How do you fill out a horse hip bone area?
lala1229 asked:
My horse who was a “saved” horse is having problems filling out in her hip bones. She looks great in the stomach, legs, etc. but her hip bones/butt area just stick out. How do you get this area to fill out?
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My horse who was a “saved” horse is having problems filling out in her hip bones. She looks great in the stomach, legs, etc. but her hip bones/butt area just stick out. How do you get this area to fill out?
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5 Responses to “How do you fill out a horse hip bone area?”
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It could just be her conformation, but usually more groceries are needed.
If she is lacking muscle, I would exercise her on collection and framing up, reaching underneath and hills. All that help builds muscle.
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Building up the hind quarters with work will give it more bulk and definition. You could feed sugar beet or boiled barley which is also good for weight gain but some horses, especially certain lines of TB’s just have goose rumps and pokey hips and no matter what you do, they always keep that lean look behind. If she’s covered everywhere else and after getting some muscle tone etc, she still looks like that, it might just be that she’s built that way.
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Feed him Twinkies, that worked on my wife.
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A bit more protein in the diet, and steady work, consistent with her level of fitness. a bit of lunging in sidereins; some light hillwork, as already suggested. Also, just walking straight up & down hills does wonders, as does walk - halt - reinback - walk exercise, if stuck in the ring!
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First you need to make sure that she is meeting her daily nutritional requirements and is allowed to graze on high quality grass at least two hours a day (the longer the better). Also you need to consider switching her to a higher quality feed. If she is 15 years or older I strongly suggest Purina’s Senior feed. This feed concentrates on the problem areas that are typical of most older horses (back, point of shoulder and hips). If grass is scarce then you might want to add two flakes of hay that have a higher amount of protein such as alfalfa combined with costal, etc. What you have described to me are called rafter hips. Rafter hips are caused by a lack of muscling. So combined with better nutrition you need to increase the amount daily exercise your horse is getting. It is crucial that you keep increasing the physical demand and also the difficulty of your lessons while still remaining appropriate to age, ability, and skill level. Before and after each exercise you need to record your horses pulse (number of heartbeats in a minute), respiratory (how many breaths your horse takes in a minute) rate, and your horses recovery rate (how long it takes your horses breathing and pulse to return to normal after exercise.) This is important in judging your horses fitness level and knowing how and when to increase the amount of exercise. That being said it is time to focus on the quality of work your horse is getting. For this the best thing will be to ride under a knowledgeable horse person or qualified riding instructor. I say this because you will need to learn how to get your horse to engage his hindquarters and use her muscles correctly, thus, building well-developed muscles in the rear end. Here are the nine steps in which you will need to complete in order to help your horse build muscle through his hindquarters, back, stomach, and neck. For more information on these steps, the difference between correct and incorrect, and how to do it see The Pony Club Manuals D- A. Also be sure to check out Lessons with Lendon by Lendon Gray.
The nine steps are:
1.Calmness, relaxation, and confidence
2.Regular Gaits with true rhythm and steady working tempo
3.Free forward movement
4.Contact
5.On the aids and on the bit
6.Straightness
7.Improvement of balance and suppleness. (Lateral Work)
8.Impulsion
9.Collection, self- carriage, roundness, and lightness
Along with consistency you may also consider doing raised cavelletti. Cavelletti is about 4-7 poles raised anywhere from 2” to 12” off the ground and spaced out depending on how large your horses stride is. Cavelletti is used to help the horse use his hind end to thrust him forward (using those booty muscles!). Cavelletti can be placed at different part of the arena, ridden at a walk, trot, and canter (NOTE: you will need to adjust the spacing of the cavetti depending on the gait and the size of your horse’s stride), cavelletti can also be used when longing.
Here is a picture to give you an idea of what cavelletti are and how it is used.
[IMG]http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z106/xxwendythegreatx/horse_jump.jpg[/IMG]
I would recommend that you use cavelletti periodically. Once every other week should be sufficient. In addition to cavelletti gymnastic jumping will also be beneficial. This should be done NO more than once a week. Gymnastic jumping are series of fences (low is fine) that are set at a distance that challenges your horse’s coordination, balance, and strength.. Whenever you are jumping you need to be riding under an experienced trainer and someone who knows and understands the correct distances and level of difficulty for both you and your horse. Don’t forget your helmet!
Here is a picture to give you an EXAMPLE of what a gymnastics grid looks like.
If you are a western rider don’t worry! Gymnastic jumping is not necessary! Instead you can go on a small hack and walk up and down hills. Once your horse is fit you can try trotting up hills and walking down.
You need to remember that you WILL NOT get results overnight. Conditioning a horse and building muscle take time and it needs to be done carefully. Also the amount of exercise, the age and weight of your horse, need to be coherent with the amount and type of food your horse is eating. Once your horse starts to get into shape not only will she be more muscular but be more physically, and emotionally sound. Stress free is the way to be!
Here are some books that will really help you with your problem
1.)The United States Pony Club Manuals of Horsemanship levels d-A by Susan E. Harris
2.)Lessons with Lendon by Lendon Gray
3.)Don’t shoot the dog by Karen Pryor
4.)101 Dressage Exercises by Jec Aristotle
5.)The Ultimate Horse Behavior and Training Book by Linda Tellington- Jones.
I hope I was able to help. Let me know if you have any mores questions on how to do something or why we do it, or if you need ANY more help.
Happy Trails!
:Kiersten