ewe necks

[shadowboy]

Are they difficult to 'eradicate' or do they show throughout the horses lifetime....also whats the best way to help build muscle up at the top of the neck, and loose it from below?
Thanks

 

[Ezme]

You can lessen them with working them in the correct way but they'll always be prone to it. Just the way they're put together unfortunatly but it doesn't mean they can't compete highly, you just need to remember that they'll put down muscle under their necks really easilly

 

[Shilasdair]

It depends.
Is it a 'proper' ewe neck from lack of muscle? Or is it because the horse has exceptionally high withers? Sometimes that can give a deceptive appearance of a 'ewe neck'
Methods of building up neck muscle include working the horse in a long, low outline (not over-rounded;nose should not be behind the vertical), neck flexion on circles, etc.
You can also help by throwing the horse out into the field to graze (nice stretching), and, if you need to stable him, feed hay, etc from floor level, not in a haynet.
S

 

[Tierra]

My gelding is very much built this way but hes competed to PSG

That being said, hes had very correct training from being a youngster which has undoubtedly helped.

Theres no short cut to it though, its all about teaching them to work correctly.