Blue at Fat Camp

Goldenstar

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TP, Well I think he’s had a lot going on he arrived with a wind issue which now fingers crossed we are on top of having throw everything but the kitchen sink at it .
I have him on ventilate which I will keep him on it a while .
He’s now living out with Fatty and he comes in the morning and goes out when we are finished with him .
The paddock is bare and how much longer it will hold up I am not sure .
I have him on the forage plus performance balancer and 200 grams of Linseed because of the issue with the skin on the lower legs .Apart from that it’s meagre pickings .
He is losing weight fast but he’s gone from little turnout little exercise and lots of food to little lots of turnout Little food and work six days a week.
I see clearly the difference between one like him ( overfed ) and Fatty ( extreme good doer ) this looks like it’s going to be much easier .
work wise we are being careful lots of walking one steep up hill trot a day four days a week and from this week two longer pieces of work and we started cantering yesterday .
Hes having a dressage session on Monday ? that will be interesting .
MrGS is getting really well with him thats so good .
I think next Saturday we will take him to the hounds with Fatty riding shotgun and sneak about for a couple of hours .
So far so good .
 

Goldenstar

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He’s in disgrace now because I found he’s broken a fence overnight , to get to longer grass .
It won’t be Fatty He never broken a fence in all the time I have had him .
I had to move them to a better paddock.
 

Goldenstar

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Fatty is a unknotter a catch undoer and an Olympic level wriggler underfences being speciality when he was younger not a bulldozer guile is his operating mode .
Blue on the overhand seems to favour the direct approach it has be said the last one these I owned was also part clydesdale .
he bulldozed a double fence round a quarry they are lucky they did not go through , Fatty is too bright for that .
MrGs Says he is purchasing a new mains unit for stopping bulls .
 

Roxylola

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Ugh, clipped yesterday and was a bit horrified at just how big supercob shoulder fat pads are ?. Weve got a plan in place for winter major get fit anyway. I honestly dont know where hes getting it from though, out 24/7 with just grass and a handful of chop for supplements daily, no hay or haylage in the field.
 

Widgeon

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I honestly dont know where hes getting it from though, out 24/7 with just grass and a handful of chop.

Mine is exactly the same and honestly, he looks like a whale. He's out on a small paddock of scrubby grass with a handful of chaff in the morning. I've never seen such a good doer / greedy pig, and I'm used to native ponies. I've just put a grazing muzzle on him to slow him down, and I'm going to have to leave him nibbling the crappy winter grass when all the others start getting hayed.
 

Goldenstar

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Good doers are tough to deal with IME work is the key to them lots of it but including something almost everyday that get their heart rate right up like a sharp up hill trot .
Fatty can’t do much work now and the work he gets is only for him to keep him healthy and it’s a bit of a balancing act between keeping his metabolism healthy and his soundness .
I am also being very strict on rugs this year mine are clipped and living out at night in zero fills they stand unrugged in the stable during the day .
 

Widgeon

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something almost everyday that get their heart rate right up like a sharp up hill trot....very strict on rugs this year mine are clipped and living out at night in zero fills they stand unrugged in the stable during the day .

This is reassuring, I've been trying to get mine doing a good fast trot or canter up a long hill until he's puffing every time I ride (only every other day, unfortunately), so I'll carry on with that over the winter and hopefully the weight will start to come off. Mine doesn't have much of a coat - it's very thin and soft, more like a Proper Horse than the fuzzies I'm used to, so we haven't clipped him yet. When we do I'll take off everything except his legs and head/neck/top of back. And the big rugs will not be coming out of their bags unless the no fill wets out!
 

Goldenstar

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He was nice when you got him, but a scalped and slim version might turn me to cobs. Note the word might, probably in a few years!!

I am pleased with him , Hes off to the hounds in the morning let’s hope I am pleased after that ?
I am so pleased it’s an easier job than getting Fatty into shape that was terrible for all of us .
While not a total convert to cobbery I sort of get it now .
 
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