Thanks Egglady,
According to the lady I got her off; no she's not had laminitis previously, but then she hasn't owned Rosie all that long. She didn't mention sweetitch, but I didn't think to ask about that.
The history I've got:
Rosie and a couple of other mares were owned by another bloke and the lady acquired them all pregnant. Rosie's foal was dead (still born?) so the fat she'd been allowed to build up in preparation to feed the foal is still there.
She's over the pregnancy and her udders (not sure that's the word for a horse) have gone down.
Apparently she's been broken for riding & driving my an earlier owner, but recently she's been just a broodmare - as far as I know. Apparently the previous owner wasn't particularly good in regard to building a trust relationship with his horses - he used to catch them using a lasoo - so the lady has been building her trust up since then.
She seems fairly well behaved to me - she will let me put her headcollar on without difficulty, and she'll walk to heel better than my dog. So far I've taken her for a couple of walks in the paddock (well jog's actually - at that speed she can't stop to eat the long grass
). I'd like to take her up the road when I walk the dog, but wasn't sure how far she could go every day on tarmac without causing her problems.
At the moment she's in a very small paddock 24/7 with an open shelter and a tall hedge for protection from the elements, but I am not sure when to let her have more grazing.
mab