Gaining Muscle On A Thoroughbred

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jennirosie

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I have had my horse for over a year now and although she has gained weight, she has not gained much muscle!
I feed her Calm & Condition, Apple Chaff, Topline Mix and a scoop of Opti-Muscle supplement which is given to her twice per day. I ride 5/6 days a week which is a mixture of hacking, schooling, jumping and lungeing in a training aid once per week.

Are there any exercises I can do with her to gain muscle on her hindquarters and shoulders?
Thanks :)

Photo of her: https://www.flickr.com/photos/128624783@N04/15972647859/
 
I think she needs more food!
You will need to check the haylage ...... is she ad lib, what weight is she getting?
How much feed is she getting ............ in weight not "scoops"
How old is she?
Have the teeth been rasped recently? Is the mouth normal ?
Try about 150 gms of micronised linseed. Add some salt to diet.
Calm and Condition does not suit all horses, I would change that, some barley might help or hi fibre cubes...........
Wormiing according to vet recommendations? Worm counts are also useful.
I would get an experienced instructor to come out and help you with her training program.
Try a planned working program with long slow uphill work once the diet is checked out.
 
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jennirosie said:
I have had my horse for over a year now and although she has gained weight, she has not gained much muscle!
I feed her Calm & Condition, Apple Chaff, Topline Mix and a scoop of Opti-Muscle supplement which is given to her twice per day. I ride 5/6 days a week which is a mixture of hacking, schooling, jumping and lungeing in a training aid once per week.

Are there any exercises I can do with her to gain muscle on her hindquarters and shoulders?
Thanks :)

Photo of her: https://www.flickr.com/photos/128624783@N04/15972647859/
Click to expand...

You need to feed her and WORK her more correctly. How old is she? It is not the amount of work you give her but the QUALITY of correct work you give her, combined with correct feeding, that will build muscle.
 
She is a cutie pie! She does need more condition before the muscle will come. Work sounds good!
Make sure she's all up to date with worming and back checks and teeth checks, she has to have no pain. Then hay, hay, hay and more hay. My TB eats a bale a day easy. I honestly never leave him without, not even in the field. Even if there's grass he has hay as well.

Feed wise any of the slow release energy type feeds are good, I'd feed along with a really good tummy supplement and linseed

My horse who frankly looks like a fat warmblood is worked hard and he only eats half a scoop of low starch pellets a day, it's the hay. The only winter he lost weight and looked a hat rack was when the yard weren't giving him enough. They promised me they were and would wave two haynets at me when I was up there but they weren't. He was out in a frozen field with nothing during the day and they would give him a haynet of low quality crappy hay at night, it wasn't enough :(.
 
Hi fibre cubes are very low in calories so may not be the best option if you want to get more calories into your horse
 
In the photo she appears to be standing a little odd, her front and back feet are very close together. I understand that she isn't stood square but if she stands like that often I would hazard a guess that she isn't working correctly either due to the work given or pain. Please please get someone knowledgeable to give your horse the once over as there is little good advice that can be given via a photo.
 
She is a beauty and such a sweet face.
What about trying grass nuts, linseed and a mineral supplement? You could add alfalfa or grass chaff on top. I found for mine that I struggled keeping the weight on her when the field were shut and she couldn't have grass last winter (even with 1 bale of hay per day). This year we are on another yard with plenty of grass and she is keeping condition very well. You could also add a handful of oats on top if that's still not enough or if you prefer not to use alfalfa.

I think lysine is supposed to be good for muscle building and more proteins (which you get in alfalfa and rich grass I think). There is lysine included in some very good vit/mineral supplements like pro-hoof (on e-bay) or forage plus.

ETA: sorry just reread and your question is not about feed. Hill work is very good to work the bum and fast work like jumping and galloping. But perhaps combine with more calories as the more work you do the more calories she'll burn.
 
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Thanks everyone,
She is seven years old but hadnt been worked properly until I bought her as a six year old. Thanks for the advice, I'm going to start getting regular lessons to get her using herself properly and change her feed
Thanks!! :)
 
If she's gaining weight and not muscle, that suggests it's probably due to work rather than food, although I agree with what others have said in regards to feeding. I found with my racer she started looking a lot better after lots of long and low work, and lunging loosely in a pessoa whenever your horse is strong enough
 
She is very pretty. Echo what others have said about feed. In addition, as regards work, hill work, carrot stretches, using pessoa or similar in long and low setting, trotting or walking over raised poles are all useful. I am just starting mine on myoplast which is a supplement designed to help build muscle when combined weight ith the type of work outlined above. Its expensive and I am aware there is some debate as to its efficacy, but the vet has suggested it and insurance are paying so am going to try it!
 
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