Cooper is an attractive horse! You have away of finding them or them finding you. Didn’t your pony come from an auction? All of them are lucky to be with you.
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Yep, I bought Elmo from an auction. Fern I found on Craigslist.
I hope no more horses find me for a while 
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You are accumulating quite a herd! That’s why my husband insisted we buy a tiny property. I can’t “collect” more horses than my one big guy and his frenemy the dastardly mini.
I would probably isolate Bo and do poo patrol for more sand rock parasite etc.
Could this be ,in part, the weather and season change. Perhaps his chunky body feels the heat more and is no longer in survival mode
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Cooper should get his own thread! He looks like a solidly built fellow. You have quite the stable of premium, soon-to-be-branded Yardhorses TM.
Hopefully Bo perks up when the weather is better and he gets to check the fences again.
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Hello, Cooper!
(Don’t tell Bo but I do love me a bay.)
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I had the same thought as @findeight & @hoopoe.
Bo might just be settling into Normal Hongry. 
Cooper is a handsome dude 
Maybe he broke your Chestnut Streak & will put a Stop to your “finds”? 
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Like you, I have my eye on my boys all the time, and little changes in attitude and/or eating behavior do concern me. Any chance you could slip a thermometer in? Get a blood draw just to check things out?
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I can confidently say that my plate is full now - I mean, technically I have “room” for more animals, but I don’t have the time/energy/resources to maintain more than four to my personal standards of care. And I will have my hands full with three horses to ride, plus a fourth next year when I start my young one!
He is in solo accomodations due to his feeding needs, so no problem there. So far poop as been normal, his last fecal was a 0 and he was dewormed with Quest Plus to get bots/tapes about a month ago. I’d maybe blame the weather, except it hasn’t been hot lately - rather mild, actually. I had to put a blanket on him Sunday night because he was chilled in the wind.
“premium” grade stock. I’m not sure I could keep up with maintaining multiple horse threads! Cooper is in pretty decent shape compared to the rest of my project beginnings, nothing a few calories and some polish won’t fix. I am anxious to get some video of him moving, though, because he looks quite talented for a yard horse.
I was NOT looking! I can’t be blamed for things I said 6 months ago 
He looked much perkier about breakfast this morning, so I’m optimistic for now - but I did plan to check his vitals anyway. At dinner last night I offered him some soaked alfalfa cubes (a different brand than we’ve tried previously!) and he was into it, cleaned it up by the time I fed again at 9pm. I’m going to keep offering that, maybe I’ve finally found the forage he likes. Perhaps Cooper’s arrival just stressed him out a bit and upset the delicate balance that is his digestive system.
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I’m glad Bo cleaned his plate! Sending jingles, and keeping my canters crossed for him.
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In my next life, can I reincarnate as one of your horses? 
They’re all so fortunate to find a home with you. You’re exceptionally attentive and give them such quality care (though I’m sure at the expense of your sanity, LOL)
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Bo was decidedly not interested in engaging with my new toy, the giant Jolly Mega Ball. By no means afraid of it, just very clear that he was going to have no part in such childish games.
Get off my lawn.
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And there’s a short video from our ride this morning (music warning!):
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Thank you! I love this. Thank you too for the happy memories this recalled of another bay and some chestnuts, including one with a flaxen mane and tail, from 50+ years ago. I was more often looking down at a bay neck while chestnuts spectated, but sometimes i rode one of the chestnuts while beloved bay looked on. Happy sigh.
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You are welcome! I really enjoy my little perimeter path, and I think Bo does too. He does not see the point of just going round and round in circles without purpose, and especially not at any great speed. LOL
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In other Bo news, for the last few days he has been EATING SOAKED ALFALFA CUBES. I put that in all caps because you all know that’s a big deal, I have not been able to find a forage that he can eat and also wants to eat. They are the cubes that came with Cooper, which are a brand I hadn’t tried on him before - Dumor (need to check the bag, they might be the alf/bermuda mix). When I buy hay pellets or cubes, I usually buy Standlee because the (other) horses have told me in the past that Standlee pellets taste better than Dumor pellets, and they look/smell better too. But if Bo eats it, Bo gets it.
Of course, I was at TSC this morning to restock on Purina Senior and they did not have one single bag of Dumor cubes. Luckily, I have an appointment tomorrow morning in College Station, and the TSC there has them in stock according to the website, so I will pick up a couple bags. It’s early yet - in the past he has eaten several things for a few days or a week before rejecting them - so I’m reserving celebration just yet. But maybe there’s hope! Getting a few pounds of alfalfa into him, plus the long stem fiber benefits, might be the boost he needs to fill the rest of the way out.
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fingers crossed he doesn’t become picky and change his mind the minute you get those bags from the CS Tractor Supply.
Its just like my cat - I tried to upgrade his canned food to a healthier brand. I tried over 40 different brands.flavors/textures, and when I found on that he liked I bought a case. As soon as I started to feed the cans from that case - his taste mysteriously reverted back to hating the healthy food and insisting on Fancy Feast. I had to donate that expensive healthy cat food to a cat rescue - but I’m glad at least it didn’t go to waste!
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Pretty much what happened the last time I thought I found something he really liked but at least with the cubes, I can feed them to the other horses!
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I saw a cartoon about that very thing. Two cats talking:
Cat 1 - my owner bought a can of this really delicious food but I can no longer eat it
Cat 2 - why not?
Cat 1 - she bought a case
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its a species-wide conspiracy!
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