overweight horses

[Louise bower <horsecrazy@access.mountain.net>]

Don't count on exercise to slim your horse down.  I have an easy keeper 
that you couldn't work hard enough to make him lose weight. He can even 
gain weight on a 3 day 100 mile ride.  He gets just enough grain for his 
supplements, then pasture, which isn't great now because of lack of 
rain, during the day, and turned out in the fat paddock, about an acre 
and a half really grazed down during the night.  With the bugs and heat 
during the day he is in and out of the run-in so he doesn't eat non-stop 
like he does at night when it is cool and the bugs go to sleep. Even so 
he is heavier than I would like to see him, but I think a lot of that is 
is body build  and he seems to be able to handle the miles this way.
     I am not sure which is more difficult to manage, an easy keeper or 
one that is hard to keep weight on.  Louise and Winston.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=