
I think he might be having twins! Maybe he swallowed 2 beach balls. I swear that Princess was not this wide when she was pregnant with Smokey this summer. Stormy waddles when he walks!
Connie says that I'm in denial that he's fat. I'm not in denial; I just love my horse however big his paunch is, and I just prefer to look at him from the side, where I can't see the protuberance.
He was eating 24 hours a day since we put free-feed hay out in preparation for the winter. Sometimes he had his head buried up to his withers in the hay and he didn't even hear me when I walked up and talked to him.
Steph suggested lunging him half an hour every day. Lunge him! I couldn't get him to trot for half a lap around the round pen, much less half an hour, if I tried with whips and electric prods. He is going to start riding again - get him working up a few hills or washes... though with his navicular, that can't be a strict routine. He's in the diet pen too now, getting access to the hay only morning and evening. Maybe when it snows this weekend (!!) he'll shiver a few pounds off.
I agree Stormy is a wide load... but is he really fat? He's not buffalo fat like Dudley was (was! Dudley is still looking good) - Stormy has no cresty neck, no dimpled butt - nothing but a huge sideways belly.
Or is it just all in your perspective? (As in, perspective from a side view, like I prefer, versus a front or back view).
Or is he just a good keeper?
What do you think? What's the solution? Suspenders? Girdle?
(Stormy is a bit peeved at all the scuttlebutt over his belly - he's very comfortable with his body.)
Nope, he's not fat. He's an older thoroughbred and needs the extra weight going into winter! Don't put him on a strict diet now, he's going to drop pounds this winter...
ReplyDeleteDunno Merri...like u from the side he has no fat showing on hips, neck shoulders...and most important is the area behind his elbow...looks good just a hugh hay belly??? Its the way he carries his food not fat??? If he was able to tone up probably loose belly but no I don't see Fat as all over body wieght.
ReplyDeleteHey girl! Has he been wormed lately? Kinda has that pot-bellied wormy look. Just a thought!
ReplyDeleteHe doesn't look fat to me, but in foal for sure :) Maybe the worming thing??? Is he getting older?
ReplyDeleteHmmmm. If all 3 of these were taken the same day - I'd say he's not. (He only looks pregnant in the middle one.)
ReplyDeleteMy horses are always on the plump side too. --More to love, I guess.
Maybe with his exercise program (much to his chagrin, he finds he is going back out on the trails) - and a pair of suspenders we can at least redistribute some of that weight. : )
ReplyDeletehow old is he?
ReplyDeletehe's 18
ReplyDeleteAaaaa 18 explains it some..my 14 yr will look hay belly and even a little sway back when not working so much in winters so bet that has a lot to do with it! I do believe in the panacure puge though too. Had a horse that mildly coliced all the time was loasded with encysted strongyles (Ivermectin does nothing) and purged him he stopped colics! Now we doit every couple of years on our horses and new horses always.
ReplyDeleteFat deposits on neck, back, & rump. This horse is not fat, he's got a belly. 7's got a belly, great feet, great recoveries, wonderful disposition, and 100% completion rate. People seem to feel compelled to inform me he has a belly. I'm starting to feel compelled to critique their horses for them. :-)
ReplyDeleteHe looks to me like he has a hay belly. My pasture horse gets that. You want to feel the amount of fat over his withers and rump which looks pretty darn rounded out to me. But, we are also coming on winter and it is better going into winter with a little fat then not; although we also know obesity in horses can be just as deadly. Bottom line, don't let him get any heavier....
ReplyDeleteexercise is good for everyone... git him out there :)
ReplyDeletecid and gazi
More to love ;-)
ReplyDeleteAndi's old endurance horse, Cas, always had a belly, he could do three 50's in a month and still have a belly. Just the way he was all through 1200+ AERC miles. And still is to this day at 25. :-)
ReplyDelete