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Spotty Bottoms and Hairy Feets

7K views 83 replies 18 participants last post by  knightrider 
#1 ·
Well since I enjoy seeing other folks' progress here on the forum all the time, I thought I would start a journal for this year and share the things I accomplish with my two. A bit of backstory, for those who don't know -

My current heart horse, Dreams, is a coming 4 year old Appaloosa that I purchased as an untouched yearling. I originally bought him to train and resell, as he and I really didn't mesh spectacularly in the beginning, but somewhere along the line he managed to worm his way into my heart. He has turned into the silliest goober I've ever met, and has turned into a gigantic love addict. He loves rubies. He loves scratches. He loves to back up to me slowly so I'll scratch his spotted butt. He loves treats. He loves to stick his head under my arm. He just ... loves love lol. This past summer we attended a 3 day clinic on the other side of the state and I am pleased to say he was magnificent. We do a lot of trail riding so far but in the coming year I'd love to take him to some local shows for some fun competitions. This guy has such a great mind, and is brave as all get out, and every day that I work with him I am more amazed at his awesomeness.

Horse number 2 (and 3 I guess, since he's twice as big as other horses) is Thunder the Shire (Big Sky Tuff's Storm'N Norman). He was a bit of an accident ... I stopped by a local Shire breeder because I wanted to inquire about training Dreams to drive, and several people in the area had told me this breeder also trained, gave lessons, etc. While I was there I happened to see this long legged, fluffy, pot bellied, white faced ... thing ... frolicking about and I just had to go take a closer look. Thunder wasn't the prettiest weanling I'd ever seen but he had a certain look about him. I was instantly smitten (though I desperately tried not to be) and bought him under the erstwhile excuse that, er ... he'll be a good horse for my fiancé once he's broke ... yeah ... that's a good excuse. He will be a ride and drive horse, and while right now he isn't getting messed with too much, I can't wait to start his formal training once he's grown up a bit (a bit more, I mean).

So since we live in eastern Montana, and it's winter, not a whole lot gets done during the first few months of the year. We just finished out a week in which the daytime highs never topped -5, and the night before last was a bone chilling -43. Today, for the first time in over a week, the daytime high was ABOVE ZERO and all the horses in the state rejoiced. So I had to let them run and take some pictures, most of which didn't turn out because my poor phone just can't quite function in the cold weather. Thunder is wooly and floofy so he loves the cold. Dreams, not so much ... poor Spotty Bottom starts to shiver after half an hour sans blankie unless he's being ridden or galloping like a madman across the arena with his buddies.

I'm hoping to ride tomorrow afternoon but we have a union meeting RIGHT in the middle of the day (I hate that, can't get any horse time in!) so I might not get to ride until after dark, and then it will be super cold, and my phone won't work, and my toesies will freeze off ... le sigh. If I get to ride it will be Dreams' first ride in about two weeks so we'll be doing some lunging beforehand! I'll have to see if I can find pictures of his INSANE aerial acrobatics ... this horse can buck harder and higher than anything I've ever seen (did I mention he jumped a 5.5 foot fence as a yearling?) though thankfully he's never offered to do so under saddle ... but I like to hedge my bets!! Pictures below are from today.

-- Kai
 

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#9 ·
I'm 5'5" and I can no longer see over Thunder's withers, so I imagine he's in the neighborhood of 15.2-15.3 maybe? Ish? Dreams is right around 15 even I think. I believe the last time I measured him he was a hair under 15.1 with shoes on. I hope he doesn't get too much bigger, I think he's perfect at this size. lol Bear in mind that at this point in time Dreams is coming 4 years and Thunder is 20 months ... heh heh can't wait to see that fluffy monster in another year or so!

I went out tonight but I forgot to take pictures or video ... I didn't do much with my boys anyway. I just rode Huckleberry (a friend's TWH) a bit, fed grain and left. I haven't been blanketing Thunder, since the lows are staying above 0 and he's SO FREAKIN HAIRY, and he took the opportunity to roll in his own urine - lovely. : / I absolutely cannot wait until it is warm enough to drown him in shampoo and wash what will be 6 months' worth of urine and poop out of his coat. He is such a disgusting pig ... when he's blanketed he doesn't like to lift his tail to poop so now he has poopcicles hanging from his lovely thick tail. Eeeeww.

