Because I know better.
Because adipose tissue is pro-inflammatory.
Because inflammation causes all sorts of chaos. Cytokines! Boo, hiss!
Because carrying extra weight is hard on her joints.
Because carrying extra weight is harder on her joints than anything I will ever ask of her.
Because laminitis will be painful for the rest of her life.
Because laminitis will end her career before it begins.
Because I want her to be healthy.
Because I want to ride.
Because I absolutely love going to horse shows.
Because I'm learning so much about a new discipline and how often in your adult life do you really take a chance and try something new and different, even (especially) if it scares you?
Because I work for an equine nutrition company, for chrissakes.
Monday, March 31, 2014
In Which I Make Lots of Excuses
It was a long winter.
I just had a baby.
I don't have time to ride.
She looks better than the mini.
I don't feed her anything.
Keeping her in the drylot means I have to clean the drylot.
I don't have time to clean the drylot.
Keeping her in the drylot means I have to mow the field.
I don't have time to mow the field.
I said we wouldn't have to mow as much once the horses came home.
She'll bang her face up trying to eat under the fence.
Yes, my hay has a bit of alfalfa, but it's really nice quality.
I don't blanket, so I need to feed lots of hay to keep her warm when it's cold. Hindgut fermentation.
It's really cold. More hay.
I went into the barn to get something and she saw me and now she wants hay. More hay.
That flake got a little wet in the trailer. I might as well give it to her so it doesn't spoil.
She only gets a cup of grain.
It's only so she'll come in when called.
It's only so she'll eat her vitamin/mineral supplement.
Well I don't give her any treats.
I don't want to longe her too much. It's hard on her joints.
She looks tired.
She's breathing hard. We better take a walk break.
We should work on our free walk.
She still has a full winter coat, so I shouldn't do too much and make her sweat.
Muzzles are mean.
A muzzle will get hot.
A muzzle will rub the hair off her face.
She won't let me catch her if I put a muzzle on.
She's only 4. I should go easy.
It's more than we did yesterday. We're building fitness gradually.
I might get to ride on Thursday. (That's only three days from now.)
She's so cute.
She looks hungry.
I just had a baby.
I don't have time to ride.
She looks better than the mini.
I don't feed her anything.
Keeping her in the drylot means I have to clean the drylot.
I don't have time to clean the drylot.
Keeping her in the drylot means I have to mow the field.
I don't have time to mow the field.
I said we wouldn't have to mow as much once the horses came home.
She'll bang her face up trying to eat under the fence.
Yes, my hay has a bit of alfalfa, but it's really nice quality.
I don't blanket, so I need to feed lots of hay to keep her warm when it's cold. Hindgut fermentation.
It's really cold. More hay.
I went into the barn to get something and she saw me and now she wants hay. More hay.
That flake got a little wet in the trailer. I might as well give it to her so it doesn't spoil.
She only gets a cup of grain.
It's only so she'll come in when called.
It's only so she'll eat her vitamin/mineral supplement.
Well I don't give her any treats.
I don't want to longe her too much. It's hard on her joints.
She looks tired.
She's breathing hard. We better take a walk break.
We should work on our free walk.
She still has a full winter coat, so I shouldn't do too much and make her sweat.
Muzzles are mean.
A muzzle will get hot.
A muzzle will rub the hair off her face.
She won't let me catch her if I put a muzzle on.
She's only 4. I should go easy.
It's more than we did yesterday. We're building fitness gradually.
I might get to ride on Thursday. (That's only three days from now.)
She's so cute.
She looks hungry.
Intervention
Dear Pancake:
You're just so cute. With your big brown eyes and tippy little ears and that fluffy stripey forelock. You inspire "awww" in even the most jaded horse show curmudgeons. Adorable, that's what you are.
And you're so good. With my previous horse, riding felt like work. It was all about avoiding drama. I could never just enjoy. But you. You come trotting when I call and you get right on the trailer and you don't fuss and you do your job and then we hack around on the buckle while I talk to Auntie Erika and then we go home. And that's great.
You know I love you and I think you're beautiful.
Pancake, today we need to talk about something very important. Your weight is coming between us. I know you're naturally big boned, but this spring has definitely gone to your hips. And your tummy. And your neck.
You used to love to jump. You'd put your little pony ears up and look for the next fence. Now, I put my leg on and you pin your ears and wring your tail. You stop looking and focus on how much you don't want to go forward. And then--surprise!--there's a fence right in front of you. And that's not good for anybody (especially my butt).
You love to go on adventures with your friend Zoe. But Zoe's a Thoroughbred and she wants to go go go. And you're having a hard time keeping up. Your little nostrils huff and puff and your sides heave after we trot with her for a few minutes. And we're not talking wind sprints here--just a jog around the flat spots at Masterson. How are we going to survive a hunter pace?
I love you, and I want you to be healthy and sound and happy for a long, long time. So let's work on this, ok?
Love,
Mom
You're just so cute. With your big brown eyes and tippy little ears and that fluffy stripey forelock. You inspire "awww" in even the most jaded horse show curmudgeons. Adorable, that's what you are.
