How to develop his back muscles? Help!

[DITZ]

Has anyone got any suggestions on how to develop my horses back muscles on either side of his spine? I have had him for 4-5 months and he has always needed to build it up there, the saddler who fitted his saddle suggested I use a really padded numnah which I do but not sure if there are any particular exercises I can do to specifically train this area as well. He's a TB and a light/med weight one at that so isnt prone to being broad anywhere. I tried to ride him bare back today - ouch! It was like sitting on a bony fence! Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[galadriel]

My very narrow TB has been benefiting from a high-fat feed regime; she was very skinny when I got her, and never did seem to develop that area until recently (year & half later). I think it may just have "waited" until she was quite "full" in the rest of her body before it started filling in. (Sorry, it's an odd notion but I figured I could at least share it :) )

Also, http://www.horse-sense.org/archives/belllift.htm might be helpful.

[virtuallyhorses]

The back muscles really need hill work and trot poles to really get them working. They do take a lot of time (relatively) to bring back if they've withered away. You need to be a lot more patient as they do 'double-duty' because they're under the saddle, so don't rush out and send him up a lot of hills on the first day out or you'll end up with a stiff and sore horse that will resent the saddle and therefore try to hollow away from it - doing exactly the opposite of what you want :)

[floppy]

my pony didnt have much backmuscles when i bougt her..she was just chubby. Since i bought her in march all i have down is everyday lightly hack out giving her feeds or lunging her or working her in the arena with poles etc. She now has now got good back muscles that i have just got a new leather saddle fitted. Her old saddle was a wintec and i use to ride with it with eithe r asaddle blanket underneath or just a saddle pad.

[Retty]

Hi, my boyfriend had an under weight Arab that had hardly any muscle and was told by the back specialist to do lots of walking and trotting out on hacks. Also a good feed such as Baileys Top Line and Blue chip really help.

[Anja & clyde]

Hi, my horse hasnt got much musual on his back at the moment ( he was ridden in a narrow/med gulleted saddle for 2 yrs) right now we are doing trotting work (change the diaganal every ten steps( trotting)) he is being hard fed. sometimes he has hill work
clyde is in a med/wide gulleted interchangable 2000 wintec ( it means we can make it wider as he developes more)
and one thing else he gets is selenium as we dont have it in our grass . ( it helped with building are anglos back up so we are trying it with clyde)
I hope this helps and dosent confuse you !
anja

[tarkia]

Build her up with some good feeds like blue chip, that can work wonders for horses (no I don't work for blue chip:D )
Also uphill work does wonders for horse's back muscles and back legs and trotting poles are good to but make sure you don't bore your horse going over trotting poles 10,000 times! Make it exciting space sets of about three trotting poles in different places, and make sure you get a nice working or collected trot. Make sure you don't over-excercise with the hill work and trotting poles because your horse will be aching! You know what it feels like with sore muscles or back :D

[Tootsie4U]

When grooming, I take my hoof pick and scratch under his belly. ZIP! Up goes his back. Do this occassionally as a bit of a work out and reminder to them! It wont make him Arny or anything, but it helps.

[DITZ]

Thanks for all your advice. We do quite a lot of hill work but perhaps I need to do more as it doesnt seem to be making much difference. I cant do the trotting poles yet as the ground here is still too boggy. I would like to increase his feed but he is stabled at the moment and dont want to make him fizzy. Will Baileys or Top Line be OK do you think or will it make him hot. At the moment he is on "old faithful" which is quite a quiet mix. Also he is in a Wintec interchangeable but in the narrow fitting as measured by the saddler less than 6 months ago.

Another really puzzling question which I am sure has a really obvious answer but I'm blowed if I can find it in any book and thats are you supposed to keep changing the saddle straps you fit the girth onto or do you just choose two and stick to them. And why are there three anyway?

[Retty]

Hi, Baileys top line No4 is for medium to hard work, blue chip does not hot horses up (well not mine anyway) and actually seems to calm my mare down :) just wish it wasn't so expensive! Don't worry I dont work for Blue chip but I just think it's an excellent feed, keeps my mare in good condition without having to feed her loads and doesn't hot her up - wish there was something like it but without the price tag! Anyone know of any similar but less expensive feed?

[Tootsie4U]

They are called BILLETS (straps to hook girth to) and I think there are 3 so you have a reserve in case one tears. Someone correct me if Im wrong.

[Anja & clyde]

The 3rd one if for if one breaks

[Waikato Valuta]

A good exercise for building back mucels is this. Get a towel and fold it in half lengthways then get a helper on the other dside of the horse and hold one end of the towl each. The slowly lift the horse useing the towel and hold for 5 sec. Be carefull to lift up and down slowly so as not to jar his back. Do this 5 times twice a day and you should see amazing results. You dont have to hace no back mucle to use this exercise either many dressage people use it to healp the horse use there stomach mucle and round when being ridden. I am total amaxed at the results i have seen with my horse. He has a bowed back but with this exercises and a bit more food it is almost normal.

[Mehitabel]

about the girth straps - if you look closely at how they're attached to the saddle, you will see that the first one is on one piece of webbing, and the second 2 are on another. so you use either the first and second, or the first and third, so that if one piece of webbing breaks you are still attached by the other one. never use 2nd and 3rd, as if that webbing breaks you are in trouble! also make sure you're on the same straps on both sides, as otherwise you get different pressure which over time can warp the saddle and give the horse a sore back.

[janet hakeney]

Two more suggestions.

First lunging in a 'Pessoa' lunging aid has worked absolute wonders for one of my horses who was rather weak in the back behind the saddle. It looks horrendous when you first se it ...like you have trussed the horse up like an oven ready chicken....but they go very freely in them and it influences the horse from the hind leg right through to the front end.What swayed me was that a lot of equine physios use them for re-hab. You can see them in most good horsey mail order catalogues.

Second....an exercise used by both the 'classical' and the 'natural' brigade.....the idea is, at halt, to get the horse to move his back feet under him towards his front feet.....and end up so that all four feet would fit on a dinner plate. (it takes a long time to get to that) Start off by touching a hind leg with a long stick until the horse brings it further forward and puts his weight on it. Touch the other leg ditto....then with the hind legs 'more under' .Encourage the head and neck to lower towards the ground and stretch forwards (carrot helps) without stepping forwards with the front feet. This stretches the topline and brings the back up and engages the back muscles you are trying to develop. The 'naturals' use it to get horses to stand on a podium and the 'classicals' use it as a preparatory for teaching piaffe. It should be done very quietly without force or stress so that the horse relaxes and is calm as it stretches. It is shown to good effect in Ricard Heinrichs book and video which came out last year called something like.....schooling horses in hand.

Hope this helps.
Jan

[galadriel]

That "more under" exercise is really interesting sounding.

From what I've read, the idea behind the Pessoa lunging gear is to help the horse feel where it is when it moves; makes sense to me. Still incredibly expensive.

[Rakeli]

I'm not aware that you need to keep changing the straps - my saddler told me to only use the front and back one as he needed the preesure to be at the back, not the middle.

[janet hakeney]

I made my own for about £20. when you examine it there isn't that much to it...a couple of pulleys, some rope and clips.A piece of old hosepipe with rope through for the tailpiece does nicely!!!

[galadriel]

Do you have a pic of the one you made? :) The catalogs I've got don't show it clearly enough to duplicate it. Seems like it'd be an awfully useful tool.