What do you think of him thread I'm afraid!!!

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Quartz

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Hi, don't want to bore you all but could you have a look at my album and let me know what you think. He is a 6 year old selle francais. He has competed before I bought him in cross country, show jumping and dressage. Since buying him in March I have been using him to continue learning on and hacking. I would like to compete him in dressage next year. He is of good breeding but blind in one eye. Looking at the pictures of him what do you think of how he looks with regards to shape, weight and muscle. Are there any areas you think I could work on and suggestions on exercises for any muscle building needed. Thanks

http://s895.photobucket.com/albums/ac160/quartz85/Horse 2/

Hope the link works, if it doesn't let me know and I will try again.
 
It's hard to say because there isn't a picute that he is standing square and from the side, they are all funny angles. He looks very cute though :p From what I can see he just generally lacks muscle all over I would also be a little concerned by the shape of his feet he has quite long toes
 
What a lovely, lovely horse. And a credit to you too.

What is your management of him in terms of what you feed him etc.??

How often is he shod?
 
He was shod in October and is due to see the Farrier on Thursday, so don't worry not letting his feet over grow. What do you suggest for exercise to help build muscle. I do one lesson a week being either dressage or jumping. Then I ride him 3 - 4 other times during the week (ranging from 30 mins - 1 hour). Once a hack and the rest either pole work or dressage. Where we live is very flat, so not much to gain on a hack. Any suggestions?
 
Since mid October he has moved back to the local stables. At the moment he is either turned out all day and in at night or out for an hour during the day in the ring and then boxed, this depends on the weather and if the YO can put them out in the field. A little bit complicated due to the contract she has with the field rental and the fact we live in the Marais which is very wet at this time of year. He is fed a cereal mix 1.5 L twice a day, and no not ablib hay only once to twice a day. During the summer he was at mine in my field so was out 24/7.
 
Mmm, well I would certainly want to see him given as much has as he wants - you always want some left when the net has been emptied.

I'd like to see him better covered - and whilst some of it will be a lack of muscle, muscle can only develop if it is fed adequately..........

If these are recent photos I would expect him to drop off through the winter without the adequate supply of hay he needs.

I'd say his feet were also a little long, and personally I'd be looking at less time in between shoeing. Mine never get left longer than 5 weeks - and often it's less in the summer.
 
amymay said:
Mmm, well I would certainly want to see him given as much has as he wants - you always want some left when the net has been emptied.

I'd like to see him better covered - and whilst some of it will be a lack of muscle, muscle can only develop if it is fed adequately..........

If these are recent photos I would expect him to drop off through the winter without the adequate supply of hay he needs.

I'd say his feet were also a little long, and personally I'd be looking at less time in between shoeing. Mine never get left longer than 5 weeks - and often it's less in the summer.
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I would like to give him more hay personally as have been thinking the rations seem to be a little tight to be honest. However, he is on full livery and the YO does not take kindly to me interfering ( and yes I find this particularly annoying). I hate to say this but think I would not be able to argue the hay supply unless he lost more weight. The photos were taken yesterday so yes very recent. Do you know what, this makes me mad (not you but my YO) I said I wanted him to see the Farrier and she looked at his feet and said he didn't need to!!! She seems to be more of the opinion if they are not damaged they are fine. Anyway this is the French countryside and to them I completely spoil my horse and they take the mickey out of me all the time. For example I dry him off before rugging him up again. And also dry off his ankles and legs with a towel after being in the wet riding.
Other than feeding up what can I do to build the muscle up, some good exercises?
 
He is very fine for a Selle Francais, looks like he has a large proportion of the thoroughbred side.

I'd be feeding him up coming into the winter, the muscle is important, but I'd want the weight on him first!

x
 
OK I'm going to disagree slightly with the others. His weight is ok (for now) but would not want him to lose any which is why the others are concerned coming into winter!!

He is YOUR HORSE and you pay the bills. It may just be the difference in language but you sound quite young?

too be honest it is no good telling us he gets cereal mix there are so many on the market. He not only needs mix but also some forage in his feed too, like chaff He should be fed as much hay as he wants maybe if necessary you could offer to pay a little extra (you shouldn't have to)
He needs a well balanced diet probably a feed balancer to build the muscle he needs without the correct vitamins etc it is difficult to build any muscle no matter how good and correct the work!

As for the work he really needs t stretch over his back long and low, but still on a contact so NOT a loose rein. This may take him a little while to understand what you want. Also lots of walk halt and walk trot really making him step under with his hind legs. lateral work will also help.

Yes his toes are too long so make sure he is shod no more than 8wks apart and ideally 6wks
 
Hi,

Your horse has a very honest look about him - he seems lovely.