And you're so good. With my previous horse, riding felt like work. It was all about avoiding drama. I could never just enjoy. But you. You come trotting when I call and you get right on the trailer and you don't fuss and you do your job and then we hack around on the buckle while I talk to Auntie Erika and then we go home. And that's great.
You know I love you and I think you're beautiful.
Pancake, today we need to talk about something very important. Your weight is coming between us. I know you're naturally big boned, but this spring has definitely gone to your hips. And your tummy. And your neck.
You used to love to jump. You'd put your little pony ears up and look for the next fence. Now, I put my leg on and you pin your ears and wring your tail. You stop looking and focus on how much you don't want to go forward. And then--surprise!--there's a fence right in front of you. And that's not good for anybody (especially my butt).
You love to go on adventures with your friend Zoe. But Zoe's a Thoroughbred and she wants to go go go. And you're having a hard time keeping up. Your little nostrils huff and puff and your sides heave after we trot with her for a few minutes. And we're not talking wind sprints here--just a jog around the flat spots at Masterson. How are we going to survive a hunter pace?
I love you, and I want you to be healthy and sound and happy for a long, long time. So let's work on this, ok?
Love,
Mom
In Which We Establish a Baseline
As of 3/30/14:
Current weight tape: 1250lb
Current exercise: Riding for 20-30 minutes three times/week. Longeing for maybe 15 minutes twice per week, if I get to it.
Current diet: 8oz KER Pellet ration balancer from Woodford Feed, 1oz Accel, once per day (shared with Dinky the Wee Mini Pony). Two flakes (approx 10 lb) of gorgeous grass/alfalfa once per day. 14 hours on three-acre pasture (... I know, I know). Free access to salt.
Plan: Get her off pasture, like yesterday. She was only out half-days both days this weekend due to show, so keeping her in all day Monday won't be that much of a change. I'll try letting her out with a muzzle (sob!) for a couple hours in the evening so she doesn't become homicidal. Concentrate ration is appropriate, if not on the low side to meet vit/min requirements. Change to low-cal I.R. Pellet for vit/min. Adding RiteTrac, since I'm worried shift to drylot may result in ulcers. (I thought this thing on saliva as a gastric buffer was interesting--not eating all day, less saliva, less buffer effect. So let's protect that mucosa, just to be on the safe side.) Pick through my hay pile to find the grassiest bales. Give one flake in the morning and one at night. See if I can call in reinforcements to help increase exercise.
Here's her "before" picture. (Thanks to Howard.)
Current weight tape: 1250lb
Current exercise: Riding for 20-30 minutes three times/week. Longeing for maybe 15 minutes twice per week, if I get to it.
Current diet: 8oz KER Pellet ration balancer from Woodford Feed, 1oz Accel, once per day (shared with Dinky the Wee Mini Pony). Two flakes (approx 10 lb) of gorgeous grass/alfalfa once per day. 14 hours on three-acre pasture (... I know, I know). Free access to salt.
Plan: Get her off pasture, like yesterday. She was only out half-days both days this weekend due to show, so keeping her in all day Monday won't be that much of a change. I'll try letting her out with a muzzle (sob!) for a couple hours in the evening so she doesn't become homicidal. Concentrate ration is appropriate, if not on the low side to meet vit/min requirements. Change to low-cal I.R. Pellet for vit/min. Adding RiteTrac, since I'm worried shift to drylot may result in ulcers. (I thought this thing on saliva as a gastric buffer was interesting--not eating all day, less saliva, less buffer effect. So let's protect that mucosa, just to be on the safe side.) Pick through my hay pile to find the grassiest bales. Give one flake in the morning and one at night. See if I can call in reinforcements to help increase exercise.
Here's her "before" picture. (Thanks to Howard.)
In Which I Tell You A Story
Pancake's weight loss journey began in earnest when my butt hit the (admittedly soft, cushy) footing at the Kentucky Horse Park during our first show of 2014.
Why did my butt hit the footing? Two big reasons:
1) I was too far forward (a chronic condition, also something I'm working on but really not exciting enough for its own blog)
2) Because she's too fat to jump around a starter course.
For obvious reasons, we're going to focus on #2.
As it turns out, Pancake's aerobic threshold is six 2'3" stadium fences. Get to number 7, and she's spent.
Given that I intend to aim her at a couple dozen 2'3" solid fences over rolling terrain in the near future, this is a problem.
Of course I knew she was fat. (Duh.) But it took my butt hitting the footing to make me do something about it. Because now I'm mad. I'm not mad at her, I'm mad at myself for mis-managing her to get to this point.
Why did my butt hit the footing? Two big reasons:
1) I was too far forward (a chronic condition, also something I'm working on but really not exciting enough for its own blog)
2) Because she's too fat to jump around a starter course.
For obvious reasons, we're going to focus on #2.
As it turns out, Pancake's aerobic threshold is six 2'3" stadium fences. Get to number 7, and she's spent.
Given that I intend to aim her at a couple dozen 2'3" solid fences over rolling terrain in the near future, this is a problem.
Of course I knew she was fat. (Duh.) But it took my butt hitting the footing to make me do something about it. Because now I'm mad. I'm not mad at her, I'm mad at myself for mis-managing her to get to this point.
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