The Amazing, Shrinking Horse!

Bless my honest farrier and her bluntness.  When she last came to trim Cornelius' hooves and she looked him up and down and told me he was fat, I was a bit taken aback.  But not exactly surprised.  I knew he was plump (even for him) and I knew I should be feeding him less and exercising him more (actually, I wasn't exercising him at all).  I'd grown so used to not making the time to attend to him that I'd grown comfortable with it.  But when Raleigh told me that he was fat, I knew she was right -- and that same day began to change that.

So, for the past seven weeks Corny's been on a strict diet/exercise regimen:  1 1/2 flakes of grass hay a day (down from 2) and walk/trot/canter work at least five times a week.  The results have been impressive.

Here is my rotund Corny on July 5















Corny on August 21.  He hardly looks like the same horse -- there's so much less of him.

Here is the other side of him on July 5th.  Just look at how big his butt is -- not to mention his belly.

Corny on August 21.












Until I looked at these photos right next to each other, I hadn't realized how much Corny had changed in seven weeks.  When we started, he was so out of shape that he slipped and tripped and tired very quickly - all that extra fat to haul around and no muscle tone at all.  Riding him was scary because he stumbled so often.  I'll admit that it also was scary because my own muscles were in need of strengthening.  Now that both of us have been at it for awhile, my guy trots and canters with energy and, although he grumbles, I think that he's enjoying his new, more svelte body.

And, may I add, I've lost 5 pounds.  I love Raleigh!