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Post by deheresmint on Jan 26, 2011 13:27:05 GMT -5
I was aware that Tucker had an upside down neck when I bought him. I figured with training and proper nutrition he would develop a topline over time. Last night I went out to the barn to de-stress and decided to braid his mane on the correct side of his neck to train it to lay on that side. Once I had finished, I stepped back to review his new look and I was quite surprised at what I discovered. Hidden under that whooly mane is an extreme ewe neck. I have never seen a ewe neck this bad, pencil thin and absoluetly no muscle whatsoever. There is also an extreme dip in front of the wither. I really hate to use the word extreme, but that's what it is. I'm thinking, no wonder he travels with his head held high. I have someone scheduled to come out tomorrow to video our ride and I am looking forward to getting feedback. I would like to hear about what you do for ewe necks (bad ones) and realistically what I can expect to change with training and nutrition. BTW-he's getting free choice, quality timothy and orchard grass hay, along with Pennfield equine senior and Country Acre pellets. Does anyone have before and after pics of ewe neck
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Post by laughalittle1 on Jan 26, 2011 13:43:35 GMT -5
How long have you owned Tucker? How often are you riding him?
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Post by mes on Jan 26, 2011 14:11:14 GMT -5
jlee has wonderful success with fixing necks. Maybe she will see this and offer advice.
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Post by deheresmint on Jan 26, 2011 14:29:43 GMT -5
I'm aware that he will need time and conditioning. The fact remains I didn't realize how bad his neck really was until I braided his mane. I'd like to hear what people are doing to amend this, their feeding and training regime and what kind of limitations this may cause in terms of training. Hopefully, I will get a video up tomorrow, so you guys can see first hand.
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Post by Einstein on Jan 26, 2011 14:36:54 GMT -5
The short answer is correct feeding program geared to him specifically, and correct riding over a longer period of time.
The longer answer, you won't be able to fix what's conformationally there, if his neck is set on very low, it is what it is, but you can help to improve it with proper riding and muscling. I find it usually takes about a year to get one from off the track to completely remuscled properly, it's a long process done correctly. If it's just an upside down muscled neck, by 6 months you should be able to see a big improvement, and even if you did nothing, just had a non riding horse, proper nutrition will help with the pencil neck greatly as well.
Can't wait to see the video.
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Post by TeachU2Ride on Jan 26, 2011 18:15:35 GMT -5
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Post by guiltygirl on Jan 26, 2011 19:15:06 GMT -5
Really nice photos Teach
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Post by deheresmint on Jan 26, 2011 23:54:33 GMT -5
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Post by BoyleHeightsKid on Jan 27, 2011 6:38:11 GMT -5
Here's Boy not long after I got him in 2004. It's not a great picture, but you can see how pencil thin his neck is... he doesn't have a ewe neck, just no muscle here. This is what he looks like now... Like Einstein said...it took a year to get him looking like that. Once we had the weight on him all it took was correct work.
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Post by Smay on Jan 27, 2011 9:03:55 GMT -5
OOOO, BHK, Boy's neck is just beautiful now! My TB is a very weird one - he's older and is not in any kind of work, has very bad topline muscling ( has none!) a narrow butt, and prominent withers. HOWEVER, for some strange reason, his neck is perfect, set on just right and arched in all the right places! hahaha That's just his conformation. He also has a layer of fat across his ribs and hip bones with no pointy parts anywhere there! So the bony topline is ALL because of his lacking muscle. Hopefully yours will be the same and you can feed and work him into a nice shape!
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Post by BoyleHeightsKid on Jan 27, 2011 10:21:58 GMT -5
BTW...your link isn't working right, it takes me right to photobuckets home page.
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Post by jleegriffith on Jan 27, 2011 10:57:28 GMT -5
The actual attachment of a neck can not be changed but the way a horse looks can change so drastically it can almost be shocking. These are just two horses that I have had recently that were just plain fugly at some point and with feed/work their necks came back. Feed is so important because you really do have to feed to create and maintain muscle. It's just like a body builder who needs protein to build muscle. Dressage..dressage...dressage is the most important factor is rebuilding a neck. Truly knowing how to ride a horse over it's back and build the muscle by teaching them to engage the hind end, lift the back and stretch over their necks. It is a very gradual process especially when they do not have the muscles. You have to build it slowly over time so they do not get sore and resent the work. The 2nd horse Shine my Shoes has went from being a girafee who had no concept of how to go forward and felt like riding a pogo stick to a horse who can stretch with his nose on the ground and take long sweeping strides. First picture in August and second pic in October in his first ride. He was bought shortly after but he looks stunning right now! June Sept Nov Dec
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Post by Einstein on Jan 27, 2011 14:20:14 GMT -5
I don't know why I forgot what a gorgeous horse Boy is! Wasn't that at his first jumper show BHK? He doesn't even look too small with Dusty on him. He is such a cool horse, and definitely looks great now.
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Post by hfhopper on Jan 27, 2011 15:42:48 GMT -5
Riley had a VERY under developed neck when I got him. We all called him a pencil neck. Nov. 2003 But with proper nutrition (lots of forage and fat) and LOTS of work it started getting better. Dec. 2004 And he eventually reached the point where his neck was so nice that he looked awesome with a roached mane, which is how I showed him in this pic. Aug. 2008 The biggest thing that helped with him was proper riding and plenty of long and low/stretching to encourage him to use the correct topline muscles. Of course, he didn't understand any of that at first and I spent countless hours riding a giraffe. But eventually he figured it out at the walk and started developing in that gait. Then once the proper muscles were beginning to develop and gain strength, the trot and canter got much better. I also spent a lot of time lunging in side reins and vienna reins to help with muscle development. My instructor was especially helpful during the beginning as she gave me a bunch of things to help during the giraffe stage. Having her there to talk me through those many moments helped me develop a correct feel for what to do when things started going wrong.
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Post by deheresmint on Jan 27, 2011 17:06:54 GMT -5
Oh my gosh, if Hopper's horse can have a neck, then any horse can have one. ;-) These pictures are so encouraging. If you go to the photobucket link, and then click on my album at the top of the page, it will take you to my pictures. They are not great pictures, but you get the idea. the neck is actuallly alot skinnier.
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