Pointy hips

[mrsh2010]

My TB is 11, he looks great, until you get to his hips from his hips he dips in to his stifle, I say he looks like a coat hanger. He's lovely and rounded above, but then just dips in and I don't know what to do.

He's got a nice weight to his belly, and his topline is good.

He's currently on cooked linseed, D&H build up nuts, A&P Calm & condition and chaff. He gets hay at night, and due to grazing he is stripped grazed during the day.

We are currently competing in dressage and having one lesson a month, of which he's doing very well at. I'd love to show him, as he's got great movement, but I just don't know how to over come these dips.

Can anyone help?

I'd love to do some hill work with him, as that's what I've been told so far, but we are as flat as pancakes where we are

 

[Achinghips]

What's his exercise regime and current feed?

 

[mrsh2010]

He's currently hacked twice a week. Ive just introduced jumping / pole work. We have one dressage lesson a month and 1 maybe 2 comps a month.
Feed per original message but hes only recently started on the d+h build up

 

[mrsh2010]

Oh and hes on fibre fast too

 

[Achinghips]

I'd simplify the food by cutting out the calm and condition and build up nuts and fast fibre. instead, feed a good balancer, like topspec comprehensive which has a little more protein and also a conditioning cube, with a good alfalfa based chaff. If you change to a conditioning cube you can drop the linseed out altogether too . Feed three small meals?

You've only just started pole work so give it some time, can you lunge over a few small jumps and do lots of transitions up and down working on lunge too, with a pessoa perhaps ..... or side reins or bungee instead if he works well from behind. This will build up bum and legs and fill out those hollows a bit with muscle.

Hths

 

[mrsh2010]

Thank you, that sounds like feed time would be easier! We tried other things in his bucket as he would not eat the amount of Calm & Condition they said he needed to be on.

Unfortunately I cannot feed three times a day, but I've emailed Topspec for some information regards to amounts etc so will wait to hear.

I suppose it would not hurt to leave him on the Build up cubes and with the Topspec until the bags finished, he's only been on it 10 days but I am already seeing a difference in him

He's on the Fibre fast as Sugarbeet sent him loopy and he's out 24/7

But what you are saying I will take on board, I did start looking at getting a lunge worker like the Pessoa, so I shall toddle off to locate one that's reasonable priced

 

[LegOn]

I would say plenty of pole work - practically every time you ride. Seems alot but really helps build up the back end. Raised poles are really important aswell - in all paces, walk, trot & canter.

Even if its just one pole on the ground, make sure you use them in lots of inventive ways & lunging over poles is great aswell!

 

[AmyMay]

You got any photos??

 

[mrsh2010]

Legon, I'm sure he wouldn't say no to that, he's coming back from injury (been 18months now) and we've just introduced poles and jumping and he loves it.

Amymay, no sorry I haven't got any pictures, the ones I do have don't show it very well.

 

[Evil_Cookie]

My mare is similar, even at her heaviest, which would definitely be called fat, she has hip bones which poke out, about the size of half an orange each side. She's relatively fit, she could build up more behind and we are working on it, however I expect they will always be more pronounced than in other horses. As the amount of muscle required to fill in the dips would be unfeasible.