This message is from: "Kristen L. Andersen" <kris...@nightheronfarm.com>
Excellent post Phillip, thank you!
-Kristen
Off to the market in sunny Portland, OR
On 8/6/11 8:06 AM, Phillip Odden wrote:
This message is from: Phillip Odden <n...@norskwoodworks.com>
Hello from Phillip odden in Northwestern Wisconsin where it is still
pretty hot and steamy.
In Wisconsin grass grows high and deep. In Norway where all Fjord
Horses can be traced back to their genetic base, grass was very
limited especially before modern fertilizers became available. If a
Fjord was unable to make a living on the small amounts of dried grass
and weeds, sea weed, ash tree branches or even fish they either died
or that line of Fjords was not bred. Because of the very limited
amount of feed on the West Coast of Norway prior to the 1950's or so,
Fjords were bred to be thrifty eaters. One old man in Norway told me
that if a Fjord were turned out on good pasture all summer and didn't
get way too fat there was something wrong with the animal.
Dr. Don Henneke developed a Body Condition Score for horses to
determine if they are too thin, too fat or about right. This concept
is widely used by Veterinarians to understand where fat accumulates in
horses and how to judge the condition of your horse. If your horse is
too fat evidence suggests it contributes to colic, decreased
reproductive performance, development of orthopedic diseases,
lameness, and equine metabolic syndrome. I am quite sure more Fjords
die from over eating than being starved in a range of 100/1.
This Body Conditioning System is a good tool to understand if your
Fjord is too fat. Since Fjords are supposed to be a horse with good
substance I feel that a Fjord can have a score of say 7 with the range
of healthy for most horses being from 5 to 7. Once I became familiar
with this system I alway use it to gage the body condition of all my
Fjords taking into consideration the season of the year, how much hair
they have, what season is coming up, their age, and how hard I plan
to work them. I like to have my Fjords a little fat going into our
cold long winters since all my Fjords are outside all the time, say
BCS 7-8. I expect them to loose weight during the winter. This is how
it was in Norway where they were bred. Spring time BCS say 5-6. I keep
my young stock a little thinner.
People cry about starting to ride a horse before the age of 3. Well I
don't ride mine until age 4. But allowing your young Fjords to carry
100 to 200 pounds of overweight each and every step of their lives is
much the same as riding them 24/7. Certainly overweight in young
horses is not healthy and will limit their soundness in later life.
When Dr. Tor Finstad came to visit my farm a few years ago for the
NFHR 25th anniversary celebration ( wish we could have another ), he
complimented me on how trim and healthy my young stock were at the
time. Dr. Finstad is a Veterinarian and was at that time the Chief
Evaluator for Fjords in Norway. He was concerned about overweight
issues in Fjords in Norway now that Norwegians are buying fertilizers
and are able to afford high quality feeds. Fjords are getting too fat
in Norway too.
This is a complicated problem just as overweight is a very complicated
problem for many of us in our personal lives. And many like to think
of their horses as an extension of themselves. It has to do with the
times we live in with abundant inexpensive food. It is much more
difficult to feed a Fjord for a good healthy Body Conditioning Score
than to just feed it all it wants. So congratulations to those of you
who have found the proper balance. For me it is OK to have my horses
hungry a couple times a day. And I feel it is healthy for me to feel a
little hungry now and then too. Unless a Fjord is working hard it
probably doesn't need any grain or feed concentrate. I use dry lots
and I feed mostly over-ripe stemmy grass hay that I put up myself.
If you are serious about health issues in Fjords get familiar with Dr.
Henneke's Body Conditioning Score for equines. If you feel it is
acceptable or not worth the effort to get control of weight issues for
your horses then please enjoy them as they are. Its a sign of the
times. People and our dear animals, horses, dogs, and cats as well
suffer from weight problems in a land blessed with too much food, too
easy to get and poor information regarding nutrition and exercise.
Comfort food for us and comfort food for our horses too. Its not easy.
respectfully,
with shades of willpower determination and courage,
Phil Odden
Now Else where did you hide my bag of potato chips anyway? Its time
for a beer.
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--
Kristen L. Andersen
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