Dreams was delighted to see me [open the grain bucket] as always, and spent a few moments showing off his new trick, nodding his head vigorously up and down to say "yes". He picked that up all on his own, I never taught him that. But now he knows that it gets him extra attention so anytime he wants ... well, anything ... he will stand at his gate and vigorously nod "yes" until you laugh or scratch him or give him a treat. Just for kicks, once or twice I've just stood there and stared at him, and his nods will get increasingly impressive until his head is swinging in an arc that touches the floor and raises up far above his withers. If you continue to not reward him, he will start waving one front hoof in the air. "Look at me mom! Look! Hey look what I can do! Look! LOOK! MOM! LOOK AT ME!!" lol

Here's a video of Dreams, Thunder, and Dreams' half brother Copper fooling around in the arena a few days ago. This was Thunder's first attempt at playing with the "big boys" - he usually prefers to stand by me and watch. I couldn't help laughing at his big galumphing self trying to keep up with the far more athletic stock horse boys. I think the constantly shifting herd dynamic displayed here is interesting. : )



-- Kai
 
#32 ·
Dreams was delighted to see me [open the grain bucket] as always, and spent a few moments showing off his new trick, nodding his head vigorously up and down to say "yes". He picked that up all on his own, I never taught him that. But now he knows that it gets him extra attention so anytime he wants ... well, anything ... he will stand at his gate and vigorously nod "yes" until you laugh or scratch him or give him a treat. Just for kicks, once or twice I've just stood there and stared at him, and his nods will get increasingly impressive until his head is swinging in an arc that touches the floor and raises up far above his withers. If you continue to not reward him, he will start waving one front hoof in the air. "Look at me mom! Look! Hey look what I can do! Look! LOOK! MOM! LOOK AT ME!!" lol
:rofl:

My horse flaps his bottom lip. Blup, blup, blup, blup, blup - pause and intent look - blup, blup, blup, bluuuup!

Horses.
 
#10 ·
Well I felt bad always neglecting Dreams to ride Huckleberry ... today was a comparatively warm 17 degrees and sunny, for once, so I had enough time and daylight to take both Dreams and Huckles for a spin. I am not sure about the fit on my English saddle for Dreams ... I will have to take pictures tomorrow sometime and have you guys critique. If it were a western saddle I could get it pretty close but I'm not at all confident about my English saddle fitting abilities. I currently have all 29 of my bridles in my living room, rearranging bits and putting Lok-Tite on all my Chicago screws, so I just grabbed a random bridle off the pile, which ended up being a teardrop shanked snaffle ... oh well! So we worked on my balance and form from the waist down and his neck reining lol ... and I rode in sweatpants. Because it is freakin cold outside, and I haven't spent the money yet on winter breeches, and heck with it, I ride how I want. ; )

I have decided, since I really enjoy having a horse with such a light mouth, that for now when I ride Dreams on contact I want to go bitless. I have been waiting for an excuse to buy yet another bridle (yay!) so I recently ordered one of these: https://www.twohorsetack.com/p-108-...le-made-from-beta-biothane-solid-colored.aspx Dreams is having a hard time distinguishing when I want him to ride on contact (English) and when I want him to come off that contact (western) so I figured, since English riding is something we do for fun and I don't feel like going into a massive effort to help him distinguish between the two, when riding on contact I'll just stay out of his mouth altogether. This bridle will also be a nice change for him when we're doing something chill like trail riding and I want to give his mouth a break.

I also ordered Thunder a halter bridle, because I've always wanted one and the wooly mammoth only has 1 other bridle (sacrilege!!). I can't wait to see them on the guys, it will be super awesomesauce. And of course, because every other piece of tack I own is leather and therefore relatively the same shade of brown, I had to get bridles in their colors - purple for Dreams, and blue for Thunder. They will be so handsome. : )

-- Kai
 

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#11 ·
I’m glad I found your journal! It was funny to watch Thunder out with the stock horses. He is very different than them. :)

We have a cold blooded one now, and although he’s just a coming yearling he’s out with the stock horses, but he plays around quite a bit. Then when he is done he goes and hides beside the lead horse who runs everyone else off. Lol. I wonder if as he gets older he will slow down...
 
