The Art of Natural Dressage

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:57 am 
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Joined: Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:43 pm
Posts: 598
Location: UK
I always have trouble keeping weight off the boys, you don't want to shut them in small spaces as they don't get any excercise, then if you give them big spaces they get fat. The horses winter on a neighbouring farm, and that grass is so fattening, even in very small amounts, then when they come back to the hill, they just came back beggining of February, they have a bigger area but always lose weight, they have all the hills to excercise on and the grass is ancient varieties, and there is so many different types. Also I love the fact that they love to graze at the furthest corner, which means they have to take a couple of good hikes a day down to the stream for a drink.

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 1:44 pm 
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Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 12:52 pm
Posts: 139
Location: France
Hi Annie,

Your horses look great! We have Irish cobs ourselves, so I know about the challenge of keeping them as 'thin' as possible... :lol: They even seem to gain weight by just breathing, don't they?

Your shire is a dream too, she is lucky to have found you!

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Jolanda
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our introduction with photos: http://www.artofnaturaldressage.com/viewtopic.php?t=744


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:36 pm 
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Joined: Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:43 pm
Posts: 598
Location: UK
Jolanda, I am so pleased to have this amazing shire horse, but I have also made lots of problems, Storm is totaly obssesed with her, he won't let her out of his site, which means taking him out can be difficult and also taking her out can be bad on him too.
I can't graze them seperatly as he gets so stressed so I'm trying to keep the balance right with grazing, just enough for Misty as she's growing but not too much for Storm and Jason, like you say, these boys could get fat on fresh air, they are such good doers, the grass on this hill is excellent, very low fat, and gives Misty that huge amount of bulk she requires.

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:17 am 
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Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 12:52 pm
Posts: 139
Location: France
Hi Annie! What a coincidence: we too have a horse that doesn't want to be seperated from another: Kandy decided she needs to be with Fay all the time. And indeed: she needs to eat more than Fay, so we need to be creative in that too :) Fay needs to be on a diet all the time, but Kandy needs exactly the opposit, she needs to eat all the time in order to prevent her from getting too thin... A challenge indeed, because if we seperate them, Kandy gets nervous, is walking around like crazy and doesn't eat at all. Just the opposit of what we want to happen! If we put Fay on the other side of a fence next to her, she will eat, but Fay will get very frustrated and angry because she wants to eat too :roll:
But we practise, and try to help both of them. Ususally we give Fay a little bit to nibble on too, and give Kandy a lot to eat. And when Fay is finished I will go and give her lots of diversion and distraction. But I know the challenge!!

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Best wishes,

Jolanda

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our introduction with photos: http://www.artofnaturaldressage.com/viewtopic.php?t=744


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