building muscle

[throwawayaccount]

hi all

just wondering if anyone has any tips for building muscle. over winter my boy has lost quite a bit, probably attributed to the snow days and just not being able to do what we usually can..

he's currently on walk/trot for a few more weeks to get him strengthened up. i'm a bit confused because my physio said he looks fantastic but my vet said he needs more muscle.. haha

we do not have the best hacking unfortunately. it frightens me to go out alone now as theres so many idiots. to be honest i don't want to go out at all but i'm going to just go on a quiet morning with a friend.

as for the arena he absolutely gets bored of it and switches off or goes sluggy. he can do poles or raised poles inhand or ridden but again gets bored.

lunging isn't really an option as hes such a big horse, however he needs something?

just very stuck haha!

thanks xx

 

[SEL]

Is he on a good feed balancer? Otherwise it's just work that builds it. Mine have dropped off over winter for weather / time reasons but both ponies are looking better with a change of feed balancer and being able to start some canter work.

Can you box out anywhere safer?

 

[throwawayaccount]

Is he on a good feed balancer? Otherwise it's just work that builds it. Mine have dropped off over winter for weather / time reasons but both ponies are looking better with a change of feed balancer and being able to start some canter work.

Can you box out anywhere safer?

Thankyou, no he’s not but I’m going to start him on the top spec balancer I think?

not really :/ we are moving at the end of the month to a yard with safe onsite hacking thank god

 

[ihatework]

It’s all about work I’m afraid. The right work (as in horse using it’s self properly)

 

[ycbm]

Ludo has needed added selenium since moving 15 miles east to this area, in order to maintain his muscle bulk. I think all horses also need vitamin E at this time of year. You are moving, I think, to the yard where Ludo's need for added selenium first showed up.
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[throwawayaccount]

I hate work- I’ve always been hack crazy, even when I used to compete haha: it’s the best thing for them.. but I’ve suffered being on here tbh with going out :s

ycbm- yeah that’s right going to give it a go…. I had no idea about vitamin e or selenium, what do they both do??

 

[Fieldlife]

Ludo has needed added selenium since moving 15 miles east to this area, in order to maintain his muscle bulk. I think all horses also need vitamin E at this time of year. You are moving, I think, to the yard where Ludo's need for added selenium first showed up.
.

how did you figure out he needed more selenium?

 

[ycbm]

how did you figure out he needed more selenium?

He started to lose bum muscle for no reason I could account for. You could see a point developing on the top of his bum. Selenium is a key for both muscle building and vitamin E absorption which is also required for muscle building, and it was one mineral that I wasn't feeding as I had never had to before I moved him. I added it as a test and the improvement was obvious within 2 weeks, and as I had changed nothing else I assumed I had found the cause.

Here, the top line of his bum had been an uninterrupted curve. Here you can see the tuber sacrale no longer fully embedded in muscle, but with a slight dip on each side.


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[ycbm]

ETA, while that ^^^ is normal for many horses with TB blood, it wasn't normal for him.
.

 

[Hollylee1989]

He started to lose bum muscle for no reason I could account for. You could see a point developing on the top of his bum. Selenium is a key for both muscle building and vitamin E absorption which is also required for muscle building, and it was one mineral that I wasn't feeding as I had never had to before I moved him. I added it as a test and the improvement was obvious within 2 weeks, and as I had changed nothing else I assumed I had found the cause.

Here, the top line of his bum had been an uninterrupted curve. Here you can see the tuber sacrale no longer fully embedded in muscle, but with a slight dip on each side.

View attachment 107033
.

What a handsome spotty bottom!

 

[Tiddlypom]

He started to lose bum muscle for no reason I could account for. You could see a point developing on the top of his bum. Selenium is a key for both muscle building and vitamin E absorption which is also required for muscle building, and it was one mineral that I wasn't feeding as I had never had to before I moved him. I added it as a test and the improvement was obvious within 2 weeks, and as I had changed nothing else I assumed I had found the cause.

Here, the top line of his bum had been an uninterrupted curve. Here you can see the tuber sacrale no longer fully embedded in muscle, but with a slight dip on each side.

View attachment 107033
.

Is that photo taken with him standing square on level ground? Only it makes him look as if his right hip is lower than his left. Hopefully that's just a wonky photo.

My wonky mare really does have her right hip significantly lower than her left hip.

 

[sbloom]

ETA, while that ^^^ is normal for many horses with TB blood, it wasn't normal for him.
.

If by normal you mean what we normally see, as opposed to healthy...

 

[ycbm]

Is that photo taken with him standing square on level ground? Only it makes him look as if his right hip is lower than his left. Hopefully that's just a wonky photo.

My wonky mare really does have her right hip significantly lower than her left hip.

He's standing on a grass verge and i wouldn't swear to it the camera was even level. The point I was making was the muscle loss on either side of the tuber sacrale, which was even, and as I explained this was months ago and selenium put him right in a couple of weeks.
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