#12 ·
lol Yeah Rodney and I always joke that Thunder runs out of gas pretty quickly compared to the stock horses. He will romp and buck and play and run really hard for about 15 minutes and then he's done. After that he usually stands off by himself, or if I'm in the arena, he will come stand by me and beg for rubbies. I try to always turn my guys out with Copper if they're going to be out for a while ... otherwise Dreams will just run Thunder ragged for the entire time they're out there. Dreams really, really, REALLY likes to run and play and run and run and run and play and run .... lol

-- Kai
 
#14 ·
Where's that "'Tis but a scratch" meme? "'Tis but a light frost!" Heh heh if I let cold keep me out of riding I wouldn't ride from November to April every year. We all grow accustomed to frozen toes and fingers. And ears. And noses. And ... well everything else really. I stick a hand warmer in each boot and that usually keeps off the worst of it. Wrap a scarf around your head to shield your face, or wear a mask, and when it's snowing I like to wear goggles to keep my contacts from freezing my eyes (well not freezing exactly but they get super cold and hurt my eyeballs). But generally during the winter I ride indoors. It's windy nearly every day around here in the winter and those winds will cut you to the bone no matter how many layers you're wearing. I don't get a lot of loping done ... don't want the horses to get very sweaty in that sort of weather ... but eh, a ride is a ride, right?

It's actually supposed to warm up considerably tomorrow - highs in the high 30s - low 40s all week, which means I'll finally be able to ride outside. I'm sure Dreams will be bat-**** cray cray tomorrow. Oh, joy lol

-- Kai
 
#16 ·
So here are some (crappy) pictures of my English saddle on Dreams sans pad. It seems to me like there's about an acre of spinal clearance ... is that too much? I've never ridden him in it hard enough for him to sweat under the pad so I have no marks to go by. Dreams has never complained though, not that I think he would unless it was very bad, and when I sit in the saddle the wither clearance compresses to about two fingers' worth. I'm worried that the tree is too narrow although I really have nothing to go by since I know SO much about English saddle fitting lol. What do you guys think?

I rode Dreams in the English saddle again today, after riding bareback yesterday, and he was feeling pretty good after his forced cold weather vacation. There was a lot of head tossing and prancing and general messing around during the 5 minutes of lunging before I climbed aboard (I probably didn't need to but eh, I like to play it safe in the English saddle lol) but in true Dreams fashion he was all business as soon as I put my foot in the stirrup. I rode him in a western bridle so no contact, but he neck reined like a champ and moved right off my legs. There were a few girls barrel racing in the arena too and he wasn't bothered at all, just moved right along.

Every time I ride a different horse, then come back to Dreams, I am continually amazed at how well he retains his training. It doesn't matter how long he's been sitting or what I ride him in, as soon as I climb aboard he's his usual Old Reliable, Steady Eddie self. My sidepull is coming sometime this week I think and I CANNOT FREAKIN WAIT for it to get here so I can take it for a test ride. I really really want to ride Dreams on contact but after all the work I put in last year getting him to stop lugging on the bit I'm very apprehensive about encouraging him to ride with contact with a bit. He was HORRIBLY luggy, completely dead in the mouth, pull-your-arms-out-of-their-sockets kind of luggy and it took me 8 months to get him to soften and give to the bit without leaning on it first. But I don't really care what happens to his nose, I can lead him anywhere just with my body language, so I'm excited to see how he goes in a sidepull on contact.

-- Kai
 

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#17 ·
I've been silently stalking! I always love your posts about Dreams - he's a handsome dude :D And Thunder, omg so fluffy! Love it <3

You should post the pictures in the saddle fit section so you'll get some replies :) I'm not a pro at fit - I can generally spot a decent enough fit. I would say it's too far forward. Which will change how the fit looks. I would also say it's a little too narrow as well. Something about how it sits on him... I just don't like the side pictures. It looks balanced from pommel to cantle, but it also looks perched. I can't put my finger on it... (I wanna say the shape just doesn't fit his body type) but I really don't like the fit... also like I said - NOT a pro. Someone else would probably be able to shed more insight :)
 
#18 ·
That was my first thought as well - that the tree is too narrow. It does look a little forward too - I used the "put it on too far forward then karate chop it back into position" method like I do with my western saddle, but I noticed that there wasn't a whole lot of movement going on when the saddle got to this point, so I'm not sure if it was the saddle fit or the way I slid it back, or if that slide back thing only works with western saddles. I've noticed that if I lope Dreams with the English saddle, my pad will slip, because it doesn't have tapes, but the saddle doesn't move very much if at all - no sliding, no slipping. Like, my western saddle, if it's put on too far forward, will slide back into the best position for it after a few minutes of riding, but this saddle doesn't move ever - it stays where I put it. In a western saddle this would be a sign of decent saddle fit but on this saddle I'm not sure.

