Horse Fitness?

Question

What's the best way to build muscle on a horse's hindquarters and back?

Answer 1

Lots of hill work. Walking, trotting or even backing. Reinbacks and turns will also help.

Working in a frame whilst doing these things will also strengthen his back.

Answer 2

a pool. for horses i mean. we use an underwater threadmill for exercising our studs. it works wonders! also a daily swim is good too. if you can not find these services do a lot of backing uphill. a pond works. back through it. backing works wonders!

Answer 3

Hello,

I am with CeCe on this one.

WE do LOTS of trail riding, LONG trails 5-8 hour rides and ride on hills.  The hills, mountain riding really builds up strength, muscle and BUTTS!!!

Our performance horses, love to do this exercising, since it gets them out of the arena and gives them something else to do and keeps them from getting burned out!  They never dread being saddled thinking it is always the same thing.  It  also helps build the bond with the horse too, stepping over logs, walking through creeks, they really learn to trust the rider.

EDIT>>>>  

YOU need to work up the horse stamina gradually!

We condition our 1D barrel horses and team roping horses this way!

Answer 4

Lots of hills. We used to condition our halter horses by having them go up and down hills incessantly. It also helps with their overall balance, and gets them to be more careful in placing their feet, which is great for every type of riding. We also used to place cavaletti poles on the hills, which really made them use themselves and be careful.

Answer 5

how would u build muscle in ur legs? hills and walking or running. same goes for horses

Answer 6

hills, hills, hills. for a while my old pony had a terrible back and we actually had our weekly lessons on a small hill by the arena so we could do 30 minutes of work out there after warming up. also trail rides are a great way to get your horse to have strong hind muscles. in the summer we have group trail rides every Sunday so its fun for you and your horse and you barely realize you're getting work done! don't push him/her too hard though because it does take time

Answer 7

I would suggest to back up hills.

Backing really helps. Or long trot. Lots and lots of long troting.

Swimming also helps but only some people are able to use that as a resource.

Also make sure that you build your horse up and not rush him into anything. It could hurt him. So just start out slow and then improve day by day. (Frequent work also helps, if you have time.)

Answer 8

hills, or trotting in the sand in big creeks

Answer 9

lots of strength work- riding over poles

lots of forward trot, the trot is the hardest gate for them and requires the most work.

trot up and down hills but be careful not to over due it, you don't want to make her sore or hurt herself!!

i do this once a week to get my horse into better cardiovascular shape, but it will work for strength as well:

10-15 min warm up

20 min forward trot

5 min canter left

5 min canter right

5 min forward trot on a long rein to let him stretch

and then a cool out walk (10 min)

the other days i ride him for 30-40 min doing lots of patterns, lots of 20 meter circles and poles to get him into a frame (which helps his back and top line)

i jump him twice a week, once in a lesson, another time on my own just playing around and working on lead changes and strength and balance to the jumps!

good luck!