First, a review of her progression:
11/7/09 (the day I bought her): 1020lbs
1/23/10: 1011lbs
4/10/10: 1053lbs
9/26/11: 1150lbs
6/11/11: 1197lbs (almost 180lbs heavier than the day I bought her)
11/6/11: 1152lbs :( :( :(
So she lost quite a bit of weight.
The dumbest thing is that I had 1253lbs in my head as her weight back in June, so I was beating myself up over the fact that I thought my horse had lost 100 lbs in less than 6 months...but in actuality it is half of that (not that it's good, but it's not as terrible as 100 lbs would have been).
I have been coming up with a list of reasons why she might lose so much weight:
-worms are the most likely culprit. I de-wormed her back in July-ish but I haven't done anything since then, and 'tis the season for lots of nasties right now. I sent a fecal sample out to be tested so I know exactly what I'm dealing with before I pump her full of chemicals.
-lots of exercise, even more than usual
-cold weather setting in
-grass not as plentiful in the paddocks
-trying to hold off on blanketing so she'd grow a coat (though in mid-October I looked at her one day and saw ribs and I was like AHHHHHH! so she's been getting blanketed fairly aggressively ever since)
I will wait for the fecal report to come back and go from there. I'm just glad she didn't lose 100 lbs...I seriously was going nuts about how terrible of a horse owner I am.
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| up on the scale, looking cute |
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| a pony in a mini van! |
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| meet Lily, a therapy pony who came to be weighed. how much do you think she weighed? |
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| she was an excellent loader. |
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| she kissed, "shook hands", peed, pooped, and reared on command. |
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| Lucy, Lauren, Dreamer, and C ready to go out on a trail ride. Yes, Lauren is bareback. She's a brave woman. |
I've never had Izzy weighed. I think I'd obsess. Lu is down some, but she still looks good overall. Don't be too hard on yourself--you have (unfortunately) bigger problems right now.
ReplyDeleteWhere do you send your fecal samples to? I need to do this. Hampton's fecal sample, not my own. haha. :)
ReplyDeleteKaren, my vet does it for $25. They send it out to a lab. You can also order a kit from the website below and send in the sample:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.horsemenslab.com/
The pony peed and pooped on command? That's....strange. But she's a cutie.
ReplyDeleteI am guessing 250 on the mini. I saw a horse horse pee on command for the first time last summer, it was quite interesting and I asked the lady how she trained her horse to do it. About Lucy's weight I don't think I would really stress over it. Just like all of us we have to assess weight on a daily basis. Everything can be a factor in fluctuations in weight, I mean everything. So it is going to fluctuate. Now if I had a scale availble to me to weigh my horses I would probly become compulsive about it just like I do with my own weight.
ReplyDeleteYou know, weight is just a number on a scale, and is not as important as her actual body condition. Not to mention if that scale is a portable scale it might be a little off from time to time?
ReplyDeleteWhat's important is that you are staying on top of your horse's health and correcting things before they get to be a problem.
That mini is ADORABLE! I'm guessing closer to 300lbs? I'm horrible at that game though.
Is she still on her ulcer meds? That always helps them gain a little weight.
ReplyDeleteIf you want any advise on how to make a hard keeper (esp Thoroughbred) fat let me know, my guy is huge now, almost borderline needs to go on a diet. This horse was underweight his entire life prior to me owning him, and everyone who knew him before sees him now and can not believe his condition.
Ideally she should be gaining weight at this point before winter and the real cold.
I know how to fatten em' up :)
I want that Poneee!! How adorable!!
ReplyDeleteLaz lost a bit of weight when I moved him, even just the change of moving around more, etc and I had to bump up his BP..now he's CHUBBY! Well, his belly is at any rate. Ribs still sick OUT. Sheesh..it's tough to balance it all out.
I think Lucy looks really great...curious to see about the fecal. I did the same thing b/c I was convinced it was worms too; his fecal came back negative last week. I think Fall can do a doozy on them.
Peeing and pooping on command? Wow! I just love that little girl, too cute! I have no idea how much she might weigh, but I am curious. A little mini, in a minivan, funny.
ReplyDeleteGood guesses! She weighed 208 lbs. She was very small but FAT.
ReplyDeleteIt is important that she can poop/pee on command when she's working as a therapy horse because she's in hospital and nursing home environments a lot and she can't exactly relieve herself in a patient's room.