I'll post these to the saddle fitting section and see what people think. : )

-- Kai
 
#20 ·
Yeah I read the reviews for the pad (This one: https://www.statelinetack.com/item/roma-reversible-soft-saddle-pad/SLT900885/ ) so I knew going into it that the pad could possibly slip, but the vast majority of people who had bought it said it didn't slip - and in fact, when I ride Huckleberry the pad doesn't slip so it is just a Dreams issue I think. Or a saddle fit issue. I don't think I will sew my own keepers on, although I don't use the lighter underside so by all rights it would be fine. Instead I think I will buy a second pad (I like Roma pads, I'm thinking this one: https://www.statelinetack.com/item/roma-circle-quilt-pads/E015420/ ) so that when I'm washing this one I will have a backup. I've always had multiple pads in case something gets horribly dirty, breaks etc ... having just one pad for the English saddle makes me uncomfortable for reasons I cannot explain. I didn't buy a second one before because I didn't know that I would enjoy riding English as much as I do. : /

I do have an awl that I use, I'm in agreement with you on repairing broken tack - I like to buy quality items from the beginning and they tend to last longer, and look nicer longer, than cheaper products, so to me it's always worth it to fix them if they break. Most of the time it's simple stuff that doesn't require much effort to fix but it's nice to be able to fix more in depth things as well. : )

This whole English thing is turning out to be more fun than I had originally planned lol .... I am planning on biting the bullet soon and investing in a few pairs of breeches and some tall boots so that I won't scratch the seat in my jeans. Right now it's not a big deal, the weather is so cold that I'm riding in sweatpants and my insulated Bear Paw boots (that are definitely not designed to ride in but that's why I have peacock stirrups and keep the stirrup bars down) but when it gets nicer I'll need something better to ride in. Depending on how well (or not) this saddle fits Dreams I may wish to sell this one and buy another good used one that fits better ... which kinda sucks because I love this saddle. It's so comfortable!!

-- Kai
 
#21 · (Edited)
Wow. It's been a while. : )

This winter has been brutal and I hate it and I want it to stop. Riding when it's 0 degrees just isn't very much fun ... all you can do is walk really, and that's not enough to keep you very warm. I've also been rather sidelined for the last 6 weeks or so with menorrhagia, which led to anemia and me passing out in my driveway a few weeks back, and then a slew of doctor visits (one of them should have been an emergency room visit, or so I was told). I have since been diagnosed with an endometrial polyp and am having surgery in May to have it removed, and also an ablation to take care of the endometrial hyperplasia. During those procedures I will also FINALLY get a tubal ligation to sterilize me, something I have been looking forward to since I was 15. I tried to convince them that a hysterectomy was the way to go - an ablation will sometimes need to be repeated several times to be effective, and I want a one-and-done sort of thing - but insurance will not cover one since I'm young, have no spawn, and apparently have no clue what I really want in my life (insert eyeroll here). On the bright side however, if this ablation does not fully take care of the problem I will be cleared to enjoy all the benefits of a 100% insurance covered hysterectomy. Yay!

During my time away from the barn I read a lot of books on driving horses, to learn more about training Thunder the Shire, and I also spent a lot of time thinking about what I want to do with Dreams. Thunder is coming along famously (we've progressed to dragging logs, tires and stone boats and I'll have to update his thread with videos because I'm so proud of him!) but I still seem to be stuck with Dreams. He's an excellent trail mount - he'll move out at any speed you choose on a loose rein, crosses water, jumps ditches, handles steep hills and scary objects with aplomb - but I want him to be, well, more. I really love his attitude though, and I think I might finally be ready to train a bridle horse, something I've wanted to do since I first saw an old Mexican vaquero performing in Las Vegas years ago with a garrocha. I've never felt like a had the ability before, and once I felt like I could do it, it took me a while to find a horse that I thought I could do it with.