Sorry if I did not understand this correctly, but did you say if he doesn't go out he could go out for an hour in the ring, then stabled? In which case does he have enough hay to last him through the day? (and then night?)

With regards to the mix, whilst these types of feed, i.e hard feed are great and have their place, nothing is ever going to replace good forage from a diet and that should be always a number one priority imo.

x
 
soulfull said:
OK I'm going to disagree slightly with the others. His weight is ok (for now) but would not want him to lose any which is why the others are concerned coming into winter!!

He is YOUR HORSE and you pay the bills. It may just be the difference in language but you sound quite young?

too be honest it is no good telling us he gets cereal mix there are so many on the market. He not only needs mix but also some forage in his feed too, like chaff He should be fed as much hay as he wants maybe if necessary you could offer to pay a little extra (you shouldn't have to)
He needs a well balanced diet probably a feed balancer to build the muscle he needs without the correct vitamins etc it is difficult to build any muscle no matter how good and correct the work!

As for the work he really needs t stretch over his back long and low, but still on a contact so NOT a loose rein. This may take him a little while to understand what you want. Also lots of walk halt and walk trot really making him step under with his hind legs. lateral work will also help.

Yes his toes are too long so make sure he is shod no more than 8wks apart and ideally 6wks
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Right, OK where to start with this one. Hehehe.... I sound quite young, unfortunately, must mean I sound like a prat and have no idea what I'm talking about. Well the reason behind that is quite shameful as I do not argue with the YO too much as to be honest she does know more than me (proved in previous posts about worries about his food). I can only go by what I see with regards to the food ie. cereal mix. Not entirely sure of what it is exactly, but now feel such shame I will be asking exactly what it is on Thursday when I next see her. Round these parts asking too many questions can be deemed to be untrustful. However, you have deeply shamed me and I shall be rectifying the problem asap as mentioned above. I will be looking into a good vitamin supplement from what you have said, to help balance the food etc. Oh and yes I am quite young if you regard early 30's as young!!!!
 
heidirusso said:
Hi,

Your horse has a very honest look about him - he seems lovely.

Sorry if I did not understand this correctly, but did you say if he doesn't go out he could go out for an hour in the ring, then stabled? In which case does he have enough hay to last him through the day? (and then night?)

With regards to the mix, whilst these types of feed, i.e hard feed are great and have their place, nothing is ever going to replace good forage from a diet and that should be always a number one priority imo.

x
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Sorry if I was not clear. It depends on the weather with regards to his turnout. If it is not too wet the horses are turned out to field duriing the day and brought back in to the box at night. When it is too wet for the field they are turned out into the ring for an hour each and then back in the box. To be honest I very much doubt the hay would last through the night, no.
 
Other than feeding up what can I do to build the muscle up, some good exercises?
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You can't - an animal needs to be fed the correct quanitites in order to build muscle.

You are the customer - if the horse needs more hay tell them you expect him to get it.
 
Quartz said:
I would like to give him more hay personally as have been thinking the rations seem to be a little tight to be honest. However, he is on full livery and the YO does not take kindly to me interfering ( and yes I find this particularly annoying). I hate to say this but think I would not be able to argue the hay supply unless he lost more weight. The photos were taken yesterday so yes very recent. Do you know what, this makes me mad (not you but my YO) I said I wanted him to see the Farrier and she looked at his feet and said he didn't need to!!! She seems to be more of the opinion if they are not damaged they are fine.
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:( I think the YO needs reminding that YOU own the horse and that YOU are her customer. You have every right to feed your horse differently or change the farrier visits. It is difficult when you have a YO like that though :( dont let her bully you though

Muscle gain.... you can feed something like baileys top line conditioning cubes or mix but this will only help with lots of schooling! This can be when you are out hacking aswell it doesnt have to just be in the school :)

good luck with him he looks lovely!
 
Op is in France, where I believe a lot of the stuff we feed isn't available. Is that right op?
Ad lib hay, definitely. Probably more than he is getting now, but you could use a small holed haynet to make it last longer.
I think his feet look long because your farrier isn't doing a great job with balance, it's the overall shape I'm not sure about. Probably if you put up another thread with hoof photos you can get better input from some clever people on that.
 
Quartz said:
Hi, don't want to bore you all but could you have a look at my album and let me know what you think. He is a 6 year old selle francais. He has competed before I bought him in cross country, show jumping and dressage. Since buying him in March I have been using him to continue learning on and hacking. I would like to compete him in dressage next year. He is of good breeding but blind in one eye. Looking at the pictures of him what do you think of how he looks with regards to shape, weight and muscle. Are there any areas you think I could work on and suggestions on exercises for any muscle building needed. Thanks

http://s895.photobucket.com/albums/ac160/quartz85/Horse 2/

Hope the link works, if it doesn't let me know and I will try again.
Click to expand...

