Whoa a crazy thing happened - I actually rode my horse guys!! For... the first time this month! A quick timeline reminder - last competition was at the end of May, and we had stopped actively training by the end of June.
July was strictly trail riding, but that got boring real fast. Up until yesterday, Ms Thing has been a complete and total pasture puff through the month of August.
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| we're gonna need a bigger saddle pad |
She. Um. She took that a little too literally haha. Mare is fluffy to say the least!
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"oh god you're gonna post pics of me being fat on the internet, aren't you? fml" - isabel
also - does it make me a bad horse mom that i didn't comb out her mane tangles? i hope you say "yes" so that i can unequivocally say "idc" |
We obviously only hit the trails again (bc reasons) and it was kinda ridiculous. The one time I pushed the mare to canter (to chase some deer bc obvi), she has gotten so fat that the saddle didn't stand a chance and went straight up on her shoulders and she took immediate offense and set off bucking.
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#whenisthefoaldue?
#isittwins? |
Part of me is legitimately sad to see her so out of shape. And another part is incensed that barn management has been so fully unequal to matching Isabel's nutritional needs as her work levels shift (remember when I was begging them to feed her more bc she was too skinny?).
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| august 2016 |
Mostly tho. It kinda just feels poetic. Obviously I would rather not see an obese horse. But in a weird way it feels fitting that Isabel is basically rapidly returning to the shape in which I found her, nearly four years ago.
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| october 2012. never forget! |
At one point we had carved a pretty special sport horse out of this. But I think Isabel's ready to return to her roots. It's cool tho, girlfriend. Get that hay belly!
Hey, we all get fluffy from time to time! I hope she enjoyed the vacation.
ReplyDeleteYep that's the truth! And I think she is enjoying her change in lifestyle very much haha, tho I'm not sure I would call it a "vacation"
DeleteAh. I'm very behind on things. But hey, I love a curvy girl.
DeleteNo worries! I haven't been posting much on the subject one way or another.
DeleteShe got big so fast! It IS poetical though how her shape has changed over your time with her... Oh, Isabel.
ReplyDeleteSo fast tho. She really just packs it on haha. Oh well.
DeleteI rode a QH mare for a long time, and we worked hard. She had muscle and no extra fluff, but wasn't skinny or ribby or anything. She looked good. I ended my lease and a new girl started leasing her and bought her... and barn management kept feeding her like I was riding her and she became horribly fat. Cresty neck and all. I was so disappointed that they didn't cut her grain. This was the same place that said Mikey 'just needed muscle' when in reality his hip bones, ribs and spine stuck out, and he was sunken in the neck and flank. Argh. I may not be good at taking care of myself, but I'm constantly evaluating Penn's condition. Sucks that you couldn't get enough feed to Izzy when you were working hard, and now she's getting too much!
ReplyDeleteWell they have in fact since changed her feeding routine to something more appropriate. But it's like they wait until the mare is obviously in not great shape before they do anything. So the food cut will hopefully keep her from getting fatter... But she kinda is where she is now.
DeleteThat belly! Hahaha!
ReplyDeleteIt's a lot of belly!!!
DeleteOh my! I thought the first pic might have been a bad angle, but no :)
ReplyDeleteLol nope. I mean yes it IS a bad angle, but mostly bc there really aren't many good angles left haha
DeleteHAHA OMG shes so fat.
ReplyDeleteiz you sausage, you dont need to prep for winter you dont hibernate youre not a bear!
Lol try telling her that!
DeleteSooo... are you coming to an end of your lease? ("Isabel's ready to return to her roots") Sorry if I'm prying!
ReplyDeleteNot prying at all - that's a totally fair question given the nature of this post. And the answer is : I am holding onto the lease for now. It's affordable, I like having the option of a horse available for anything at any time (even if I'm not really exercising that option {or the horse lol}), and frankly I just really like this horse. Ultimately tho I want to train and compete and that doesnt seem likely with Isabel.
DeleteLol, why do Arabians have to put weight on belly first. You definitely carved out the xc beast in her! This is making me tear up a bit...
ReplyDeletehonestly me too :'(
DeleteDefinitely looks like twins ;) Ms Isabel looks happy
ReplyDeleteyes she does - she most certainly seems very happy :)
DeleteWhatever you do, do NOT show these pictures or this post to Miles. Because he would really enjoy being a fat pasture puff and he is NOT ALLOWED. lolol
ReplyDeletehaha i promise to keep this a secret from Miles ;P
DeleteOh my, that 3rd pic. I thought "maybe it is is a bad angle??"....No it wasn't. Ha! Poor Izzy, but glad she isn't staying thin. Everyone likes sitting around getting fat!
