Building topline

[doodle]

Any tips gratefully recieved. Robin has always been great but ha suddenly lost a lot. I mainly hack but thinking we will both have to be more disciplined and get ourselves into the school. Although hacking he carries himself in a fairly good natural outline rather than a giraffe. I do have a Pessoa but not used it for a long time and not sure I want to. If I lunge (once in a blue moon) I tend to go with just a headcollor and he is very good at stretching down so should I stick with this or is there something I could use? Hill work - we have a shortish hill each way back to yard. Back track is too stoney to do anything but walk but the other way is the tarmac, would trotting up help? I tend to avoid trotting much on the road but would there be a benefit? Hacking in fields up hill, is walk trot or canter or a mix of all, the best?

Im hoping as this has been a sudden thing if I get working on it it will be easier to replace.

Pole work, I always doubt myself with distances but happy to give it a go if it will be useful.

 

[help needed always]

When you say sudden has this been following time out of work and/or on box rest.

 

[doodle]

No he has suddenly lost weight and muscle. Well not strictly true, up until this time last year he had a sharer who evented him so he did school work, jumping etc and since then I have just hacked and only gone in school very very ocationally. Vet was out today as I was worried. He got a full check over and bloods and all good. Thinks it is what he sees quite frequently at this time of year with coats changing and weather getting colder. He is not skinny or poor looking I was just worrying that he was dropping.

 

[Mule]

I'll be getting the beast back in to work soon. He's been off with breathing problems. Prior to that, we had just been hacking as he was coming back to fitness from 5 months off.

Anyway, he has no topline. So i need tips too. I do know that physios are very keen on raised ground poles, especially when you raise them at alternate sides. I was thinking of doing a bit of lunging too. Maybe employ some side reins. Most of all I think I'll have to do some proper schooling, not just arse about like I do out hacking. I need to make a plan/ schedule and write it down or else it won't get done.

I've been going to lessons recently, while my horse was off and I'm planning on bringing him when he's fitter. They are sociable, group dressage lessons where you have to work but it's fun. I do much better with some direction. I get aimless otherwise. Would you consider something similar?

 

[doodle]

Most of all I think I'll have to do some proper schooling, not just arse about like I do out hacking. I need to make a plan/ schedule and write it down or else it won't get done.

You are like me and the arsing about hacking. Quite often in walk, although he power walks everywhere, but if there is a hill to canter up then it would be rude not too. Partly with my new found confidence to actually do that and his bored ness when I was just riding in the school.

I keep meaning to join riding club again but we would both be knackered after 15mins of a lesson and not sure we are good enough anymore.

 

[Mule]

You are like me and the arsing about hacking. Quite often in walk, although he power walks everywhere, but if there is a hill to canter up then it would be rude not too. Partly with my new found confidence to actually do that and his bored ness when I was just riding in the school.

I keep meaning to join riding club again but we would both be knackered after 15mins of a lesson and not sure we are good enough anymore.

I arse about in the walk too (while chatting to the horse, admiring the scenery and listening to an audiobook).

The thing about being knackered in the lesson is that, while you will be at first, your fitness will improve very quickly. Same goes for the horse. It helps me to drink lots of water before the lesson. A bit of caffeine for energy doesn't go astray either. I think you can re join a riding club at a lower level? It's an idea if you feel out of practice.

 

[P.forpony]

Back them up in hand.
Sounds mad but as long as you make sure poll is level with or below withers and they are backing up in a relaxed fashion, it makes a huge difference.
Start with just a couple of steps on the yard and gradually build it up. When they can do about 10 straight steps back in a rhythm without stopping or going crooked you can back them up a small slope if you have one handy.
Just don’t over do it, it’s really hard work, they’ll find it difficult at first but it only takes a few minutes a day and it works.

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

I cant stride out poles either. It doesn't matter in walk. I put the poles about a meter apart (a big stride or the width I could walk E through if I was using them as a channel instead of going over them). The horse will simply work with what you give them so the benefit is still gained even if the striding isn't right. I get a friend to stride them for me in trot but you can do loads in walk before you get there.

That hill, I'm led to believe, will be more useful if you do transitions on it.

 

[Red-1]

With the Police horses they mostly had huge toplines, despite doing most work in walk. They did, however, walk in an engaged fashion, heads low and seeking a contact.

On a 4 hour daily walk, they had to learn to stride out without being nagged, and no one would expect them to work on a short contact for all that time, so the length of rein was longer, but they still needed to seek the contact for control, so you could still have a feel on them.

The engaged beings and seeking forward and down contact made their backs come up and abs engage. They also did plenty of hill work, in walk.

It is also important to have enough roughage and correctly fitting tack.

 

[J&S]

In hand work, including, backing up, and turns on forehand etc plus lots of walking exercise has transformed my semi retired small horse over the covid period. Having time to take time has been such a change.

 

[Wheels]

Walking up hills, cantering up hills, pole work, jumping grids (can be small and / or on the lunge if you dont want to ride), in hand work, lateral work (ridden and in hand). Static belly lifts and butt tucks etc. Will all help

 

[Roxylola]

You dont need to school, just keep him active to your contact when hacking. Rather than let him plough on even at walk, slow him down a little so hes really working his butt

 

[Micky]

We are lucky at the moment to have cones on the lane to stop people parking so I weave in and out, turn on the forehand around them, think they are a square in my head and do the same, back up and forwards into trot for a few paces, transitions, leg yield and as you said, rude not to canter on a hill verge (we are very rural so do-able) all the schooling moves possible on a hack..I have no school so have to apply these when I can, plus carrot stretches afterwards..always a nice reward for him plus a really good massage groom at the end.

 

[Ceriann]

We hack lots now - mostly in walk but we do most of it with engagement and contact (sometimea shortening contact but mostly long). I pick up contact, ask for bend, leg yield, slow the walk, trot up hills etc. With ground softer now we’ll start some hill canter work too.

 

[FestiveFuzz]

I'm not a massive fan of pessoas as more often than not you tend to see the horse trussed up like a turkey in them. I do however really rate the equicore and have found that combined with lunging over flat and raised poles, as well as plenty of hillwork ensuring the horse is actively engaged has worked wonders for building topline.

 

[AdorableAlice]

Optigain balancer plus work put a fabulous top on my small hunter. I can’t feed her as she is very quick to get fat, but the optigain really worked for her.

 

[Sprat]

Raised walk poles will do a grand job of building topline

 

[Mule]

Am I right in thinking that if I allow him to go about with his head in the air, none of these exercises will work? (That's what we do on hacks and we mostly hack)

 

[doodle]

Day 1 of lunging (read that as he was being a hyper dramatic over the top idiot who I wasn’t going to get on!) and he was superb (only had 2 dashes off being hysterical). Just in a headcollor. Had to brush off the arena sand from his nose when finished. He is good at stretching down on the lunge so will continue that without gadgets. Thankfully he dosnt go round like a giraffe ridden. I was going to try and get video but I have no idea how people manage phone, lunge line and whip AND get the horse to do anything useful!!