Re: proper weight

[Tivers@aol.com]

In a message dated 98-06-24 23:29:29 EDT, c.sherman@connriver.net writes:

<< I've been reading all of the posts by your nutrition gurus and really
enjoying the debate - a lot of really intelligent folks with good arguments to
make and different perspectives. Life is good! Now, maybe you can help me with
a simple nutritional question. My 6 yr. old Arab mare, who I bought a couple
of months ago from a race breeder, is definitely the lean type. When she
arrived, she looked healthy and strong, but I could easily feel her ribs, and
could see them in the right light. Everything I've heard said that she should
have more meat on her bones to do distance, so I've been gradually increasing
her grain (she is turned out 24 hours on pasture). She currently gets about 3
quarts of a 5% fat, 12% protein sweet feed, 1 quart of beet pulp, and a 1/2
cup of corn oil, mixed up with water, twice a day, plus obviously all the
grass she can eat. I am conditioning her for a 30 mile CTR to start out, and
she is coming along very well, but basically still looks the same - a bit more
muscular and maybe a bit heavier, but those ribs are still there. I don't want
to overgrain her, but she is a very active horse. She does wind sprints back
and forth across the pasture (by herself) just for fun, and walks all over the
place all day long. She's quite calm under saddle and a total sleeper in the
barn, so I don't think the grain is making her too energetic, she just likes
to stay busy. She is not a picky eater and LOVES to eat and drink. So, in a
rather long-winded way, I get to my question: How fat does she have to be?
Anyone out there with slightly ribby but very muscular horses that are doing
just fine? Should I up the grain just a bit more, and would that be advisable?
Would it be better to increase the beet pulp?  >>


It's OK if you can feel the ribs, but not ok if you can see the ribs. What
you're looking for is shifts of weight to all the right places: forearms,
gaskins, between the thighs, chest, gluteus. If you have a distinct "poverty
line" (outlined semitendinosus) then you still need some weight. 

She sounds like she's doing a lot of work, and an increase of a couple pounds
of grain, gradually, shouldn't bother her. Another approach is rice bran or
gamma oryzanol extract. 

Or, if you like the concepts of fiber espoused by Heidi and Sarah, et al, you
might try to get 40 lbs of sawdust into her on a daily basis.  The fastest
route to the hindgut might be via enema.

ti