@Jarpur we didn’t try Chaffhaye, but we did try Alfahay - similar product, slightly different ingredients. Every single one of my horses was like this is food? No thanks. It had a very unique smell. I’m guessing this time of year it wouldn’t last long once opened; it’s 104 in the shade right now. Might be worth trying in a few months when things cool down though!
I remember that, too. My horse would eat at it, although not with relish. Ended up having to throw the unused portion out, because the product I’d been given had a relatively short useful life after opening.
After being shoo’d and told to stay about 1000 times, hmmm let me examine this grass here…
We still have not perfected the ‘stand still and pose for pictures’ cue. It seems a bit hopeless.
He looks great. Well done you!
He seems like a very good egg, with every right to be picky after having to eat rocks.
He doesn’t have to stand and pose, he’s beautiful from any angle.
Heinz_57 said–"I have not tried chopping up alfalfa flakes myself, no. A while back we tried the bagged chopped alfalfa but many of the pieces were still too big and hard for him, there was a lot of waste. I have wondered if soaking the already chopped hay would make it soft enough, but haven’t tried it yet (and then we’re still on the clock with it going rancid).
I also tried shaking out a whole flake and giving him just the leaves and small bits, no coarser stems. He was offended. I think he likes pulling the flake apart and picking out the best bits. At least it gives him something to do!"
I got 2 bags of Standlee Chopped Alfalfa a while back. It was more like chopped dust. I considered adding water to it but decided I would just make mud. It was a very disappointing product.
Way back, we had a horse we called The Fish (yeah, there is a story there). She got very old. She would work over her alfalfa hay, eating only the most tender leaves and leaving the stems. I would go later and take the load of stems to someone else to eat. I called them “Fish Sticks”. It was far easier to give the Fish Sticks to another horse than to attempt to pull a flake apart myself and sort it out. And it did keep her busy all night.
A fine example of what happens when Bo doesn’t stand :
And yes, his head is really still that boney. I frequently think to myself that his head makes him look positively ancient. His head and his body are so at odds. His true, exact age will forever be a mystery.
This is me trying to get a good head shot of my boy Moe. It’s one of the better ones from that session.
Ugh. Getting a good head shot is an art form with a usually uncooperative subject. Very frustrating.
Especially when they decide they have to standthisclose to you as soon as you pick up your phone. LOL Moe could give Bo a run for the worst forelock competition on a bad day. He had a little wisp of one, though it did get some length to it at least, there likely weren’t many more hairs.
That’s what I used on my horses and they ate it willingly enough.
Well, we have another saddle to try. I did a cursory plop-it-on today just to check, and I’m planning on riding in it tomorrow, so I’ll update with how that goes. Maybe I can snag a video. The weather overnight is supposed to drop down to the low 70s, so woohoo. It won’t be 95 when I mount up.
In the meantime, Bo seems to have found his appetite again. Variety is key, though, so we keep the ProElite senior as a base and I rotate through sprinkling different things on top, every couple weeks or when he tells me he’s bored with this flavor. His weight has been fine, and his topline only looks saggy when his posture is bad (stand up straight, sir!).
As far as working goes, extending his walk warmup time has significantly reduced the stiffness in his movement.
I sent off hair to UC Davis end of last week, to have him tested for HYPP. Just out of curiosity.
I hope you didn’t take that hair from his poor lil forelock! He can’t spare it! LOL
Lookin’ good, Bo! Hope the saddle fits you both!
Ooh, fingers crossed for the saddle! My saddle hunt has had me feeling like crying lately
Well, I think we have saddle success. I tried to get pictures, but this was all he would allow
It’s an older Amerigo, I believe it’s the Alto model. It seems to fit him pretty well, although the flocking could use a refresh soon, in my opinion. I like it quite a bit - it’s pretty unobtrusive, and honestly it feels a lot like a jump saddle in dressage position. It didn’t chafe me anywhere, and I didn’t feel like I had to fight to keep my position. In fact, I might actually like it more than any of my other saddles
@BatCoach I left his poor forelock alone but I was concerned about creating a bald spot on his extremely thin mane, too. I pulled from several different locations and hopefully sent in enough hair!
Hooray! From what I can see (and totally sub-educated opinion) it looks like a good match.
You clearly have a type. A chestnut type. With no or minimal socks.