BEFORE and AFTER Pictures of Junior

I've been meaning to post AFTER pictures of Junior for awhile. We've had Junior since November 2014 and he's been a hard keeper. I could never get his topline looking good or even his butt to look anything like a big fat quarter horse.

I started graining him this fall and all of winter. I also threw a blanket on him to ward off the South Dakota cold and snow. I think that combination did the trick. Because Junior is looking fantastic.

Don't get me wrong, he looks good now but it's taken me two years to get him to this point and I'm not exactly sure what the final push was to get him to look THIS good.

See the rounded butt? It wasn't there six months ago. But I have learned that if I take him to Madison in the spring and again the fall before the grasses dry up for the winter, Junior gains just enough weight and then we start pumping him full of grain and he's happy.

You can even see a nice topline on him where you don't even see his spine or where the ribs connect to his back. That's something I'd been dealing with for two years. I guess three pounds of a grain combination, along with a supplement, high quality hay/alfalfa, and a winter coat did the trick.

Compare this picture to the last picture to get an idea of why I'm so excited. I realize to most Junior just looks like any ol' horse. But the difference is astounding...at least to me. I am not sure why the chance, but i'll take it and continue to use the same grain ratio and other methods.

Junior is pretty happy with his feeding time. No competition for his grain, just enough mares to keep him happy, and a full bale of hay/alfalfa (I think the hay/alfalfa really helped beef him up).

Check out this butt!!! In the past, that butt wouldn't be so round, there's be the look of an old horse butt. Of course he's 29 so I do expect an old horse butt but when I pulled the blanket off mid winter and saw that butt, I was astounded. Don't get me wrong, I pulled the blanket off before but it was always in the dark and I was always in a hurry so seeing a fat butt in the daylight made me happy

I think I was getting an evil look from Junior on the above picture.

This was Junior last spring (2016). You can see where the ribs connect to his spine and that his topline has dropped. You can also see where the hips meet his back and that it's not a round butt even thought he'd been grained and had a blanket on. I do think a lot of his weight gain this year has to do with the qualify of hay/alfalfa we are feeding this year. Last year we had straight hay but this year it's a first cutting hay with a little alfalfa and a second cutting hay with more alfalfa. It's just what our hay supplier had so we went with it.

Apparently the hay /alfalfa did the trick. Hopefully we can get the same stuff this coming winter so we can keep Junior fat and happy! I much prefer to feed more hay/alfalfa and less grains and supplements (cheaper and less worry of ulcers...which is what I think Bo has..but more on Bo later).

Now that Junior is looking like a champion, does anyone want to sponsor him each month? Monthly sponsorship is $100 and that covers his grain/supplements and farrier. Or do you want to do a half monthly sponsorship for $50? Or even just a one time sponsorship to keep Junior happy? Just let me know so I can tell Junior! ;-)