Just for fun! Would you rather have a good or a poor doer?

Cinnamontoast

Cinnamontoast

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My creature is a very good doer. He doesn't get hard feed, only double netted hay and a tiny amount of speedibeet if he's having bute. He's extremely fussy but loves carrots and apples, of course. I can leave him out for a couple of days it not more or he inflates :eek: Although he's never shown signs, I worry madly about laminitis what him being a cob. He rarely needs rugging and is a hairy monster currently. He needs enough work and restricted grazing when there's grass.
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I previously had a very poor doer Hanoverian who needed tons of feed, rugs up to his eyeballs, couldn't be left out except in really good weather. I used to enjoy making up his big feeds but he was definitely ore difficult to maintain generally. Pic was taken when I'd just taken him on loan after a winter of him being unrugged :(
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So, what do you have and what do you prefer?
 
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Definitely a good doer! No need for rugs, minimal spend on food. Your worst work is keeping them off the grass but easily done :)
 
poor doer.... i couldnt do the constant 'keep feed down' and 'do loads of work' ..... battle with the bulge....

i do that enough with myself.... wish i was a poor doer :/
 
Good do-er defiantly! Haven't seen many adverts stating a horse is a poor do-er like its a selling point lately! :-)
My two are both fairly good do-ers, makes life so much easier!
 
Would rather have a good doer - cheaper to keep! Just to be different - my boy is a good doer in the summer but I struggle with his weight over the winter when he is hunting as he can get quite stressy when he's really fit!
 
Good doer every time. Easy to keep them slim with zappy fences and lots of work. I have three good doers none are fat (one is a Shetland and you can feel his ribs and he hacks for several hours keeping up with a 13.1). One poor doer she has twenty times as much of everything and still ain't fat. :rolleyes:
 
Ooh thats a tough one! I think good doer because frankly it saves money and I don't have to fret about rugs etc, and I like my horses to live out. I also find it more of a motivation to ride and do things if they actually need the exercise! Sounds silly but for some reason I never find enough time to ride and they end up spending a lot of time being pets!

I wouldn't like one of those that is morbidly obese on fresh air though!
 
A poor doer - I now have no lawnmower as Alf has turned from a not to good doer into a good doer...I used to get him to eat the grass down for the natives....
 
I find my poor doer mare much easier to keep than the good doer geldings! We have very good quality grazing and she's able to chase about in acres of it without putting on weight, the poor boys are stuck in starvation paddocks with constant streams of soaked hay while they gaze into the fields beyond. She does need rugging up in winter to keep condition but that's not something I mind doing.
 
My boy is near enough a good doer.. He is rugged up to his eyeballs in winter with one feed (a scoop of chaff, 1/4 scoop of pony nuts, garlic, oil and mobility supplements) and 20lbs of hay a night whilst stabled. Through summer is completely naked, out 24/7 with a handful if chaff once a day to stick his supplements in and just grass. Sometimes gets hay at night depending on how the grass is :) much easier to deal with.
Hes a 17hh Hanoverian gelding and will be 17 later this month :)
 
Hmm interesting question. I have one of each. Both are in work and out 24/7 in the summer, but I tend to worry more about the TB so guess I'd have to go with prefer a good doer.
 
CT I love yours! Have one similar, so for me, though like you in summer it's a constant worry, it would be a good doer every time :). It was one of the reasons when looking as was on a budget, I wanted either native or native/cob cross - something that if things got tough/difficult for me a pony that could be out and not stabled and live off fresh air and fibre as so much cheaper than feed.
 
I've got a very,very poor doer,& while I find him high maintenance & frustrating at times-very fussy,tiny appetite,most feed sends him crackers & he's unhelpful about things like even considering the possibility of staying in a couple of hours a day for extra hay or even eating whilst tied up on the yard(has to be fed at the field to eliminate the possibilty I might sneak off & leave him in!) I do often think even all this is probably better than the worry of a really good doer & the problems that come with that. At least if I'm really busy etc it doesn't matter if I can't ride for a few days. I have to admit I'm quite glad when winter comes round & he's in at night with ad lib hay & can eat his feed at snails pace without me having to wait around for him to finish. Also the contrary animal just to make life more difficult only likes being out with 2 very good doers & attempts to give him better grazing,separated from them,results in a sulk of epic proportions & loss of even more weight!
 
My fence ninja/houdini is a very good doer and with cushings and 2 previous bouts of lami, I would much prefer a poor doer who I didn't have to continually battle to plait into a muzzle every morning:rolleyes:
 
Currently have a mare that balloons in summer and requires careful management, but in winter loses a lot of weight, no matter how much feed you pour down her.
I would prefer a good doer, I can manage putting them on restricted grazing, muzzle them, feed soaked hay and do loads of exercise. Much prefer that to the humongous feed bills in winter! :rolleyes:
 
I like my midline mare... summer can survive on just grass but a reasonable amount and winter needs some hard feed and a lw rug. But never seems to get too skinny or too fat :)

I also have a very good doer amd feel absolutely evil the amount she seems to need to stay a good weight.

I also have a poor doer and agree the amount you have to spend of just not worth adding up! :/
 
Good doers everytime for me too I dont have much trouble keeping weight right as I over graze large areas and never rest grass so never have too much. I like them to look good and would worry if they were skinny and I was pumping them full of food to make them look reasonable. It would be too expensive for my shoestring budget.
 
We've always had skinny TBs for horses, who have been between poor and average doers. It's normal for us, and once you've got them looking good and have the swing of things, keeping them there is relatively easy.

We've discovered some feeds you might as well feed the bag it comes in it's so rubbish (Calm and Condition...), and some are worth every penny (Omega Rice is a god send)

Good doers are considerably more stress, from our pony days. The constant worry about fitness and how to feed them so they have enough energy without them exploding (trying to keep a 14hh cob fit enough for him to cope with 1.10m ODEs, without him getting fat on the feed he needed for the energy was a horrifying task!).
 
y TB was a very poor doer and keeping the weight on was a nightmare!!
My colored cob is a very good doer -she only has to look at grass and she doubles in size :eek::eek:

My D should be a good doer too but he's still quite under-weight after his op. The grass is crap which is good for the other one but not him. Am thinking of moving him to better grazing TBH.
 
I have never had a poor doer so can't say how I would cope, though I do have a skinny good doer, if that makes sense. She is a retired pony with Cushings, she has had many lami attacks so I darent feed her up too much, but would definitely like a little more weight on her. The other pony is a good doer, and she is hard work to keep slim as she is not in work, stresses if brought in to the stable during the day and is not ridden. She also manages to rub herself raw within a couple of days if I put a muzzle on her - ponies eh, who would have them. With 6 acres of good grazing available it might be quite nice to have something that needed feeding up.
 
I have one of each.. Good doer is such a worry in summer.. Im one of those who loves to over feed everything (i cant help it, ive tried, i need help!) so i prefer poor doer
 
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