Pound(s) of flesh
WHAT IS OBESITY? A horse, pony or donkey that is obese carries more fat tissue than nature intended. In the wild it is rare to come across animals that are overweight or obese as they have evolved to survive harsh winters, live off rough grazing with little nutritional value, and walk miles each day to find food and water.
Modern management, however, is as far from this as you could imagine, and more akin to living like an equine couch potato. We tend to provide more food and warmth — in the form of forage, cereal-based feeds and rugs — than our horse actually needs. Then we restrict his movement to grass paddocks and ridden exercise.
Just like us, when a horse consumes more calories than he burns through exercise
