Progress?

If there isn't very much change in his appearance, there sure is in his attitude. Holy cow, he has spunk lately. He actually participates in the daily pasture romps with the other two loons. He also has gotten less pissed when I dont feed him, he doesnt paw at the gate or anything, he just leaves and goes and grazes.

Under saddle he has been pretty fantastic, a little off in the canter but we are working on that. He likes to pick up the wrong lead on occasion. His trot is amazing, he is collecting like a champ and isnt as out of breath as he was at this time last week, the daily riding is great.

He really isnt much of a sweater, he gets a little damp under his bridle by the ears and in the girth area, but other than that he barely sweats at all. I need to make him work harder methinks, he can handle it.

On a bummer note, he doesnt get his feet done for another week and a half. He needs it bad so I may not up his workout times and intensity until those flares go away because I dont need him lame again.

Picture time showing his spunk and muscles :]

Hallelujah

Ribs. They're there. I felt them today. Granted I had to push really hard, but heck, they are there at least. Gives me hope that one day they may show a little or be felt easily. He gets his feet done next week, hurrah!! He needs them done bad, he flares really easily and right now he has a massive flare.

I was picking out his hooves yesterday before our ride and there was a freakin DEAD MOUSE embedded in some mud in them. Seriously? Disgusting. How the hell does that happen?

We have been riding a lot, I made him hop over a few logs and crossrails yesterday, fatty was not happy. He was so sweaty after his ride, he hasn't worked that hard in ages. We also have been doing tons of lunge work. Stupid animal had practically forgotten how to lunge. Or he was being a prick. Or both.

He has almost completely shedded out!! I am debating pulling his mane or not...Its really long and kinda ratty and he gets tons of stuff stuck in it.

I am working on a wicked farmers tan with all of this riding in the sunniest hours of the day.

The starting point

I can just tell that by the end of the summer these pictures will haunt me. Just look at how FAT he is. I hate myself for letting him be like this even if he doesnt seem to mind.

I cut his food rations nearly in half. The pasture is growing back now and he doesnt need the amount of hay he was getting. He is pissed, when he finishes his portion he stands at the gate expectantly and occasionally paws at it. He is allowed no treats and doesnt even get his small amount of grain in the evening like he used to. (Its like 1 cup of grain and 1 cup of sunflower seeds, not much, just enough to give the guys something to look forward to). I hope he still loves me after all this is done.

Exercise-wise- our rides are primarily flatwork currently. Lots of trot work, just a little bit of canter but not much, he gets as winded as the fat asthmatic kid in 4th grade P.E. Come on, you all know exactly what I'm talking about. We did some trot poles yesterday. That was an experience. He had no idea what in the world to do with them and came to a dead stop for the first couple runs. Silly boy. Eventually we'll be doing some weekly jumping, but not quite yet.

And here are the pics of his royal fattyness from 2 days ago. Eating. Of course. Here's what I see, feel free to correct me or add. His muscle definition (which is there I promise) is hidden under fat, especially in the shoulder region and his buttocks. He has almost a double belly thingy going on, super man boobs and what looks like a beginning of a crest. It is an unflattering pose for him too, slightly angled away etc. excuses excuses. He has a very powerful butt, but it is for sure a bit flabby. His tail is amazing though :] He has enjoyed the mud lately, it took ages to groom him, these pics were about halfway through the first grooming sesh.

Introduction

Well how do I put this lightly... My horse is pudgy. Festively plump. Big boned. Fluffy around the edges. Chubby. No matter how much I try to sugar coat it, one thing is certain. My horse is a complete and utter FATASS.

Howie is pretty much my dream horse. When I lost my best friend in horse form at age 10 to a horrific car accident I knew that I couldnt live with just 1 horse, especially since that one horse was arthritic and unrideable. I told my dad that I wanted a "big gelding" and shit, thats what I got. In fact, I got 3. Spoiled much? My dad is a vet who specializes in equine dentistry and has lots of good horsey connections, and he started asking around. Soon he heard that there was some sort of draft quarter horse cross about 20 minutes from us that was cheap, friendly and needed a home soon because his owner didnt want him anymore. He went and looked and fell in love. That night he gushed about him for the longest time, especially about how BIG he was. I was incredibly stoked to go see him. It went from there.

Howie had apparantly been shuffled through over 7 homes in his first 5ish years of life. He was an accident foal, the product of a bunch of percheron and belgian mix mares and one horny draft qh stud who needed his balls hacked. The mares were left on pasture for over 6 months and when the owners came by after a long time, surprise!! There was a foal. So we know that Howie is 3/4 draft, either percheron or belgian, and 1/4 qh. We can infer that he was treated pretty shitty by old owners considering the fact that he was only about 5 when we saw him and his withers and underbelly were dotted with those little white specks from a poorly fitting saddle. He also has quite the chunk missing from his tongue. Pictures will come eventually.

We had many ups and downs over the years, from me falling off on our first ride at home to us trying Parelli (vomit). He was green, I was young. His ground manners were flawless but as soon as you got on his back he was a completely different horse, spooky, bolty, shaky and all around terrifying. I grew to fear riding him. I didnt ride him for about 2 years, he was essentially a pasture puff. I started riding him again about a year and a half ago but due to mild arthritis that occasionally spikes in the winter, hoof abcesses and me being very busy and having another riding horse, he hasnt been consistently worked in a long long long time.

What does that mean? I'll tell you. You have a VERY easy keeper combined with pasture 24/7, an owner who is a sucker and feeds whenever her horse looks at her sad, and almost no work. Plus he is extroadinarily lazy.

So join me on my journey where I attempt to take my fatty mcfatterface from a 2000 lb horse to a muscular, very in shape beast.

And for your enjoyment- Babyish Howie (top) and Fatty Howie (bottom)