Re: eating and performance

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 98-10-06 13:08:27 EDT, rides2far@juno.com writes:

<< My secret?  Well, I've got these two Welsh ponies that eat like locusts. 
 When they finish their grain, they go straight over to try to help the
 next horse. (I have 5 buckets hanging from a wooden fence, every other
 post.) >>

Ah, yes, competitive eating does wonders.  My weanlings are managed this way,
hence they learn this as youngsters.  Add this to what seems to be a genetic
predisposition to be a Hoover vacuum cleaner that runs in some of my families,
and by the time my horses get to rides, they will consume every stem and grain
put in front of them.  In fact, it is downright embarrassing at vet checks
when my stallion thinks he is a one-man cleanup squad and mustn't leave the
check until the ground is spotless...  Have to tell a funny story about his
sire--was teasing mares one day, and had already fed.  I brought this mare up
to his paddock, and he was screaming at her with his nose still buried in his
grain box!

Heidi