Putting muscle on my 3 and a bit year old!

[Hexan]

Hi so I want take my inhand walking with my 3 year olds a bit more seriously, over the like 7 months I’ve been doing it far few between, not wanting to do too much with him. But the last two days, he seems to becoming more mature I feel like when inhand walking him, we could have buses, trucks, cyclists and fast moving cars come from two different directions and it wouldn’t phrase him at all. My boy is so quiet and good with everything (still need to overcome his little fear of cows though ) but back to the point, he’s put on so much weight since I’ve had him on the stomach area, but his chest doesn’t match it little beer belly. He looks a fit finer front front few, on opposite sides of our circle we walk around, we have the opportunity to go downhill and up hill. I wanted to ask how many times a week should I do this, to help him gain more muscle? Or if anyone could suggest any little exercises I can could do with him when he’s in the field, that would be great and much appreciated! I’ve just started to today putting the saddle on him now as we inhand walk, getting him used to the saddle. Instead of just standing for a few seconds in the field. He done really well to be fair to him, he’s come in leaps and bounds since I bought him last years. Pictures for attention

 

[Dave's Mam]

Use the hills. Walking up & down hills is great & if you're just walking, I would say there's no limit. It's gentle exercise, but good for their body.

 

[millitiger]

If I’m honest, I don’t think you’ll make much difference to a 3yro- also worth bearing in mind, he is still growing and LOTS can go through a very ugly stage, narrow in front with big barrels and no stifle development.

As long as he isn’t fat, I would just continue as you are, some walking out.
And perhaps have a look at some postural in hand work you can do with him- it might not change how he looks too much at the moment but should help his balance when it comes to starting under saddle.

 

[Hexan]

Hi so I want take my inhand walking with my 3 year olds a bit more seriously, over the like 7 months I’ve been doing it far few between, not wanting to do too much with him. But the last two days, he seems to becoming more mature I feel like when inhand walking him, we could have buses, trucks, cyclists and fast moving cars come from two different directions and it wouldn’t phrase him at all. My boy is so quiet and good with everything (still need to overcome his little fear of cows though ) but back to the point, he’s put on so much weight since I’ve had him on the stomach area, but his chest doesn’t match it little beer belly. He looks a fit finer front front few, on opposite sides of our circle we walk around, we have the opportunity to go downhill and up hill. I wanted to ask how many times a week should I do this, to help him gain more muscle? Or if anyone could suggest any little exercises I can could do with him when he’s in the field, that would be great and much appreciated! I’ve just started to today putting the saddle on him now as we inhand walk, getting him used to the saddle. Instead of just standing for a few seconds in the field. He done really well to be fair to him, he’s come in leaps and bounds since I bought him last years. Pictures for attention

Use the hills. Walking up & down hills is great & if you're just walking, I would say there's no limit. It's gentle exercise, but good for their body.

Fab thank you!

 

[Hexan]

If I’m honest, I don’t think you’ll make much difference to a 3yro- also worth bearing in mind, he is still growing and LOTS can go through a very ugly stage, narrow in front with big barrels and no stifle development.

As long as he isn’t fat, I would just continue as you are, some walking out.
And perhaps have a look at some postural in hand work you can do with him- it might not change how he looks too much at the moment but should help his balance when it comes to starting under saddle.

I just see a lot of 3 year olds with a lot of muscle in the front etc most of the time online, so I was double guessing myself if I was just doing something wrong and was getting worried. But I guess it also just depends on the breeding etc, but unfortunately I’m not sure what he is as it doesn’t say on his passport, but I will treat myself for my 23rd birthday I think and get a DNA test. I’m just so curious to what he may be! Yeah luckily he isn’t too fat, me saying he had a beer belly was a bit exaggerating but he’s a good decent size in my opinion, I did want to add photos but it seems anything I try adding it says the photo is too large to upload, which is disappointing. Also thank you for replying! I’ll just continue as I am and hope that walking him 3-4 times a week will help him!

 

[LEC]

My 4yos under saddle always go through a pot belly stage in summer and a looking a bit crap in February stage as a newly minted 5yo. It’s just development and muscle. I now just don’t worry about it as find they are different looking horses as 5yo in the summer.

 

[Hexan]

My 4yos under saddle always go through a pot belly stage in summer and a looking a bit crap in February stage as a newly minted 5yo. It’s just development and muscle. I now just don’t worry about it as find they are different looking horses as 5yo in the summer.

Thank you, this really gives me some piece of mind that my boy isn’t the only one, as I see a few 3 year olds online and they’ve got such good muscle! I thought I was doing something completely wrong, but this eases my mind thank you x

 

[SEL]

Thank you, this really gives me some piece of mind that my boy isn’t the only one, as I see a few 3 year olds online and they’ve got such good muscle! I thought I was doing something completely wrong, but this eases my mind thank you x

My very nicely put together 6yo cob looked completely out of proportion coming out of his 4yo winter. He now looks nicely muscled all round but had very weedy stages when he was 4.

 

[Goldenstar]

Do lead him up and down hill halting facing down hill and walking on is also very good for them .

 

[maya2008]

A 3 year old is like a child - weedy and still growing. You wouldn’t expect the muscle of an adult, nor would you want that weight on a still growing skeleton. Showing aside, a natural, healthy 3yo is a bit lean, still growing and changing in fits and spurts, and not doing enough work yet to muscle up properly. I find they don’t naturally muscle up fully until 5-6yo when they are in proper work and have a more adult frame. Just like teenagers go up and up, all lean and skinny, then become more solid as young adults.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

They can still be weedy at 3. Mine is still wider in the barrel than he is in the shoulders, but I think that will change a bit with time. He did have even more of a belly before, but when we moved yards, his pasture and hay changed, as well as workload, so he doesn't look like an egg with legs anymore.

Mine has just been backed, but prior to that we did in hand walks, long lining, lunging on big circles or free lunging, poles, postural stuff, and other bits of groundwork. I'd love it if we had hills, but it's fairly flat in the immediate area.

Proper nutrition, appropriate exercise, and time is what it takes.

I had one horse that just looked like a big colt until about 5. Then he finally looked like a real horse. It's fine to want condition on them, but you don't want too much weight or bulk. I see some huge 3 year olds in Spain (my horse is a PRE), and mine just looks leaner, so I wonder for a second, but some of them are just obese at the end of the day.