i wish to show my 14hh arabx mare in part bred arab class, i cant get much muscle tone on her, she is hacked out 3 times a week lots of hill work, and schooled 3 times a week with a day off, if i havent got time too ride her then she is put on the lunge.
she is fed, 1 large round scoop allen an paige calm and condition, 1 large round scoop sugar beet, an 2 large round scoops Alfa-A twice a day.
anyone got any ideas on how i can build her up, exercises etc.
would post a pic to show you but i cant work out how to do it.
please help
Liz
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there no such thing as a problem horse, just misunderstood ones.
AFA - Klamath Algae has done wonders for my horse's condition. I bought him 6 months ago, skin and bone and now he is a mighty horse. I also supplement his feed with 2-3 lb daily of fresh fruit or vegetables. He has a salt stone in his stable to lick. Lungeing on a slope is good to build muscle.
strapping will help as well. you're feeding the right kind of stuff - perhaps add pink powder or something to make sure she's able to use all the nutrients in her feed?
Like Chapsi said, lunging on a hill is good to build muscle BECAUSE it makes them use their hind end more than if they are on flat ground.
You can also attach side reins to your tack (do this gradually after a proper introduction to them) while lunging. This has the same affect and encourages your horse to use impulsion from behind. Not everyone agrees with the use of side reins though.
When you are lunging your horse, dont let him just plod around in a circle. Stay focused on what his hind end is doing and his head placement. Keep an eye on where his feet fall. If you are doing it right, his hind feet should be landing in front of his front feet. Plodding around is taking the easy road. Encourage your horse to actually do some work - its also good for his mind.
You don't necessarily need to work a horse 7 days a week to gain good muscle tone, it is more about the quality of work you do with the time you have available. Look at your schooling techniques, what are you doing as far as exercises go to help build muscle? Also when hacking, do you just give a long rein and take it easy? If so why not look at doing some schooling practises whilst out.
As for feed, you should not just feed a horse up for the show ring. Look at feeding ad-lib hay and give as much access to grass as possible. As for your feed, I would possibly take her off sugarbeet, look at getting a cool mix instead of calm and condition, if she tends to get fizzy. Also if she does get fizzy, Alpha A is possibly wrong, as it contains molasses....hense heating the horse up. Look at a molasses free chaff.....how about hi-fi? How often do you feed and the amount you state is that per feed or the total amount per day? If it is per feed, I would be inclined to say you are over feeding the concentrated feed. Another tip, look at readigrass!
Just keep up with exercising her, don't over do it though.
For feeds, keep to the same diet and blue chip feeds seem to be good to add a shine to your horses coat. Some horse at my yard have blue chip and they seem to look healthy and happy.
I would be careful of blue chip, if you horse is easily heated up. I am not condeming it, just saying be careful. I fed it to my boy and found it fizzed him up....and he's not a fizzy horse! As for putting on condition, it does to a point, but not like exercise would and coat shine....feeding oil does this just as well for a tiny piece of the price!
I would advise that you cut her work down to 5 days a week for a couple of weeks so as she has time to let her muscles grow from the work she has been given. I feed calm and condition and it has done my cob wonders.
Would you be able to feed her a balancer like blue chip or equilibra? This would help her get the most out of here food, and you would be able to cut down on the concentrates. A bag or two may help before the showing season.
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