Increasing topline

Stinkbomb

Stinkbomb

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 January 2007
Messages
3,974
Location
Cloud cookoo..
goldenoakmochachino.blogspot.com
I want to improve Inkys topline in order for his barrel to become more tucked up. He obviously cant be ridden and i can only free lunge as he's two. Can anyone think of anything i can do with him to increase his topline???? Any exercises i can do with him???

I have changed him onto the SS feeds to give him more digestable fibre to help with the "gutty" appearance just need to exercise now!
 
What is wrong for wanting my horse to develop to his best potential???

I have Inky for showing and that gives him a purpose is that wrong????

Just because i dont want my horse to be turned away for three years is that also wrong???

He is growing naturally and i dont see any harm in getting his feeding/exercise right to allow that. He is allowed to be a baby too.

Why are you confused and what would you suggest i do with him??
 
No! Top line only comes through work - really ridden work or lunging into a contact.

How much topline should a two year old have anyway? Generally their gut only comes up through faster work which it doesn't sound like he's going to get for a few years yet!

You can probably feed for fat but I wouldn't have thought that was the safest way to go? I agree with tracey01 - let him grow.
 
I am not feeding for fat and anyone who reads my posts will know that i take my minis weight very seriously.

So what youre saying is that NOONE who has a youngster is concerned that they get the right feeding/ exercise regime???

Does NOONE else prepare their youngsters to show either???

You both say "let him grow" but dont say what you would do in my position when a minis weight can be life threatening.

Should i just throw him out in a field then and forget about him??? How do you suggest i just "let him grow"??
 
All horses have a topline. We aim for the horse to have the correct topline for its age, work load and stage in its training.

The only way you build up topline is when the horse starts working properly and muscles up. The horse muscles up in acordance to how it uses itself. As it becomes capable of working in more advanced outlines, so the topline develops.

A youngsters skeleton is immature, its joint capsuals have not closed, it hasn't the muscling or coordination to be up to much work. That is why a youngsters topline will look poor in comparisum to an older horse who is further down the line in terms of muscling and education.

It is best to keep youngsters on the light side to protect the bones and joints. Last thing you want is to encourage a growth spurt. Growth needs to be slow and steady. If you force a youngster or over feed it, you risk it developing all sorts of growth problems such as wobblers, kissing spine etc. Horses only get one set of joints! Over the years have known youngsters who were forced for showing as youngsters. They didn't get to be adults.

Speaking as breed judge, if I saw a youngster shown with excessive muscling for its age I would concider it to be obscene and it would be placed LAST no matter how good it might be in other ways. This sort of thing is not to be encourged. Any judge worth their salt would do likewise.
 
Thankyou for your comments and detailed analysis!!!

I am aware of doing too much work with youngsters and over feeding them. Thats why i have concentrated so much on getting his diet right and moved to the SS as its the most natural way of feeding. I have concidered all the feeds available and their involvement in growth spurts etc... this is the last thing i want.

I dont want over muscling i just want him in a good condition. After buying a seriously obsese mini and getting him in a good condition i want to keep them both there and hopefully eliminate the risk of Laminitis, which minis are extreemly prone too.

Your description of having the right topline for the age of the horse is something i hadnt thought about but makes sense
grin.gif


Thanks for your comments
 
Sorry I didn't mean to upset you! It just sounded like you wanted to make your baby look like an adult show pony!

If he was mine I'd do light exercise to keep his weight down but not too much as those joints are still developing. Feed for growth and delvelopment now - look into feeds that provide energy from fibre and oil rather than cereals as this will help him grow more naturally and devlop topline in time rather than artificailly through diet. I'd strip graze or muscle him throughout the spring.

I've never shown a youngster (you can probably tell!) and all my baby horses look like whippets until they come into work at 3/4 (tb's mainly) so I'm probably not qualified to help.

so long as he looks healthy and correctly developed for his age i would say your doing the right thing and i would hope most judges would agree.
 
There is still much you can be doing.

Work gently on your ringcraft. Get your friends to be the judges and practice showing your pony.

His lovely temperament will shine through if he is used to being led to best advantage and stood up nicely without fretting.

Work on letting you AND a stranger touch him, pick up his feet etc.

You can get him used to all the pampering that goes with showing, then when it comes to the big day it will all be 2nd nature.

I think they are correct when they say... you work on the horses mind whilst they are young, then you work on the body when they are older. All the things you do now are vitaly important and will make things much easier for you and the pony when the time comes for him to work.

The previous poster is spot on when they say that the judge is looking for a correctly grown, well handled animal, the correct weight, development and size for its age.

Have fun!
 
I doubt you'd need to do anything with Inky, being entire he'll develop a good neck on him and anyway, he always looks stunning.

I've known people show young ponies up to top UK level by dragging them out of the field the day before... seriously, babies need nothing doing with them other than learning manners.

There will be those who use pessoas, side reins etc on their youngsters to get a topline, but their ponies will crash and burn at a younger age. Ty certainally could do a little work with a contact, but Inky is far too young, and still too young to be being fed anything in order to promote a topline.

I'm not sure if mini's are plaited? I know some people plait in a certain way in order to make the neck look bigger or smaller (whichever suits the horse) so is perhaps something you could think about.
 
Im not upset!!!
grin.gif
Its just some people have an opinion that youngsters should just be turned away till they are three and i dont always agree!!!

I dont want Inky to look like an adult pony as he'd look silly in the ring with the others. I agree on not feeding cereals thats why ive changed to the simple systems feeds, totally fibre based.

By my post i didnt mean i wanted him to do heavy exercise, maybe i didnt word it right
crazy.gif
I do walk him in hand and i was more thinking exercises that werent strenous for example walking over trotting poles etc.... I just wondered whether anyone could think of something similar!
 
Inky is used to being shown as he was shown as a yearling. We still practice though with the leading and standing, stuff any youngster should learn really!!!

[ QUOTE ]


[/ QUOTE ] "you work on the horses mind whilst they are young, then you work on the body when they are older"

Thats a good saying!!
grin.gif
 
Thanks for your compliment!!! No minis are not shown plaited but we do shave the top of their manes ( like arabs ) and the length of this depends on how we want their neck to look.

I agree he isnt fed anything other than fibre products and has no cereal based feeds at all.

i know they can be shown more or less from the field he was last year
grin.gif
grin.gif
 
I have to agree that Inky is stunning looking anyway!
You have been quite successful with him so far haven't you?
Therefore whatever you are doing, you must be doing it right!
Good luck with him and let's have some more piccies of him!
 
I think you are doing everything right (not over working, strapping, feeding fibre based products only and giving both time to grow), both ponies are a credit too you
smile.gif
and the transformation in Ty is amazing
laugh.gif
What about introducing some in-hand walking in hand up hills, over raised poles or uneven ground?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top