Building muscle with limited exercise

[Zingy]

Is it possible to do much to build muscle with only very limited exercise? :confused: My horse can't do anything more than walking in hand due to various back and leg problems, and as a result he's lost a huge amount of muscle. That in itself isn't a major issue, but I'm slightly bothered that it will ultimately affect how he moves and make the problems that he's got even worse. He enjoys doing carrot stretches, but is there anything else we could be doing that would help?

[xloopylozzax]

lots and lots of brushing or strapping, there was a thread about this yesterday will search for it...

ETA- http://www.newrider.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=146058&highlight=strapping

if you have any hills near you, then walk up them to make it harder, thats if you are lucky and have a hill unlike me probably the flattest place in yorkshire :rolleyes:

[Sexy Sietske]

Strapping, carrot stretches and hill work are the way forward :) Clicker training to move around obsticles, bending, walking over poles, onto tarp, small ledge, backing up, stepping sideways along a fence line/over a pole, back to walk transitions? Long reining/ground driving to indroduce lateral work at walk??

Use your imagination, as you can see I have a horse that gets easily bored so I have to entertain him before he entertains himself :rolleyes:

[Est]

Some exercises you can do at a standstill:

Back lifts
Put your fingers on the midline of his belly, centred on the girth groove or sliughtly further back, and wiggle them up into the skin. He should tuck his belly in and raise his back slightly around the seat area which works the muscles along the topline. Repeat several times and build up the number of reps each day.

Tucks
*Be aware of kick danger*
Stand behind him and put your fingers either side of the top of his tail, in the groove where the hamstrings start. Wiggle your fingers from side to side firmly. He should "tuck" his bum under and lift his back, again working the muscles over his back and also the top of his quarters. Repeat as before.

Wither/shoulder lifts
Standing infront and slightly to one side of his chest, place you hand flat on his breastbone. *Very* gently, increase the pressure of the push. You're aiming for him to rock his weight back ever so slightly. As he does so, the muscles either side of his withers/shoulders (in the area that would be hollowed if muscle has been lost) should lift and fill. Release the pressure the second this happens, as otherwise he may misunderstand and take a step backwards. Repeat as before.

For tucks and wither/shoulder lifts, it's a good idea to alternate which side of the body you stand so you can check out what happens on the near and the off side (the amount of lift, comfort level etc can vary).

Hope that helps :)

[Zingy]

Thanks for the suggestions :) The lifts and in hand exercises are definitely things we can work on, though I'm less sure about strapping, because when physios have done similar exercises it generally involves him rearing. I don't think he really appreciates thinking he's being hit ;)

I've just thought, I had a TTouch book somewhere which I'm sure had a load of groundwork exercises in it. Must dig it out as they'd probably help as well :)