Everyone talks about the Body Mass Index for women and men. We’ve become so conscience of different things in our lives, especially about weight and our health. Not that by going to Wal-Mart you can tell that anybody is really interested. Oh my, the bodies and the outfits. Do these people have mirrors? Don’t they care? Freaky!!!!!

But do you pay any attention to your horses BMI?

Their bodies are constantly changing. This is due to many factors. Amount of work, age, amount of food intake, conditioning, (have they been to the gym? lifting weights??). BUT are we taking notice?

When I was up north, I always wanted to put extra weight on my horses before the winter. If they shiver, they lose weight. Their bodies will burn up fat to stay warm. They were also going into full swing Hunting Season. The weight will change to muscle. They would become “racing fit.” There is a big difference between a thin horse and a fit horse. Pay attention folks.

Down here I run into a different problem. Spring and late fall present a weight change for pasture horses. I try to fatten them up before time. When winter comes, they don’t want to give up the pasture and switch to hay. Weight loss. Come spring when the grass firsts starts coming in – “we don’t want hay anymore.” But then grass dries because we’re not into the rainy season yet, so “we’ll take some of that hay now, thank you.” Then the rain starts and it’s no more hay. But with all this bouncing back and forth, we always have weight loss. Nothing much, but I keep a close eye on it.

It’s very hard when you see a horse every day to see a slight weight change. Now people who haven’t seen them in a while will notice.

It’s the same with muscle. They may look – not so filled in on all the right places. This will also happen if they aren’t getting enough water. They’ll look sunk in.

This can also mean your tack won’t fit them quite the same. You may notice your saddle sitting down too much. Watch for those dry spots under the pad when you’re finished riding. All of a sudden your girth is too big or too small. Yes they may stretch out, but it’s up to you to know the difference.

If you look at them and it seems they don’t look like you remember them, maybe they’re not.

It’s a simple correction once you notice the change, but sometimes getting them to accept more hay, or even grain for that matter, may be a problem. I have two horses that will only eat X amount of grain. Then you have to go to an extra feeding to trick them. And like the old saying goes – You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink. (Except my neighbors horses – she says DRINK! and they do.)

Just really look at your horses bodies, and carefully monitor them.

I’ve known several people who didn’t notice their grain wasn’t working for them, and they got highly insulted when it was mentioned.

Look for those nooks and crannies on your horses that they mention on the English Muffins ads.