I know threads don’t live very long around here, but it seems like we have a lot of mini donkeys out there. And I’ve got a mini molly mule. I thought we could share donkey keeping tips and answer questions… ?
At some point in her past my mule, Mo, was obese. I got her from another COTH member who had gotten her weight under control, somewhere in the fat range, but not dangerously so.
I pretty much maintained her at fat for the first year I had her. I put a grazing muzzle on her all summer. Then we had a round of ouchy feet on some late fall grass (no muzzle, bad owner!). And another when she figured out how to steal JD’s alfalfa in December.
So I got religion and I’ve been working on her weight ever since. I have the luxury of keeping her mostly in her own paddock/stall so that I can feed her diet hay.
My question is this. She’s got a fallen crest and the standard donkey style fat pads. And she’s built weird compared to a horse. How do I tell when she’s at the right weight? She’s certainly gone from fat to something less than that. But how do I know when we’re there? She’s not terribly friendly (I jokingly call her semi feral) so the vet and I called it good last week once we’d checked her teeth and given her shots and never got to a weight evaluation other than “she’s healthy looking”.
This is Mo:
https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1.0-9/1891075_10152589671526102_1969828528_n.jpg
It’s not a super current pic, but it’s only from a month ago. She’s lost a bit of winter coat since then and maybe a few more pounds.
Thoughts?
eta: slightly older pic from the side. She’s slightly heavier in this one.
https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1.0-9/1391953_10152275550296102_1931418079_n.jpg
