Hay belly!

[shesmy-tmajickal]

I rescued an appaloosa sporthorse filly in April 2005 from a barn where she had been neglected. She was underweight, her coat was about 4 inches long...So naturally I rehabed her myself. Now, she is in absolute great shape. She's growing a ton and she shed out her dark bay coat to a gorgeous varnish roan, we lunge once a week (no more) for ten minutes on a walk trot schedule, mainly focusing on transitions through voice command. She's doing really great with it and she is incredibly well behaved and a sweetheart, and always willing to try new things!
(With that said..all baby horse owners, add me! haha.)

My issue is, she has a bit of a hay belly. Nothing terrible, but it's definitely there. She's not on a huge amount of hay..2 at night and 1 in the paddock with her, but her paddock buddy gets 3 flakes so I assume she's stealing a little bit too =P

How do you keep the "belly" of your young horses? Like I said, I don't lunge her often because she is still young..we practice halter for about 10 minutes three or four times a week and I try to take her for walks every day to keep her moving around the property so we can explore..but anyone else have any tips on getting rid of that excess tummy?

[ModelCity]

How young is your young horse?

A lot of young horses will have hay bellies. If she's an older filly - 3 to 5 years of age - I'd suggest increasing her work schedule. I assume she's not old enough to have a more strenuous schedule, simply because you're only lounging once a week.

So, assuming she's still very young, when she starts working harder, growing, and maturing, a lot of that hay belly will go away. It's kind of like baby fat.. they grow out of it.

Good luck with your little one!

[death_come_Soon]

With my baby girl , when she gets a big belly she grows. I am glad to here that you rescued your filly. all of my horses are rescues(in one way or another). anyhow , let her be a little bit fat! its good for her!!!!


~Colleen Ferrick