ReplyDeleteyea the thinness problem was related to not getting sufficient nutrition for her level of work. that is definitely not a problem any more haha!
DeleteI get it, CIRCLE, as in round belly. haha. Fat and Happy is a good way to be if you're a horse.
ReplyDeletelolz jokes all around!! (see i did it again!!) haha but yea fat and happy is a good look for her
DeleteWell, at least you know you can bring her back to her former shape if you need to. She looks happy, tho.
ReplyDeleteehhhh i'm really not overly worried about 'bringing her back' at this point. but yea i guess anything is possible!
DeleteI saw this and know you are in the MD area, St Jude benefit auctions with LOTS of horse stuff! Lessons, show entries, etc. Thought it may help, too far for me to really enjoy any of it.
ReplyDeletehttp://stjudebenefit2016.eflea.ca/view
Thanks for sharing!!
DeleteWell - I'm glad I'm not the only one who stops riding and gets fat! Pass the cheezy puffs, Izzy. I'm right there with you, girl ;)
ReplyDeleteha meeeee tooo!!
DeleteHonestly I don't even have to quit an exercise routine to start looking like that. #soulmates, Izzy. I feel you, girl.
ReplyDeleteha yup i feel similarly lol
DeleteMooooo. That is all.
ReplyDeleteOink oink
DeleteWell no doubts on whether or not she's enjoying herself.
ReplyDeletelolz and that is the TRUTH!
DeleteAwww, even when she's.....robust... she's still adorable.
ReplyDeleterobust!! hahahaha *snorts*
DeleteIz, share some of that belly with the Baconator! It looks like you have plenty to share!
ReplyDeletelol definitely - tho i'm sure bacon would wear it a little better haha
DeleteBoarding can be really frustrating! I've dealt with the too little food during hard work and too much during no work issues. In the end I found it much easier to just supply my own grain and instructions. My are mare gets a massive belly pretty easily as well. Poor Izzy although I'm not sure she feels the need for sympathy. She seems mighty pleased with herself.
ReplyDeleteyea... the added complication here being that i don't own the horse and am not in a position to make decisions regarding instructions for feeding her.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI mean... It's been months and months - esp when counting from when the issue first cropped up. I promise I have thought about it *extensively* as have the professionals I work with. Actually I've blogged about it occasionally too haha. Fact is, I did what I could do as the horse's leaser (not owner) and have made decisions based on balancing my own needs with the horse's.
DeleteDon't mean to upset you at all and apologies if I did, but you guys made a great team and I'm sorry to see it all go sideways. I hope things work out in the end.
Deletenot upset at all and no need to remove your comments (damn text comes through probably worse than i intended). it's been a very frustrating journey. incredibly so. and im just... over it, ya know? the mare is fat and happy now and i'm just gonna let her be and not keep trying to fit her into the mold that i envisioned.
DeleteHoly chunky pony!! Poor Izzy...internet famous and having all of the horrible pictures posted ;)
ReplyDeleteHa she would probably kill me if she knew ;)
DeleteAt least she manages to make chubby look adorable!
ReplyDeleteLol very true!!
DeleteOh, wow. Yeah, she's pretty darned fluffy, isn't she? Still cute, though.
ReplyDeleteHopefully you'll find a competition mount for next year -- if not Iz, maybe something that "needs work" that you can put the rides on? You've already done some DIY with Iz, so you know how to do it and I feel like you could be the low-cost option for "get this not-a-killer horse some fitness, some miles, and some lower-level xc outings".
Also, when they're that fat/fluffy, bareback is way more comfortable. I'm just throwing that out there, y'know...
Deleteyea idk how things will shake out for getting another ride. part of the biggest frustration with how things went with isabel was that when push came to shove, i couldn't make the decisions that i wanted to make bc i'm not the owner. working with someone else's problem child sounds fun in some ways (hi Bali! hi Krimpet!) but it still doesn't really get me where i want to be. idk. we'll see what happens!
DeleteShe is so floofy!
ReplyDeleteomg so floofy tho!!!!
DeleteI'm so glad someone else's horse looks pregnant when out of work... Batty appears pregnant every winter. Of course, he's a gelding, but... Now if only the semi retired thoroughbred who gets free choice hay, 9lbs of grain, extra fat, alfalfa cubes, and who know what else, could look like that...
ReplyDeleteHa but that's always the way isn't it?
DeleteShe gonna have twins any minute now
ReplyDeleteGosh I can't believe they're not here yet!
DeleteI wanna see you two compete again :(
ReplyDeleteI hope things go back to being awesome for you both.
Thank you :) I think things will go back to awesome for Isabel - in the sense of "awesome" before she met me.
DeleteWhy can't I be a pasture puff? I'm really good at getting fluffy and not working
ReplyDelete