What's On The Menu

A couple of people did this sort of post quite awhile ago but I wrote this up and then just sat on it for awhile. I've done some posts in the past I have a few updates so I thought I would post an update about Katai's current diet.

The "Grain":

Katai currently doesn't get any sort of grain beyond a couple handfuls of alfalfa pellets to bulk out her supplements but for the purpose of this post I'm going to include that and supplements in this category.

Smartvite Perform - Katai has been getting this for some time and I really like it as a ration balancer especially since it contains the amount of Magnesium she needs without needing to provide that separately.

MSM Pellets - Every vet I've ever worked with has recommended MSM for performance horses and it's a relatively cheap supplement so I have her on it.

SmartHoof Circulate - This is a new one I'm trying out. I've heard some good things and Katai has always had at least minor hoof issues. This stuff is supposed to help with multiple things so I'm curious if I see any changes in the next few months.

Raspberry Leaf - I'm actually out of this right now but will be ordering another big bag. They last for so long that I forgot how low I was! This is of course meant to help with hormones so I should probably order more sooner rather than later ;)

G.U.T. - This is also a new one that I added when I was concerned about Katai acting like she had ulcers. I also gave her three tubes of Ulcer guard (double the maintenance dose for the most part) and added this. All of her ulcer symptoms went away and my plan for now is to have her on this during show/clinic season and then take her off it in the winter. This is based on the instructions for use allowing for it to not be a constant feedthrough and I feel that it will be most useful when fed during times when she'll be stressed.

Gaps - I'd like to get her back on something specifically for her coat. I'm thinking Omega Horseshine but adding that to my Smartpaks bumps them up above what I'm comfortable spending right now so I may see about adding it when I take her off G.U.T. or if I decide that the SmartHoof Circulate isn't doing anything for her hooves I may swap it out.

The Hay:

Right now Katai is getting almost all alfalfa. I thought it was nuts when Jane mentioned it the first time but I trusted her (she's got a couple of "ancient" horses that look FANTASTIC and are still in full work so I trust that she knows what she's doing) and we started to add it to Katai's ration. Then, as Katai's work continued to increase we continued to increase the % of alfalfa until now she's getting almost all alfalfa and very little grass hay.

Katai's Weight:

Part of why I thought it might be interesting to share this information again is that Katai's weight/diet came up at one of my lessons. Both Jane and I are really happy with how she's looking but don't want her to lose any additional weight. She's been maintaining/losing and getting worked 5-6 times per week. I'm really sensitive to it and didn't notice but when Jane pointed it out I could see it. She's certainly not thin but for her to be able to continue to build muscle she needs to be getting enough groceries and we're right on the edge.

Because of that we've talked about adding a bit of grain. I NEVER thought I'd say that with this pony but here we are and she is working really hard and building muscle. Jane got some higher % alfalfa so we're going to see if that helps and if not we'll be adding some additional feed.

I'm thinking she looks pretty good :)

Speaking of Katai's weight and strength, whenever we're working on something new and working to build her strength I like to make sure that what we're asking is fair. Since I ride a pony and am more likely to face questions/criticism I try to make sure I have a pretty good idea of what percentage she's carrying around. I've always measured her with a weight tape and then weighed myself and my saddle. However, I know that weight tapes aren't that accurate so when I was reminded of the formula you can use to determine a horse's weight I finally checked her that way. 

[(L x L x H)/330] + 50 = weight 

where L is their length shoulder to hip and H is the heart girth measurement

With that calculation and my current weight and the saddle's weight I come in just over 18% of her body weight. When I hit my goal weight I'll be closer to 17% of her body weight. I stick with the 20% rule especially since we're asking her to be fairly athletic but I know a lot of people say ponies are closer to 25%. I've never felt that she struggles with me but sometimes when we're working to build strength it's easy to wonder especially since this is certainly an atypical arrangement for dressage :)

Ponies are People Too

Things have been great recently! Lessons have been rolling along smoothly and the pony is giving up some of her tension and misbehavior for compliance and sweetness :) 

On the unhappy front I had "the talk" with J and while I had to pry it out of her she did say that she thinks Katai is too small and that she wants to see me on something bigger and more talented. In a way it's a huge compliment that she feels like I have the skill to make some progress in this sport. 

I have put even more thought into it but ultimately I feel the same as I did before. I realize that riding a pony isn't everyone's cup of tea and if anyone would have asked, before even hearing what J thought, I would have guessed that she would have said Katai was too small. I mean she doesn't have more than one or two horses below 16 hands and the horses she has her more talented clients on are all closer to 17 hands. Plus we are talking dressage where a 15 hand horse is considered a pony. 

I have also always had in the back of my head the thought that if riding Katai stops being fun or I feel underhorsed I can find her a little girl and I can move on. I don't want that right now though. She brings a smile to my face every time I ride her and unlike some ponies I've ridden she never feels small when I'm on her back. In fact she feel like a much larger horse. 

Just to be sure I went and did all the research on sizes again and I'm currently well within the guidelines on size. Plus, by the time I finish prep for the Ragnar I'll be even lighter! She's never shown any discomfort in her back despite being young and asked to move a different way then she would out in the field and I'm constantly checking her over for any discomfort.

Who could ever turn down this face (she's unhappy because I'm taking the picture right after she finished pooping. So rude of me)

Ultimately it comes down to what I want vs what other people think I should want and I've never been good at standing my ground. When I first got home after that conversation I did some horse shopping just to see what would happen and while there are some beautiful horses out there that I would die to own they are all WAY out of my budget, 25,000-50,000,  now or anytime in the near future. Frankly, riding Katai is soooooo much fun that I'm going to be extremely picky if/when I ever horse shop again and since I'd really like to stick with ponies it really wouldn't answer J's wish for a larger horse beyond maybe a few inches.

Just because I've been obsessing I'm going to share with you some of the examples I found of adults riding small ponies successfully. Just for comparison Katai is about 13.2 1/2 hands, five years old and wasn't really started until she was around 4.5 years. I am 5'4" and, as they would say on some of the forums I've been perusing, just over 9 stone.

This is a 14 hand Arab cross with a rider that is the same height as me but slightly heavier. She competes endurance and in this picture the horse is 21 and still competing to this day at 23. Has never had an issue with her riders size.

14 hand pony with a rider that is three inches taller than me and also a fair amount heavier (with my comparison picture :). They have been competing at advanced dressage in Europe and scoring upper 60s.

13.2 hand pony that competed for almost 20 years in endurance with this rider who is my height but a little heavier than me. Again, no soundness issues.

13.3 hand pony with a rider about and inch taller than me and again heavier. This has been her main mount for the past several years  and no soundness issues.

As always reining horses come up with a common height of around 14-15 hands and riders around 215 pounds at times and they are asked to be quite athletic. Iclandics are often ridden by people much larger than me and I know a few that are going strong at 20+ years. Finally, Paso Fino horses were mentioned and are a similar situation to Icelandics in that they are small and often carry large men.

I am very good at obsessing :)