CassielFell wrote:
Squishypuff wrote:
Her feet look really nice, although they are freaking TINY. No rippling or anything out of the ordinary. She's been on dry lot all her life just because that is the condition of the seller's paddocks, I imagine she was on pasture at some point in her life but not anytime recent. She's got a THICK cresty neck that is rock hard, and her booty puts a QH booty to shame. They had her on grain I'm pretty sure. here, she'll be on a major diet. I've got beautiful clean orchard grass hay (I just bought yesterday, thrilled with the quality, which here in NC is hit or miss), with a ration balancer and Smartshine Ultra.

I do not plan on feeding any grain at all. Is there anything else you'd recommend I do?
I'd manage her as IR from the get go... just from that alone.

My main recommendation is EXERCISE, EXERCISE, EXERCISE.  Diet management plus exercise tends to be the 1-2 punch in managing an IR horse and staving off/preventing laminitis and founder.

Ugh my girl is starting to get a hard crest too despite her diet. I can't wait till this heat wave is over so I get her ass moving more. I am a cold weather soul and simply cannot bring myself ride if the temps are above 95. It was 105 here yesterday and those are some of the highest temps for 30+ years.


Riding a horse is not a gentle hobby, to be picked up and laid down like a game of solitaire. It is a grand passion. It seizes a person whole and once it has done so, he will have to accept that his life will be radically changed. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tack for Sale! http://fhotd64476.yuku.com/topic/67755/Saddle-girth-pad-and-bridle