Jasper's Weight

I've been fretting on and on about Jasper's weight--he just doesn't seem to be holding it as well as I'd like. While I was gone this weekend, he was stranded in his stall with nothing to do but stand around and eat. When I poked my hand under his blanket last night, I was surprised to feel the beginnings of some fat! I took off the blanket today, and sure enough, he's gaining weight! I was ecstatic! The best part is, despite all this stall stuff and extra food, he's really been very good in the arena. I can tell he's got extra energy, but he's very business like about it all. That all goes out the window when we go out on the road, but alas, we always need something to work on, right?


These next two pictures are from today. I couldn't get far enough away in the crossties to get a full body shot. :) I noticed he's got a nice fat pad behind his shoulders and under his withers now--much more so than in the recent past. (The funny wet mark is from his heart rate monitor gel from the other day.)
This is from just after a training ride in Boise on Thanksgiving, and it shows his peaky little rump and shoulders a bit. He got a little thinner after this even, but I don't have any good naked side shots of him during that time.This is a side shot for comparison in early January. He's not naked, though, so you can't really see how thin he is. Like my friend says, he never got "call the ASPCA" thin, but I really wanted to nip it in the bud before it got that bad.

Here he is today, in as side-ways a shot I could get of him. I really think he's doing much better, and am hopeful we may have found the key to keeping weight on---lots of beet pulp and corn oil! I'm really trying to limit the amount of grain he's getting, just because he can be a little hot when he gets too much. I think the beet pulp/oil combo gives him a much cooler tank.