[Beeks]

That's kinda why I said, you gotta put them to work. What I normally do, (cus my boy winters VERY well), is not decrease the amount of feedings, but decrease the amount of food IN the feedings....Then start riding.

This was my fat man in mid March waiting for his first pair of spring shoes


and here he is about mid May after cutting back on his portions and riding him three times a week in the hills for about 3-4 hours at a time.


But, the only horses I have ever had to bring back to weight, were old and nearly toothless. Special senior feeds are required which must be started gradually, supplements can be tricky, etc. Colic is a very real possibility if you are not careful. And the process generally took longer. Funny enough, the grade gelding of obscure breeding actually put it back on fairly quickly but the TB was a whole nother story. It took nearly 18 months.

Some before and after pics.

Grade Gelding 21 yrs (Turtle) before:


and after only about 50 days


TB Gelding 25 yrs (U.S.) before...sorry, it's the only pic I have


about 5 months later (June of 07):


and today:


In these particular cases, the taking off was easier to do than the putting on. Now, if you consider saddling up three times a week a burden, then I can see where one could view taking it off as harder. But I love it, and will soon be saddling up the 26 yr old and taking him out for stroll very soon.

Sorry for the huge hijack. Hopefully you will find the before and afters interesting and helpful.