Dreams is now, after spending the last year getting him soft to the snaffle, very light in the face. I love being able to use more subtle rein cues, to be able to flex his nose laterally using only my pinkie, to be able to pick up my reins with two fingers and have him back up energetically a step or three and remain light on my hands. He's come a long way from his old pig rooting, lugging, hard-mouthed self! We've progressed with our neck reining as well, and now I can lay a rein on his neck and he will look in to the direction of the turn, bending his body around my inside leg. Teaching him shoulder control has brought him more under himself, and he doesn't drag himself around all strung out like he used to (or at least, not nearly as bad ... the lope is still a work in progress but it gets a little more collected every time).

I've also spent some time on myself - working on not slouching or leaning forward (my worst offences, they sneak up on me and I have to correct myself constantly), bringing my legs more underneath me, keeping my hands closer together, working without stirrups to enhance my balance, etc. I bought 'Centered Riding' by Sally Swift and even though it's more English-y, I've found it has a lot of great information that is applicable to all types of riding. When I want a bigger challenge, I will ride my friend's horse in an English saddle - the combination of different tack and different horse is quite refreshing.

So I'm confident that Dreams and I can both do this, and I figure even if we fail we both will have greatly improved as a team - I will have learned so much, and I will have taught Dreams so much, that I'm absolutely certain we will be so much more awesome together once this is all over. I've had a bosal in my tack room for a year now, so I went and bought a headstall for it and slapped on my tree line mecate reins that I love so much (I know they're not traditional but dang it my hands love them!) and threw the whole kit 'n caboodle on Dreams for our ride today. It was his first time in a bosal and he was stellar, after the initial few minutes of slight confusion when I applied lateral pressure.

Today's ride turned into a mini lesson, an old cowboy was hanging around who loves to offer advice to anyone who will listen (and I usually do, because he's a true horseman and quite talented) and when he saw me fiddling with Dreams' bosal and learned I'd never rode him in one before, he offered to give me some pointers. We worked on rollbacks, handling the mecate rein more effectively (I've got to get used to coiling the slack in one hand, I've always let it flop down the horse's neck before), encouraging Dreams to plant his inside hind through a turn, finding a more secure position for my seat and legs through a rollback (ergh I ALWAYS want to hunch forward!) and finished off with some quiet backing and figure 8s at the walk. Through it all Dreams was a gem, giving his face when asked and trying to the best of his abilities even when the unfamiliar pressure on his nose confused him a bit. When I climbed off him I couldn't have been happier, and I've had a stupid goofy grin on my face all day.

Before he left, Ray told me that Dreams "done you proud today" and is turning into "a mighty nice broke usin' horse", which left me just tickled. Ray was there the day I bought Dreams as an untouched weanling and has watched every step of the way, and has helped me out a few times (he was there for my first few rides on Dreams and has helped me troubleshoot when I need it). I was immensely proud of our progress today, and at the very least, I think Dreams will make a fine hackamore horse. : )

*Edit - In the first picture, the heel knot isn't resting on Dreams' chin because the mecate lead is draped over a hook in the wall and is pulling it away from his face. During riding, the heel knot rests on his chin.

-- Kai
 

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#24 ·
Ergh the weather just can't decide what it wants to do ... In the last 18 hours we've had snow, rain, heat, and extreme winds. Blegh.

I have been able to ride Dreams nearly every day for the past while (except for yesterday since the rodeo kids were monopolizing the arena for 6 hours) and today we had another great ride. He is coming along so well, I can hardly believe this is the same belligerent yearling I bought 3 years ago! Right at the start of today's ride, the rodeo team ran a herd of bucking horses into the arena, but Dreams kept his cool and once the stock were sorted we continued on. I'm getting better at realizing when I've slouched forward, and today I felt like I had a much better body position throughout the ride than I have been. I certainly was able to stay with Dreams during rollbacks and hard stops - and today was his first truly great stop, I think. It was only from a trot, but when I said "whoa" he sat right down, really used his hind end and kept the front end light, and was soft in the face the whole time. He even offered a few steps back. I'd only been riding him for about 20 minutes at that point but I was so pleased with that stop that I quit him right then and there, and took him back to the tack room and gave him a cookie. : )

We also worked on keeping his inside shoulder up loping circles, something he's terrible at, and on keeping my rein cues small and not giving him huge out-to-the-side colt starting cues (something I'm terrible at). We did some sidepassing, worked on the beginnings of a spin (he'll turn right around now but I'm still looking for consistent quality, not speed) and I started to ask for a bit more vertical flexion. Dreams has a habit of THROWING himself into a lope, and shoving that nose way up and out, so I spent some time working on pushing him up into the bosal and keeping him under himself. When he discovered that I was asking him to transition collected, he had a small tantrum and kicked out when I put my leg on twice, so I pulled him around and yielded his hindquarters FAST and trotted a few very small circles FAST bent around my inside leg. Two minutes of that and he put up the white flag, and after that he started to think about collecting a bit more in the trot-lope transitions lol. I asked for two more on each lead, and he was much improved, so I left it at that.

