I always say that if I had children they would be very fat. Food equals love, right? Harv enjoys being chubby, and I'm convinced that seeing his rotund frame lowers my blood pressure.
See the photo below. If I want a chubby Harvster, you can see that my work here is done.
A few words about fat...
My vet told me once that with modern feeds, there is no reason a horse that is willing to eat should be thin. Older horses do have appetite loss, but -- from what I've read -- if you have an old horse (otherwise healthy) that will eat, and you're in a position to feed the senior feeds at the *prescribed levels, you should be able to keep them in good weight.
I probably sound pretty glib, and I don't mean to -- I know there are barriers to making this happen:
- Many old horses are battling illnesses such as Cushings that will mess with their metabolism.
- Many old horses -- like old people -- just don't want to eat.
- Many horses have metablic issues that make it healthier for them to be THIN. Obviously we're not talking about horses who are founder-prone or insulin resistant.
- The amounts of senior feed that old horses may need may require 3-5 feedings a day. If your horse is not at home, that could be tricky.
- It's expensive to feed that much food (although for horses that can't eat hay the costs are offset a bit).