A Fitter Fat

July 2011: Roscoe, Me and my Nephew

My friends laugh when I say I just want to be a "fitter" fat. I know myself and that self is not ever going to be an acceptable "rider" weight. Even in high school when I was active in sports and riding regularly, I was heavy for a rider. My height goes against me too. But years ago I saw a Today show episode that asked which of two women was healthier. One was a healthy looking skinny, not bony, and the other carried extra weight. Going by sight alone most people would assume the skinny one was healthier. That is the society we live in. In fact it turned out the heavier women was healthier.
Why?
1. She exercised. Not hard core or extremely, but consistently.
2. She ate foods in a balanced way, no diets. Just portion control

The other lady did not exercise because she was already skinny. I think they went so far to look at cholesterol and she had the higher one. That I can believe since I see it in my own family members. My Mom has very low levels while her brother, who is a stick, had a very high level.

My Uncle doling out puppy love

That episode made a lasting impression on me. Just because I "look" one way on the outside does not mean I am that way on the inside.

Viva Carlos has another great blog hop happening about why we continue to ride. Part of it for me it that it is exercise. Riding, grooming and taking care of the land all burn calories. I would seriously be fat as a cow if I did not have that output of energy. The other reason I ride is because the horses are a stress relief for me. Stress is a proven factor in weight gain. I can't afford lessons or shows, but I still get something valuable from riding my horses.

A month or so ago my brother convinced me to buy an exercise program. It also included a nutrition plan, but that was too extreme for me. The exercise is 30min each day with an option to do a 10min abs set if you don't have time. I have been really happy with the program. It has cardio, Pilate's, yoga and arms/legs type of workouts. The best part is they offer a lower intensity person to follow. I can start at the higher then move to the lower if I need to. One thing I refused to do was step on the scale. I am only going by how I feel. That is all that counts for me.

So have I noticed a difference? Yes, I can do more barn work without getting breathless. I am quicker trimming feet and feel stronger in the saddle. To be honest I don't want to lose to much weight because I cannot afford new clothes. Luckily my barn clothes consist of sweatpants and t-shirts so they are safe.

My fitter fat may not be a beach body, but it will be healthier for me. Because I have been judged for my weight, when I see a heavy set person riding I say "good for them." They are doing something that gets them moving and that is a step towards something better.

3 Active Women with weight

My other incentive is Roscoe. His breeder will not always be available to show him and he would test any one else. That leaves me to run his pony butt around. Somehow I have to find the extra leg length and breath to show him off the way he needs to. Then I just hope his flash outshines my fat :)

Now if only I could transfer my extra weight to Roscoe. Ah, life is never boring.

So FRUSTRATED!

So it seems that we are starving Roscoe.

Driving training

People are concerned with his weight. Which is great, but they don't talk to me about it. Instead they go to his breeder. Yes she bred him, but we take care of him. I am perfectly willing to tell them that yes he lost weight when his hormones kicked in. We are aware of that fact. We also are addressing the issue. In fact he has put weight on in the last few weeks. I can also tell them that he needs to build muscle, not just put weight on. That requires work and when he works he lifts his back and belly making him look thinner.
It is so frustrating! So many Cobs are heavy almost to the point of being overweight which makes Roscoe an oddity. The 3yr old Warmblood that stayed at our barn was leggy and lanky too, but no one questioned his health. Unfortunately he is constantly compared to other Cob youngsters and they have always carried more weight. And I mean that literally from birth. So I guess we starved Rosemary when she was pregnant to cause Roscoe to be born skinny.

See the similar tummy tuck and angles

Heck at this point I may have to geld him just so he will stop watching the girls and put weight on. Whatever, I just need to tune them out and focus on just taking care of him. We upped his rice bran, hay cubes and beet pulp in addition to giving him two days on grass. I want gradual weight gain, not a quick gain. He grows hoof like crazy and is shedding normally. HE IS HEALTHY! He chooses to snooze over munching hay in his stall. He is not lacking.
 One of the biggest points we took away from the Insulin resistance seminar Joyce Harman gave was that how their weight is handled at a young age effects them when they are older. If you keep fat babies, they are at a higher risk for insulin resistance. This is a proven connection in horses and humans. Roscoe's long turn health is more important than whether mare owners want to breed to him while he is a gangly 3yr old. He is behaving so he does have time.
I told Peggy to get Larry to fatten him up while we are gone on vacation. He does a good job with his own :) Okay I vented and feel somewhat better. My horses live better than I do, so it is hard when our care is questioned.
The good news is that Roscoe has started his driving training. He wore the harness and did some ground work. The blinkers were the hardest part because so much of his work requires him to look at us, but he figured it out. Peggy had fun grooming on him and working him. This pony is a super star and if people want to pass him over, so be it.
Now time for the next thing to raise my blood pressure, Traffic.

