Young Horse Muscle Building

[seriously festive equine]

Hi all! Sorry I am aware that there are probably 100 threads on this subject! I have a problem... I have a 5 year old cob gelding standing at 14.3 hands. I broke him in just before he turned 4 and have only hacked him. He is very gentle but can be a bit difficult on the ground. We have been working at groundwork this year and he has been improving. I have started schooling him to prepare for dressage and jumping in the future but I have found he is (understandably) lacking in a lot of muscle. I know this is normal and I had noticed it slightly when we were hacking but I realise it is much more prominent now when the work is hard. He struggles with circles is disunited and unable to strike into canter without leaping. Very unsteady on his feet. But when we are hacking he has been brilliant. I did notice the canter problem recently though. He has good hooves back and teeth. I am not overweight for him (I am only 10.5 stone) and he is generallya happy lad. How can I build muscle!!! Please help!

 

[shortstuff99]

The muscle will come as he ages and with correct work and feeding.

I wouldn't try and work him hard at 5 to try and gain muscle, especially as cobs can be so straight moving through the hocks that working too hard at this age can cause a lot of issues down the line.

 

[seriously festive equine]

Alright thanks for the response. I have never trained a project or brought on a young horse before so its a big learning curve! But so rewarding. Is there anything I can do on the ground exercises etc. that will help build muscle? He has no muscle at all in his fore quarters but his hind quarters is quite well muscled. Also anything I can do to help the uneven canter transition? Thanks so much

 

[Barton Bounty]

Cobs also can take longer to mature than any other horses, so it will happen just probably at a slower rate

 

[seriously festive equine]

Cobs also can take longer to mature than any other horses, so it will happen just probably at a slower rate

Yes thats what I thought. Thanks for responding

 

[SEL]

Welcome to my world!

The changes in my cob between 5 and 6 are marked. He used to look quite scrawny, bum high and narrow chest. He turned 6 this year and my saddler was out the other week and said he's totally changed. Evened out, better muscle tone, developed a chest etc.

Plus remember they are designed to trot so canter can be hard. We had a minor field injury in January and with 4 weeks off followed by awful weather we totally lost canter. It's only just coming back and transitions are dire on the right rein - but he can win walk / trot dressage without issue.

Regular bodywork, good saddle and a mix of work - hacking if he was doing a wonky growth spurt - did more for us than any feed.

 

[seriously festive equine]

Welcome to my world!

The changes in my cob between 5 and 6 are marked. He used to look quite scrawny, bum high and narrow chest. He turned 6 this year and my saddler was out the other week and said he's totally changed. Evened out, better muscle tone, developed a chest etc.

Plus remember they are designed to trot so canter can be hard. We had a minor field injury in January and with 4 weeks off followed by awful weather we totally lost canter. It's only just coming back and transitions are dire on the right rein - but he can win walk / trot dressage without issue.

Regular bodywork, good saddle and a mix of work - hacking if he was doing a wonky growth spurt - did more for us than any feed.

Thanks for responding! I have found he is amazing in trot but struggling in pole work and has a narrow chest. Thanks for the reminder of how quickly they can change! I will continue hacking and in hand work until next spring I think.

 

[seriously festive equine]

Also has anyone found lunging beneficial for youngsters building muscle?

 

[shortstuff99]

Rather than lunge I would do correct in-hand work to help teach the horse correct way of working. I use a variation of Philipe Karl, but the Cobs Can series by Omar Rabia is a good series to follow.

 

[sjdress]

My horse as a 5 yo very weak. Hacking, hacking and more hacking has helped her. Lunging would be too much pressure on her joints and if she does any arena work it’s very short and sweet as she was physically not strong enough. She’s 6 this year and has chunked up massively and I think it’s down to hacking and a good diet, turnout etc.

 

[dapple_grey]

Also has anyone found lunging beneficial for youngsters building muscle?

I much prefer long-reining over lunging - the latter is very hard on young joints. I used to long rein my last youngster everywhere and did lots of walking up hills. His topline was really well developed as a result.

 

[seriously festive equine]

OK thanks everyone. Will stick to hacking and waiting for him to mature in his own time.

 

[SEL]

My horse as a 5 yo very weak. Hacking, hacking and more hacking has helped her. Lunging would be too much pressure on her joints and if she does any arena work it’s very short and sweet as she was physically not strong enough. She’s 6 this year and has chunked up massively and I think it’s down to hacking and a good diet, turnout etc.

Agree with this. I only started increasing arena work at the start of his 6th year and rarely lunge.

24:7 turnout almost all year for mine too.