I think he is sweet. He looks like he lacks muscle behind, and he appears to have a weakish neck both of which can be worked on easily enough. I noticed that he has quite high withers, so make sure his saddle fit is spot on, if there is any doubt get a qualified saddle fitter out to reassess. I also noticed his toes were slightly long and he also has very long pasterns so be careful for tendon injuries, as this confirmation could predispose him to tendon problems if you are not careful with regards to fast/hard work. I also noticed he holds his head fairly low (whether that is just the photo I'm not sure) so he would be more prone to working on his forehand - he looks more muscled in front which would indicate that maybe he pulls himself along (don't they all!!) rather than uses his engine (hind) to push him along. However, I am probably being very critical. I think you have a nice horse, he looks genuine and kind.
 
Tinypony said:
Op is in France, where I believe a lot of the stuff we feed isn't available. Is that right op?
Ad lib hay, definitely. Probably more than he is getting now, but you could use a small holed haynet to make it last longer.
I think his feet look long because your farrier isn't doing a great job with balance, it's the overall shape I'm not sure about. Probably if you put up another thread with hoof photos you can get better input from some clever people on that.
Click to expand...

Yes I am in France and I don't believe I have ever seen most of the stuff you lot talk about. Can get vitamins etc. And have found a food supplement supplier from England who will supply to France, so can do some research and see whats good for him. Funnily enough my stables doesn't use haynets they put the hay on the stable floor.
Will put some hoof photos up a bit later, if I have any, if not will put some up when he has his new shoes for any comments etc. Thanks for you advice.
 
applecart14 said:
I think he is sweet. He looks like he lacks muscle behind, and he appears to have a weakish neck both of which can be worked on easily enough. I noticed that he has quite high withers, so make sure his saddle fit is spot on, if there is any doubt get a qualified saddle fitter out to reassess. I also noticed his toes were slightly long and he also has very long pasterns so be careful for tendon injuries, as this confirmation could predispose him to tendon problems if you are not careful with regards to fast/hard work. I also noticed he holds his head fairly low (whether that is just the photo I'm not sure) so he would be more prone to working on his forehand - he looks more muscled in front which would indicate that maybe he pulls himself along (don't they all!!) rather than uses his engine (hind) to push him along. However, I am probably being very critical. I think you have a nice horse, he looks genuine and kind.
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I know he does need some work and think you are right in the fact that he does carry his head low. I originally put the post up for tips as I did think he was rather lacking on muscle, and I would say he definately works more on his forehand than from behind. Interesting info you have put in here about being careful for tendon injuries, will bear that in mind. I wonder if that has anything to do with why he often was lame after cross country comps? Its why they sold him on. Do you have any tips on exercises for building muscle behind and in the neck. I have taken all the input about food and building him up onboard and am going to act on it, so I make sure I get it all right.
 
Quartz said:
I have taken all the input about food and building him up onboard and am going to act on it, so I make sure I get it all right.
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How refreshing :) someone who asks for advise and actually uses it. Good luck with your horse and keep us posted on how things are going :)
 
Quartz said:
Do you have any tips on exercises for building muscle behind and in the neck. .
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Sorry I am a bit clueless in that regard. People reckon raised trotting poles help with things like improving the back end, but I think you'd have to do this everyday for about a year before noticing any difference! I'm led to believe that muscles are built up like building blocks by correct schooling/riding and a horse that is sound to be able to do the work being asked. I'm sure there are many people who would be able to help you more than me with your question ;)
 
Quartz said:
Right, OK where to start with this one. Hehehe.... I sound quite young, unfortunately, must mean I sound like a prat and have no idea what I'm talking about. Well the reason behind that is quite shameful as I do not argue with the YO too much as to be honest she does know more than me (proved in previous posts about worries about his food). I can only go by what I see with regards to the food ie. cereal mix. Not entirely sure of what it is exactly, but now feel such shame I will be asking exactly what it is on Thursday when I next see her. Round these parts asking too many questions can be deemed to be untrustful. However, you have deeply shamed me and I shall be rectifying the problem asap as mentioned above. I will be looking into a good vitamin supplement from what you have said, to help balance the food etc. Oh and yes I am quite young if you regard early 30's as young!!!!
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so sorry did not intend you to feel this way at all.

AS for muscle, again it comes down to correct feed AND exercise, he needs to work from behind, which at first might mean slowing him down to almost a crawl, he needs to work long and low, but not just with his head low, it needs to be coming from behind over tracking in walk first.
Hope that makes sense as i am not the best in explaining
 
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