Hannibal Lecter Club

Comrade's weight have improved since the show in May, but he still has that cresty neck. Wetting his hay helped a lot. The problem was that not all his hay was soaked. So dry, rich hay and grass actually put some weight back on.
His feet have not been growing well either, which is unusual for a Cob. My farrier said it has been a bad year for feet. Roscoe and Rosemary both busted up their feet, but when I trimmed away the rough stuff they still had a good amount of hoof wall. Not so with Comrade.
So when we put all the factors together, we decided to bring in the big guns to attack his weight. Bring on the muzzle.

I did not realize Peggy had another muzzle like the one we have been using on Winston.

Yesterday after my ride, we fit the muzzle to Comrade. He was so not impressed. This muzzle will slow done his hay eating and limit his grass intake. We left him to figure out how to eat with it on.
Well with help from Sonny, Comrade got the muzzle off last night. Peggy may have to wrap his mane around the crown piece and make a pony tail.
He greeted me looking pathetic. I don't know why he is not happy about joining the Hannibal Lecter Club with Winston, he he :)






 

I took a picture of Comrade today to track his weight loss. Peggy will be changing his food to a mineral pellet. My horses are on the same pellet with good results, so I have high hopes it will help Comrade.

May 2013

Aug 2013

 

Hang Time with a Twist

Back in December I started laying across Roscoe's back. He handled the situation really well and had no worries at all. Today Mom held him so I could again lay across his back. What a difference from the first time. Instead of moving away from the more weighted side like he did last time, he adjusted beneath me to carry the weight better. With a mounting block bigger than the muck bucket I used last time, I was able to lay more evenly too. We worked both sides with Mom doing a little ground work in between.
Then Mom mentioned that Clinton Anderson moves to laying parallel with the body. I was not quite up to trying to have my feet hang over his butt though. So instead I just hooked one leg over his butt with my foot resting above his tail. Do you think he worried at my weird position? Nope, he just kept begging for cookies. From that position, I swung my leg over and sat on my boy for the first time. You would think we had been on his back a bunch of times as he just stood there as Mom pulled out her phone to have my sister take a picture. I shifted my seat forward a bit, no problem. He walked forward a few steps, no problem. I have to say he did not feel as narrow as I expected, but he is a Cob. I had to try hard to contain my excitement. Our boy is growing up.
To get off I just reversed my movements and went slow, hanging on him a bit. Roscoe was thrilled by our praise, but I don't think he understands how great he really was.

Who Me?

Mom immediately called Peggy to share the news. What can I say this is exciting stuff for us. Not great pictures as my sister is not so good with a camera, but it marks the moment.

Hm, I do not look as big on him as I would have thought

Roscoe, so not worried

Hang Time

Most of the time you hear the phrase Hang Time it is in reference to jumping or basketball. My hang time was a bit different. It involved Roscoe.
Any ideas yet?
Well I played with Roscoe on the ground and found he was in a really good working mood. So when we went in the barn, I led him to our mounting block. I stepped up on the highest point, while asking him to step up next to the block. He was super, even if he got distracted by the things on the steps. Then I gave Mom the line and started leaning on his back. Roscoe could care less. He looked back at me as I bumped and rubbed.
The mounting block was a bit too high to put my weight across, so we brought out the muck bucket. It was the perfect height to allow me to lay across his back. We worked both sides, gradually adding more weight. Roscoe would take a few steps out of baby wiggles. I hung on for a little then would slide off. Roscoe gets bonus points for not reacting to the static which zapped both of us. My last hang time on his right side, he carried me for about 5 steps with no issues.
At 18 months, we are not pushing to much. This is more to get him exposed. Next year we may get him backed, but we have to see how he grows. So my hang time was literal while doing my sack impressions. I can't wait to ride this pony!

Handsome Boy, Photo by Lisa Brezina Castleberry Welsh Cobs ( his breeder )