Being a broodmare most of her life, Odessa had that big belly, no muscle look when I started driving her. Over time she has gone through several muscle and weight transformations. A lot of the momma belly is gone, but getting the weight distributed properly, providing sufficient energy to perform and not sending her body into a vibrating mass of excess energy has been a bit of a challenge and is a process that is still being perfected.
http://www.shady-acres.com/susan/index.shtml
The above site is an excellent source on feeding performance horses and explains the why or why not in why we feed the way we do. Susan is an Equine nutritionist, DVM, and Endurance rider so a lot of the information is based on Endurance but the principals can be used in other disciplines as well.
How many of us actually weigh our feed and hay? Guilty. Actually I do try to weigh my grain if I introduce something new, but admit that I don't weigh it every time. My boss in college used to get so mad at me because I wouldn't weigh the feed out every single time as I was feeding 30+ horses every morning/night. It's definitely the right thing to do, but time consuming. How many of us know how much hay in lbs we are feeding? Does 2 flakes of an alfalfa mix weigh as much as 2 flakes of a timothy, orchard or bermuda? What percentage of body weight should be in hay, grain, etc.?
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=177
Take a few minutes to catch up on some of the feeding facts that might have gotten a little fuzzy over time. Talk to a nutritionist. Know the pros and cons of feeding different grains, hays and fats. Figure out the calcium to phosphorus ratio in your current feeding program. What is the average body condition score of horses in your discipline? Ex. Dressage horses average 5-7 and Endurance horses do best at a 5.5 according to this Tevis Cup study.
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