how to chunk up ??

[Laura&&MackyDee]

i have an irish sports horse only hunted but now i want to chunk her up HOW?
how can i build my horses muscle up on her neck and around her bum? she is getting fatter but is still looking tucked up and skinny? she seems to have a showjumper style neck really skinny and bendy :/

desperate to chunk her up

any help ??

x

[rubydoo]

what are you feeding her at the moment ? how old is she ?

[gooogle]

Hi, complicated answer really! In a nut shell your mare has put down endurance type muscling required for hunting/racing hence the look she has. To produce a show or dressage appearance means reconditioning the muscle to the more bulked up type more like a weight lifter which means schooling to use them this way! There is no quick fix other than flatwork to build them up.
Lungeing over poles on a circle with the outer ends propped up to elevate them is an excellent exercise to really get the hind end working, good flexion of the joints and encourages them long and low. Use the poles flat and change the length of stride by altering the circle size either bringing them in where poles are closer to shorten and elevate the stride. This also encourages them to bring the inside hind underneath which in turn makes them use the muscles in the thorasic sling, all good! Or out to lengthen, remember the rhythm must stay the same.
In the saddle use shoulder in to further this during all warm ups, practice changing bend along the straight sides to flex and strengthen the topline muscles. Plenty of transistions and half halts. Use the circle of poles ridden and add an exercise with poles in a straight line with alternate ends raised! Phew
Food wise, as much good grass as you can get, remember they stretch that top line grazing! Can roll to work out their own niggles and aches and generally walk off stiffness. Plenty of good grub in three medium feeds if you can. Lots of threads on this one! Lastly nothing like a good strapping before bedtime! Oh and try not to let her get freezing cold.You should see results by end of june ish Good luck
Let your horse enjoy his hacking fairly freely, but I suggest that you pick him up for short periods to remind him. Change diagonals as you would in the menage and ensure your canters/gallops occur on both leads!

[sageandonion]

Get yourself an instructor and have lessons regularly and learn how to school corrrectly. You must know what you are doing or you will be getting nowhere or worse building incorrrect muscle. In the meantime, have said instructor also school your horse for you. I do not agree with just feeding to put on fat with cereals, plenty of good quality fibre.

[GinaGeo]

You don't want to just fatten him up, you want to build muscle. The above posts give good tips to achieve that.

You do want a good quality feed, I use a balancer and fibre for mine. If I wanted to add safe condition I'd use Micronized Linseed, good quality protein will help to build muscle. Just putting on fat is not the same and fat cannot turn into muscle...

Obviously conformation and type will be factors as well so take that into account. Obviously age is also important, so if something is younger, there may still be some filling out to do.

[fruity]

GinaGeo makes a good point. My ISH is rising 7 this year and has only just started to fill out. In the last 3 months he has filled up, come up behind the saddle from work and thikened through the loin (apparently an a-typical weak spot in ID x). He was quite base bnarrow as well and has started to square off more
That said, next year will be his year I think and lots of people have told me ISH tend to mature well and propoerly by 8yo

[GinaGeo]

Most of the Irish bred horses I've known, including my own Connie X, didn't fully mature until about 7/8 years old. Mine was really gawky and gangly for ages, he's really chunked up now, despite me keeping him leaner than you'd have them for showing.