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Please critique Cali

2K views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  PixiTrix 
#1 ·
This is my mare, Cali. She's 2.5 and will be used solely for trail riding. I know she's underweight, but I've got her on 24/7 pasture and she's slowly coming along. I'm interested to know what everyone else thinks of her in general. Thanks!

(Oh and I know these photos aren't perfect, but I have no idea how to make my horse stand square and stay that way.)
 

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#2 ·
Cali has a lot better front end than Cisco but her rear is worse, she looks very cowhocked. They are both quite narrow. Other than that I have a hard time seeing past the boniness -- not educated enough. Since both these horses are very young and growing, shouldn't they be getting more food than just pasture seeing what poor condition they are in?
 
#3 ·
Thanks for replying.

As for food, they are actually both gaining weight. It's most noticeable at this point in their toplines, chests, and Cisco's back side. Everything I've read implies that good pasture should be enough and they've moved from low-nutrient dense forage that's severely overgrazed to lush pastures all to themselves and with plenty of water. I would like to give them a little more time before introducing new feed to their diet.
 
#9 ·
Thank you for the feedback. The thinness happens because in the area that I bought her it is the dry season and the pastures are extremely overgrazed. Also the soil is very sandy and lacking in nutrients. The horse owners only put them on pasture and maybe a tiny bit of supplemental feed.

About a month ago I moved her and Cisco to my other property a couple hours away where the soil is amazing and the pastures lush. They are actually looking better than they were a month ago so I'm encouraged there, but I'll haul a couple bags of feed out there next time I go.
 
#10 ·
I agree with the others- she's nice, just needs more weight. Is this the mare you posted about before that is in foal? If so, so she will definitely need more groceries to support her and the foal. So, adding that extra feed will really help her and the foal out.

Good luck with your horse! =) They're both very pretty =)
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#11 ·
It takes a long time to put weight on horses. It always seems that it takes twice as long to put weight on as it does for the weight to come off. I think you have an interesting challenge as many American's (and europeans) have a different idea about horse care than they do in certain other areas. Americans might "coddle" their pets a bit more, where other places its survival of the fittest. I would tape or string them, deworm if they haven't already been and see if they continue to gain. As far as conformation goes, a little narrow behind and cow hocked. Are they paso finos? She seems to have a lot of traits that I see in that breed, i.e. somewhat smaller in size, skinny neck.
 
#12 ·
Yes, she is a Paso Fino. I'll try to measure her and Cisco over the coming weeks and see what kind of difference I see. You are correct in that the attitude here is totally different in the U.S. and I can't win for trying. People think I'm crazy trying to put more weight on them...Sigh. I'll keep doing what I can and hope for the best.
 
#14 ·
Ah interesting. I live in Puerto Rico and I thought, hmmmm that looks exactly like a lot of horses around here. The lush pasture will probably do her well and you're good to take it slow. I don't know what your grass is like but ours is mostly water and I have to supplement with vitamins most importantly. Our guys also get a lot more grain than I would EVER contemplate feeding in the states, but it seems to be an amount that keeps them healthy.
 
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