Daughter invited me to come for a ride.

[valley ranch]

This is a bit of a sick joke ~ Mono Lake is not in Los Angles ```
Mono Lake was miles and miles of blue water ~ as the lake began to die brine formations formed now standing in the lake and the water is more briny ```

Paradise lost ```

 

[valley ranch]

Owens Valley was much like this ~ until ~

 

[ninnymary]

Valley, actually I was talking to you and asked you if horse was a rescue and why he was so thin? Ducks, came back with an answer that I didn't understand. So I asked for clarification.

Anyway, back to you, the horse looked so thin in that picture you posted which was a year old. Has that horse gained any weight?

Mary

 

[ducks4you]

Ducks, what are "hard keepers"? Are these horses that you can have since birth or some that are rescued?

Mary

Hard Keepers are horses that will never, EVER get fat. Their metabolism is too high, but something keeps them from holding extra calories. If you put one in a field full of great pasture grass he wouldn't get fat ever. We are LUCKY if we can get them to eat enough to cover their ribs. Certain breeds are like that. A LOT of Arabians (horses) are hard keepers, and I owned one of them.

 

[bobm]

Hard Keepers are horses that will never, EVER get fat. Their metabolism is too high, but something keeps them from holding extra calories. If you put one in a field full of great pasture grass he wouldn't get fat ever. We are LUCKY if we can get them to eat enough to cover their ribs. Certain breeds are like that. A LOT of Arabians (horses) are hard keepers, and I owned one of them.

Sorry for you owning a hard keeper. I have owned 78 Arabian horses and never had a hard keeper in over 40 years of horse ownership. Out of dozens, I did have a couple of hard keeper mares ( one Arabian and the other a Pinto) that were sent to my ranch for breeding to my stallions. For centuries, Arabian horses were bred and raised their entire lives in desert conditions of Arabia, so they can and do well on meager feed. Some can become obese on good quality pasture. Many hard keepers have endocrine imbalances , food allergies, undiagnosed illness ,or long sharp edges on their teeth that have not been floated ( sharp tooth edges not filed down ), or loss of teeth due to old age. Then in very rare cases there is neglect too - in many cases out of hardship / illness of the owners.

 

[flowerbug]

This is a bit of a sick joke ~ Mono Lake is not in Los Angles ```
Mono Lake was miles and miles of blue water ~ as the lake began to die brine formations formed now standing in the lake and the water is more briny ```

Paradise lost ```

yes, i watch that lake too and all the cleanups and efforts to try to keep the dust down and any wetlands they try to do and ... i think the whole group of issues are critical to think about for the arid/semi-arid lands. i'd really like to see more regular water flows to the Colorado River Delta too.

 

[baymule]

I had hard keeper. His ribs ALWAYS stuck out, no matter what I did. He was a little past half crazy, so I sold him and let him be somebody else's problem. I have a 31 year old Tennessee Walker mare that is roly poly fat, I think she gains weight on air. Horses are like people, some short, some tall. Some fat, some skinny, some just right.

 

[valley ranch]

Valley, actually I was talking to you and asked you if horse was a rescue and why he was so thin? Ducks, came back with an answer that I didn't understand. So I asked for clarification.

Anyway, back to you, the horse looked so thin in that picture you posted which was a year old. Has that horse gained any weight?

Mary

Yes, he's looking fit now ~ I think I posted to that effect shortly after you asked the question ```
Daughter gives him pelleted food ~ along with hay to help him put on bulk ```

 

[valley ranch]

Mary ~ here is the answering post to yours :


Hi Mary ~ Well ~ If you're asking me ~ Yes all are rescues ~ some ~ about 8 were at a ladies ranch ~ she use to have 40 horses ~ she rode and showed them ~ sh got older, will never ride again ~ she fed & watered them ~ but ~ well ~ she fed alfalfa ~ alfalfa it too rich, hot for horses that don't work ~ just like people ~ if they eat rich food and sit on the couch the get joint trouble ~ similar to Gout ```
After WWII the food available in Europe was ~ not as much cheese and meat ~ concentrated foods ~ Gout disappeared for years ~ until now it's back as here in the States ```

Others came from places and people who couldn't keep them and wanted to sell because the couldn't handle them ~ they were neglected ```

Strider , the one who's mane she's braiding ~was kept in a corral for years ~ daughter use to go to the furthers part of our fenced & Strider came to the north east of his corral and they'd watch each other ~ I didn't find out until after we bought him ~ when she went into him ~ in his corral ~ the lady who owned him was scared ~ me too ~ but they hugged ~ she was kissing him ~ he wrapped her to him with his head and neck ~ she use to feed them for Carol ~ the lady was saying she didn't want to get sued if somebody got hurt ~ but ~ if you had been there ~" 'intimos ~ el y ella " ```

All are happier and better with someone who is not afraid of then and can be the band leader, herd leader ``` If a horse knows you're afraid of them ,` they show it ~ if you're nervous the get nervous ~ if you think they'er big and dumb and dangerous they know you're afraid ~ they might just knock you down ~ you've heard some talk about them ~ they can feel it ```

Richard

Oh, you're talking to ducks ~ sorry ```

 

[valley ranch]

This is an old picture as well ~ but maybe you can see he is bulking up ```