We do the same as you Bree as we now cover in hand rather than pasture breed. Mostly cover mares on alternate days - one morning and one afternoon when there have been several in season at one time. Yes the boys do 'run up' a bit light - look fabulous actually! - inspite of the extra food, but Dragon is a real 'worry wart' and consumes amazing amounts of food in our attempts to keep some weight on him. With not covering this year, it has been wonderful seeing him look like a normal healthy mini, although he still gets around 4 - 5 lbs of stud nuts per day alongside all that lush grass he's consuming!!