Strengthening/building back muscles on the ground/lunge

[SavingGrace]

Hello
I was just wondering if you lovely people could give me some advise on building up/strengthening back muscles in my young cob. IE what training aids etc do you use when lunging? What other things can be done to ensure they are built up correctly?

 

[LouS]

I long line (lunge with two lines). Tied your stirrups together under his belly with an old leather then pop the lines through and to the bit and off you go. Its brilliant for them, teaches them self carriage etc, just do 10mins at a time at first though as it is very difficult for them.

 

[Jesstickle]

long reigning over raised poles is very good IMHO. It's one of my favourites

 

[ISHmad]

Get a copy of Oliver Hillbergers book about Schooling Exercises In Hand off of Amazon if you can. Really useful and very easy to follow.

 

[coss]

Hill work is very good for all muscles

 

[Booboos]

I'm not a big fan of gadgets but I have recently been converted by the EquiAmi

 

[Andiamo]

A Pessoa is excellent - you can get cheap versions made by other companies, the John Whitaker one includes the roller & girth. It encourages the horse to work properly, swinging through its back, and stepping under. If used correctly, you should see noticeable improvement in topline within about 3 weeks. If you search for Pessoa in ebay, it'll bring up the no-name ones, which are a lot cheaper. It's the same concept though. You'd just need help from someone experienced to set it up correctly for your horse.