He isn't perfect but Dreams continues to improve with each ride. He certainly is a lot of fun to train, even when he's being resistant or having a tantrum, because he only needs a little bit of correction before he changes his attitude. I'd like to get him out of the arena but the ground around here is terrible - between the snow and the rain, it's six inches of slop everywhere and I'm afraid to do more than walk anywhere. I would have taken him out on the gravel road for a bit after this ride, but it got terribly windy right as we were finishing and I didn't want to ride in a hurricane. I feel bad for him though, he gets bored and cranky in an arena and I don't blame him a bit - going in circles day after day is starting to get on my nerves too.

I didn't have time to work Thunder today, and he was quite put out when I didn't pull him out of his stall for some fun - but I did spend a few minutes petting him and loving on him, which seemed to mollify him a bit lol. I certainly can't wait until he's done shedding, blegh - his coat is 3 inches long on his chest and back, and it comes out in great big clumps. Poor guy is going to be miserable if it ever warms up ....

-- Kai
 
#25 ·
A few days ago Dreams and Thunder were visited by my awesome farrier and had their feet done. I contemplated putting shoes on Dreams' fronts since it's almost trail riding season but ultimately I just didn't think we were going to be doing much in the way of trail riding for the next few weeks and I finally just had him trimmed. Dreams is so mellow and well trained that I didn't even halter him while Taylor was trimming ... Dreams stands completely still every time so I just parked him in the aisle and let Taylor have at him. I thought it was pretty funny. : ) Thunder was a gigantic wiggle worm of course, looking at everything and constantly shifting around. But it was cold that morning, soooo ....

Yesterday I trailered them both to the vet to get vaccinations and a Coggins so that when we move this summer I'll be covered. My vet had a new assistant and the look on her face when she saw Thunder was priceless - she told me later that she'd never seen a horse that big, and when I told her Thunder is only 2 I thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head. Yet again, Thunder was wiggly and looky, and it took the vet several attempts to find a decent vein for a blood draw so he was stabbed more than strictly necessary. Dreams came after with a supremely disdainful expression that said quite plainly, "Psht! Amateur! Watch the master, and learn," and stood extra especially still for the vet to stab him in the neck repeatedly and stick a long thin tube up his nostril. I was quite impressed with his nonchalance about the whole ordeal - the needles I could handle but I wouldn't care to have a 6 inch tube stuffed up my nose.

Unfortunately today I think he's having a minor reaction to the vaccine. He seemed more lethargic than usual and didn't want to run around the arena like a crazy person when I turned him loose. When I rode him bareback back to his stall he seemed a little warmer than usual too, but it might have been because I was out in the slightly chilly wind all afternoon. He was eating and drinking fine, slurped up his Horse Manna with the usual gusto, and still spent his turnout time happily abusing Thunder. No lumps at the injection site, or any other indication of a problem. It may have been the weather, it was warmer than usual today. I'll go out tomorrow morning to check on him again, just to make sure. I seem to remember he was lethargic for a day or three after last year's vaccinations too.

Thunder was his usual dopey goofy self today, and I realized while I was waiting for him to finish his Horse Manna that he must be in the middle of another growth spurt. His legs looked super long for his body today, and he's a bit thinner than he was last week. Or maybe it's all the pelt that he's been shedding .... But he just looked gangly today. I may have to up his ration, he's been on 2 scoops of Horse Manna since Thanksgiving and he's now considerably larger than he was then. It might be time for 2.5, or maybe I'll have to start tossing him a bit of alfalfa every day like I did last year. I like that Horse Manna though, it gives him a lovely soft coat and keeps decent weight on him without turning him into a basket case. I'm in the process of switching Dreams over as well, instead of having him on Omolene 200 like I have for the past few years - He does really well on it but it does tend to make him a bit hotter in the summer months as he's not using that energy to keep himself warm.

-- Kai
 

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