Sunken Hind Quarters

[Spandale]

Hiya!

Trying to get my rescue into tip top shape and I just noticed his hind quarters appear to be horribly sunken in. Just below the hip and above the stifle. It has gotten much better over the past year but unlike the rest of his body, it hasn't improved much. I've heard dehydration can cause this? But so can lack of muscle. I have been doing a lot of collection work with him, hill work, pole work, et cetera and his topline has improved dramatically so I don't think it's lack of muscle in the hind quarters. Here in Australia we're in severe drought so there's not much water...well anywhere. There's no grass or anything. I've heard soaked lupins can improve hydration although not sure how true that is.

His hard feed consists of:
Lucerene/Oaten chaff
Coolstance Copra
Easisport

Here is a slightly older photo of his conformation but his hind quarters look the same:

(Also, he is not camped out or downhill, he was just standing awkwardly on a slope)

Here a photo of him from a year ago. Keep in mind he is a rescue, I am not responsible for his body condition in this photo:

Different horse, right? Haha

Anyways, curious to see what you guys think. Thanks in advance!

 

[Penny Less]

I thought lupins were poisonous

 

[cundlegreen]

I wouldn't worry. Some horses do look like that, and he looks in good nick. Even in your rescue photo, he looks a lot better than rescue horses over here. As long as he has good muscle tone on his back, neck, and top of his quarters you should be fine.

 

[MuddyTB]

My TB sinks in there too as he has lost muscle tone with semi-retirement and lack of work. It's not a muscle they use a lot if not working hard.
My physio suggested an exercise where you stand by the hindquarter and gently pull the tail towards you. The horse shifts its weight onto that hind leg and you actually see this muscle twitch. It's a small movement and you repeat several times on each side.

I can't say I have seen a big difference but can't hurt to try.

 

[Spandale]

I wouldn't worry. Some horses do look like that, and he looks in good nick. Even in your rescue photo, he looks a lot better than rescue horses over here. As long as he has good muscle tone on his back, neck, and top of his quarters you should be fine.

Thanks! The second photo was after 6 months of owning him, he was much worse. He used to be severely ewe necked, had a massive bump like kissing spine on his back, his head looked way too big for his body and he had no topline...like none. I remember the day I saw half an inch of crest on his neck and I lost my mind lol. Vets diagnosed him with big head syndrome or dwarfism (he has none of those things) because his neck was so underdeveloped that his head looked too big for his body. They told me he could never compete or do dressage because his conformation was so out of whack. I obviously didn't listen though lol. We've only just started working on his topline, I honestly reckon it has so much more potential, I'm so excited to see more of his progress. *Sigh*, he's a stunner though.

 

[Spandale]

I thought lupins were poisonous

Nope, they're starting to gain popularity in a lot of horse feeds

 

[Spandale]

My TB sinks in there too as he has lost muscle tone with semi-retirement and lack of work. It's not a muscle they use a lot if not working hard.
My physio suggested an exercise where you stand by the hindquarter and gently pull the tail towards you. The horse shifts its weight onto that hind leg and you actually see this muscle twitch. It's a small movement and you repeat several times on each side.

I can't say I have seen a big difference but can't hurt to try.

Interesting! I'll be sure to give that a go, thanks!

 

[SallyBatty]

You don't say whether you do or not but, if you can, I would make sure his hard feed is well soaked which would help with hydration (it says that cool stance copra can be fed wet or dry).

 

[Spandale]

You don't say whether you do or not but, if you can, I would make sure his hard feed is well soaked which would help with hydration (it says that cool stance copra can be fed wet or dry).

We soak the feeds heaps, especially the ones with copra. Even though it might say on the packaging or website it can be eaten dry, unfortunately it's caused a lot of horses problems so it's quite dangerous if we don't soak every bit of it

 

[marmalade88]

I think he looks in good condition overall so I wouldn't worry. Some horses can just have bits that hold weight better than others. MY old boy always look thinner around the hips but had fat shoulders! I'd probably want more muscle tone/top line than actual weight.