RE: new horse again

[Karen Sullivan <greymare@jps.net>]

-----Original Message-----
From:	Rhonda K Levinson [SMTP:levinson1@juno.com]
How quickly
is too quickly for a horse to lose weight?  My new mare is changing shape
quickly and dramatically.  She was in decent shape when I got her, I
thought.  But in just the last two to three weeks, she's really dropping
weight and getting hard --
Should I slow down her rate of exercise? I've
increased her feed and if anything, she's more pumped up in attitude than
when I purchased her, not less, so she's not acting over-worked.  Just
paranoid, I guess, and wondering if I'm pushing her too hard or if it's
normal for horses to change shapes this quickly.  None of my other horses
ever have, but then, I've never been this systematic or focused on
getting one in condition. 
[Karen Sullivan]  Rhonda, here are two experiences I had.  Last year I bought a REALLY fat Arab. She was ridden all summer and fall, brought up slowly, and also somewhat "limited" on feed-no grain, and only grass or oat hay.  What happened is that even with light riding (an hour a day),                                   mostly walking hills, she lost weight too fast......especially as winter approached, and went into winter too thin, with me frantically trying to feed her up.  I deduced that her metabolism just wasn't efficient yet,and that the riding alone would have toned her up.

This last summer I bought another really fat horse.......pudgy and embarassing to ride, but my plan was to not restrict any hay....and do lots and lots of slow rides.   With just the riding, she has toned up, and lost weight, while being out with the herd that always has hay available.
She is going into winter looking really nice, more fit, with enough extra to keep warm.......

I learned NOT to "diet" and start consistent riding in the same year!

[Karen Sullivan]  The exercise will burn a lot more calories than you think......the first mare I mentioned is much more fit this year, is going into winter looking nice and plump, and bounces back immediately after hard rides.  With all my horses except one, they have hay in front of them all the time, and if they happen to get a little pudgy, I know  with all the riding they will burn it off during the year.  I feel better if they all go into winter looking plump.


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