136. The fatter the horse the calmer the horse...?

Lately, i've been trying to feed Spice up a bit because there isn't much grass in the field at the moment and she was looking a bit on the thin side so i've been feeding her a small scoop of speedi beet twice a day with two handfuls of happy hoof and within 5 days she has definitely put on a few pounds - just enough so that i can't see her ribs anymore. :)

I have titled this entry as 'Feeding acts as a calmer' because i have noticed that when Spice is hungry she is a lot more alert and stressy than when she isn't. In fact she almost acts like a different horse. So, i have a theory that keeping horses which are prone to losing weight topped up a constant supply of high fibre low sugar feed may well reduce nervous energy and nervous tension resulting in a much calmer horse.

It has to be said aswell that the calmest horses in the yard are Fen and Syrup who are both on the larger side and then there's mags and pie who are in between and are lively and then Spice and Lucy - the thinnies who are often anxious and stressy.

I guess horses are not too different from humans for when we feel hungry we often get irritable and stressy or at least i know i do!