>>>> I only once had an Icelandic that had been allowed free range on "proper" pasture (40 acres of dairy cow pasture). She was actually NOT that fat - but she had had recurring chronic laminitis for 5 years (her owner could not understand why she was so often lame and thought she had damaged her shoulder, or had a back problem, or something.... she was one of our first rescue horses, 20 years ago).
Yes, the fatness of a horse can be a good clue, a good warning sign, but it's certainly not fool proof. Many older horses who founder from Cushing's are actually pretty thin - my farrier estimated that maybe 25-35% of the founder cases he works on are with very thin horses. The majority may be overweight, but certainly a notable percentage aren't. I'm convinced that the root causes of these situations is internal to the horse, and sadly we can't always see the risk factors before it's too late....speaking from experience, I'm afraid. Karen Thomas, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.17/1103 - Release Date: 11/1/2007 6:01 AM IceHorses Community for Photos and Videos: http://kickapps.com/icehorses "The greatest enemy of the truth very often is not the lie- deliberate, contrived and dishonest -- but the myth -- persistent, persuasive and unrealistic." "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." ~ Arthur Schopenhauer [] Lee Ziegler http://leeziegler.com [] Liz Graves http://lizgraves.com [] Lee's Book Easy Gaited Horses http://tinyurl.com/7vyjo [] IceHorses Map http://www.frappr.com/IceHorses Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IceHorses/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IceHorses/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
