Wednesday, May 9, 2012

The good Lord hates a thin horse

And clearly, so do I.

I tried to recreate the moment with the petals for your viewing pleasure, but Harv was feeling less than enthused about the whole lungeing thing. He  looks like a gimpster here, but he's not really trying and I'm certainly not pushing him. Trust me, if you saw him on the  "day of the petals" or cavorting around in the pasture you wouldn't think it was the same horse. As Harv trotted around I thoroughly enjoyed his chubby rotundity. Yes. Harv is fat. And it's good.




8 comments:

  1. A fat Thoroughbred is a GOOD thing! I've never heard of an obese TB...is it possible????

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  2. I love your blog, and I completely understand your desire to give Harvey everything his heart could desire. But I feel compelled to play the devil's advocate, just a bit. As a general statement, more health problems can arise from too much weight than from being a little underweight. I am not judging Harvey's condition specifically, for a million reasons. (Not the least of which is that I am not a qualified veterinarian.) But I would like to respectfully disagree with your (intended or not) message that fat horses are the ideal.

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  3. Jennifer, yes, this post was not a commentary on horse health and nutrition -- more of a personal musing about my own horse. The harvster is an individual and he happens not to have the weight-related issue that some oldsters do. He has trouble keeping weight on, he can't eat hay any more, and i'm just tickled pink at how he looks.

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  4. Uhm....Marnie...I have a FAT TB. It is possible, I fear. Nearly 17 h and he eats less than three pounds of feed a day.

    I think Harv looks great! And I do agree about the oldsters. It can be hard to keep weight on them sometimes, so seeing him looking "round" looks great to me. And, he really doesn't look too "gimpy" either. Mostly lazy, but why not? That's what retirement is all about. *G*

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  5. I'm in agreement that fat isn't good in general, but I think Harv specifically looks great! When this is the result of wanting a horse to be "fat" I totally approve. :)

    I'm also amazed at how fabulous his natural movement is when you show him on a longe, in a field, etc. I have a hunch part of your worry about his movement comes from seeing the difference in how he used to move, which someone who doesn't know him wouldn't be able to tell. He's quite the special, fancy boy, and I hope you get to enjoy each other for many more years. :)

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  6. Harv looks like a kind soul and so beautiful. I own a hardkeeper, so I can totally relate!

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