You are very right in your concern. IMO, alot of riders increase the physical activity of their horses without increasing the "groceries". I happen to be a fan of maintenance level high quality supplements, very little grain, and free choice good quality forage. My horses are easy keepers no matter how much work they get..every horse I have EVER been responsible for feeding has been this way.
The old "two flakes a day" just doesn't cut it with an endurance horse. Can you do this sport without supplements? Sure you can! Can you do it on alfalfa? Sure you can! Would I do this sport without supplements or on a straight alfalfa diet? NO WAY.
Here is what my horses get:
AM: 2 flakes 3-way grain hay..(Oat, Wheat, Barley) PM: One flake grass hay, one flake grass/alfalfa
I don't weigh my hay, but these are large flakes out of 100+ lb bales of hay
Very small mash (about 6 c total after soaking): This is just the easiest way to get vitamins and a considerable amount of extra water into my horses.
Beet Pulp PGR-Dynamite's Pelleted Grain Ration-1-2c. depending on physical activity that day. 1oz. maintenance level Dynamite vitamin My actively racing horse also gets the joint supplement "Free and Easy"
I will happily email pictures of my "in good flesh" horses to anyone.
I have rescued horses who were underweight and put weight on safely, (while conditioning) too many times to listen to anyone tell me their horse is "just a hard keeper"!!!!
Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway. ~ John Wayne
To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] Newbie with a Concern Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2008 07:52:51 -0400 From: janeenesings@xxxxxxx
Hi,
I just attended my first endurance ride this weekend (the Texas Tango), and I had a great time as a volunteer. The ride was well-organized, people were extremely helpful and friendly, and it was just an overall great experience and it definitely motivated me to get more involved (I'm planning to do a 25 at next month's Armadillo). Here's my concern: the number of what I consider "skinny" horses I saw at this ride. Now, I know that human marathon runners are lean and sometimes downright skinny, but, if I had seen some of these horses in someone's pasture, I would have called a rescue to report neglect. To be fair, the top riders and their horses were not guilty of this; for the most part, their horses looked lean, but in good flesh and well-conditioned. The first-time riders seemed to all have horses in good weight. There were, however, a very large number of horses that just looked downright underweight (ribby with toplines prominent and hipbones protruding). What is up with this?&nbs
p; Is it due to overconditioning? Underfeeding? Stress? I really am getting hooked with this sport, but I want to do right by my horses. I would love to hear some feedback from you guys....
