Hi everyone! I recently changed barns and got some feedback that my buddy was lacking muscle in his chest and that was likely why he was unbalanced in the canter and having trouble lengthening his stride at the trot. I would love any suggestions for exercises to do either from the ground or in the saddle to build up those muscles! I am working with my trainer too, but love to hear from others about what has helped them!

Equestrian fitness Horse

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K H

Equestrian PRO

Adding onto what BerengereA said- (which is great), a good way to build muscle and balance is walk, trot, canter transitions- either on the ground or in the saddle. Walk a few steps, go into a trot for a few steps, bring down to a walk for a few, ask for the canter. Whatever order you want to do as long as youre transitioning the gaits. You don't even need to do the canter if you don't want, do walk-trot with halts as the third. Itll help bring his butt end under himself while also utilizing it. The transitions force him to shift his weight so he gets better at controlling his body and his feet. Body awareness is exactly what Im working on right now with my horse. Just remember if he's struggling at all- don't over work him. It's a hard exercise and it needs to be built up over time.

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03/11/24-03:56

BerengereA

PS Squad

Hey ! Does your horse suffer from any lack of impulsion? ( no hoof pain?) Maybe I would start to strenghen the muscles of his thigh, croup , back . For me if he is unbalanced at the canter and he is in trouble for lenghtening his stride at trot I would pay attention to strenghen the hindlegs ‘impulsion . The chest , the balance then will follow if the impulsion is correct. Do you give him some proteins to developp the muscles ? It might help as well , I give a daily small cup to my horse and it helps him to maintain a good shape of its muscles mass for his health. As for exercise I can recommend you to practice long reins as your horse will not have the rider’s weight on his back and you can see how he behaves and if the problems you meet while riding are the same without the weight ‘rider .

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03/03/24-17:23

Keep exploring the community!