What exercises build your horse's topline?

This has to be one of the questions I get asked the most. Horse people are obsessed with topline, and for good reason. It is essential for a horse to perform at their best. A strong topline means increased strength, flexibility and balance. It reduces the risk of back and hindquarter related injury and improves a horse's ability to carry themself and their rider.

I often hear people asking what to feed to improve a horse's topline and while balanced nutrition is important for muscle growth, it is ineffective if the horse isn't working those muscles. So here are some easy exercises to help build your horse's topline.

1. Hill work. This can be both passive and active on your part. My horses used to live in an extremely steep property. I kept the water trough at the top of the hill and gave them free roam over the rest of it. This encourages them to walk up and down the hill several times a day to drink and then return to grazing elsewhere. It has the added benefit of constant posture adjustment and stabilisation as they often grazed on all angles on the slope. If you don't have a hilly paddock then riding or leading them up and down hills is also extremely beneficial.

2. Pole work. Research has shown than ground poles increase the range of motion of the limbs without increasing concussive forces. They naturally encourage the horse to lift through the thoracic sling to accommodate the extra effort. Ground poles are effective at all gaits. You'd be surprised how big a result you can get from just walk poles regularly. They also increase proprioception and coordination.

3. Backing up. I normally advice this on the ground first. Backing up in a straight line with the head in line with the chest and in a relaxed posture on a flat surface. As they get stronger you can start backing them up hills. Slower is better and only a few steps at a time. This is harder for them than it looks.

4. Transitions. Transitions both up and down gaits and within the gait require a lot of work from the horse, so increase the number slowly so as not to overdo it. If your horse is educated enough, you can also practice transitions that skip a gait (eg. walk to canter), but only when the horse is strong and balanced enough.

5. Lateral work. This requires the horse and handler to be educated in lateral work. My favourites for this are haunches-in and shoulder-in. I normally teach this from the ground before doing it under saddle. These also improve flexibility and balance and encourage the horse to step under the point of balance with the hind legs.

Never underestimate the results you can see from exercises done on the ground. You don't need to ride your horse to build topline. In fact, a rider can inhibit the horse's ability to do so.

If you've been giving them the right nutrition and been doing exercises consistently with them without any results, then they may have pain or tension which is preventing the muscles from functioning and building properly, in which case don't hesitate to get your horse checked by your bodyworker.

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Image from Pixabay