New Diet

Well... the boys are officially converting to their new diet(s), finally. So here's the scoop of who's on what and how much.

Gringo:
1/2lb of alfalfa pellets
1oz Mega Cell
~8g Magnesium
10g MSM

Gus:
2lbs Progressive ProAdvantage Grass Formula ration balancer
1 1/2lbs alfalfa pellets
3/4lb rice bran
~8g Magnesium
10g MSM
100mg HA
20g Tri-Amino (10g Lysine, 5g DL-Methionine, 2g L-Threonine)

I'm very pleased with Gringo's weight this winter. He's a bit plump, but considering that he lives out 24/7, he looks great.

Gus, well, you already know how I feel about his weight currently. This is just a starting point, where the feed options are now. He'll be getting the max amount recommended of the PN ProAdvantage Grass, so that really shouldn't be bumped up a all. I can always up the alfalfa pellets... but then it comes down to how much can Gus consume in like 30 minutes.

My other option is going to try Cool Calories again once I run out of the rice bran. Why? Well, I've read/been told that rice bran isn't the greatest thing for IR horses. I've had very good luck with the CC in the past, so I'm thinking if Gus still isn't look good/better by the time the rice bran runs out, I'll be switching to the CC.

I've got some more photos but I'm being lazy... so I'll upload them later.

I did get another ride in on Gus today though. It was fun. Weather was about 11 above, which is a lot better then it's been lately. By Wednesday we're supposed to be in the mid to high 20s, whoohoo! HEAT WAVE. I can't wait. I'm off Wednesday also so I plan on getting in a decent ride that day too. Since the footing seemed to be holding Gus's weight fairly well (read like 1-2 FEET of snow in most places, drifts were much higher) I did ask Gus for some trotting and did get two brief but FORWARD canters. Lotsa fun. Can't wait til all the snow is gone and the ground dries up... so we can really start working again.

Nothing else new though. I supposed I need to figure out when to deworm the boys again... uggh.

New Year's Eve 2009

Well... since I didn't have to work until 2pm on Thursday (New Year's Eve), I decided to make the most of it and go out riding in the morning. It was a balmy 7* above zero... and, actually, it wasn't bad at all.

Here's some photos from my morning ride:





This is me... I definitely DO NOT look flattering at all, but boy was I warm. I had a stocking cap tucked underneath my helmet, plus a helmet cover and... my neck gaitor. Actually, it was a very toasty setup.

Gus and his lovely Masta quarter sheet. I LOVE this quarter sheet. It's a waterproof outer layer and fleece lined on the inside. It's very warm. And, it even has a cutout for me. Makes it even better.

What a thick, chunky head Gus has... least with all his hairy winter coat on. It makes his bridle look like it's too small.

Although looks are deceiving, the snow was a good 12+ inches deep. That's Gus's tracks on the left of the photo below.

And, here's Gringo.

I was going to attempt to go to the barn today, but at -23 degrees out? That's just too d*mn cold to do much of anything. So, the boys will just have to wait until late next week. I really had been meaning to get out to the feed store too, but they never did answer the phone when I called. So... it may just be alfalfa pellets for a while... we shall see.