‘Poor topline’ is a term us riders hear regularly. It plays a vital role in supporting your horse’s body, the weight of you, their rider, and the saddle they are carrying, as well as facilitating movement.
Topline refers to the group of muscles that run along a horse’s spine from the top of the neck to the wither area, down the back and loin, and over the top of the hip into the croup region. So a big portion of the horse’s body makes up their topline and it has several essential roles to fulfil — that’s why a horse with poor topline needs to be worked and ridden correctly to improve it.
What is topline?
Topline involves three muscles in the horse’s neck:
- Thoracic trapezius
- Longissimus doors
- Lattisimus dorsi (more on these last two later).
There is also a big clue in the name: topline is located along the top of the horse’s neck and not at the bottom. However, you will see horses with more prominent muscle at the bottom of their neck (and therefore a poor topline) if they are not ridden in a correct outline.
“The purpose of the muscles aroundthe spine are to hold it firm when thehorse is generating force through hishindquarters,” explains ACPAT veterinaryphysiotherapist Gillian Tabor.“As preyanimals, to be successful in running awayfrom a lion, the horse has to be able totransmit force from his hindquarters allthe way through his body.
“The way hedoes that is to contract the muscles aroundthe spine to create a rigid back to then beable to gallop efficiently. If it was weakand wobbly he would lose so much energy that he wouldn’t be able to run fast.”
Where is a horse’s topline?
A diagram of the muscle groups used for topline
Three muscle groups are used for a horse’s topline. They are:
- Thoracic Trapezius— attaches the neck andmid back vertebrae to theshoulder blade
- Longissimus Dorsi —thisis attached to thepelvis, the thoracicvertebrae and thelast four cervicalvertebrae
- Latissimus Dorsi —attachesthe upper and mid backvertebrae to the lowerlumbar vertebrae
What does poor topline look like?
Sometimes it can be quite hard todistinguish fat from muscle, especially onthe horse’s neck. Fat is poor topline; muscle is good.
“If the horse has got a crest on his neckbecause he is fat, he will have fat pocketsin other places too,” says Gillian.“If youlook at a body condition scoring chart, hewill have fat over his loins and shoulders,tail head and a large tummy.
“When assessing topline, we are lookingfor a rounded shape, especially over thequarters, with no prominent bonyprocesses other than the withers. Theprofile across the back should be slightlyrounded, maybe even a little convex.In apoorly muscled horse, you can see thespinous processes prominently and thepelvis looks veryangular. The top ofthe tail and sacrumappear concave.”
Gillian uses her own ‘cheese scale’ toassess muscle.
“Good muscle should feel like justunderripe brie and there should be a littlebit of rebound to it, with no spasm orresponse to it being palpated,” she says.“Poor muscle can feel like an overripe briewhere your fingers sink into it anddisappear, or a dried-out cheddar whichhas a solid feel to it.”
How to improve a horse’s poor topline
Before starting any muscle-buildingprogramme, the first thing is to excludepain. This should include checking yourhorse’s saddle fit and foot balance, aswell as a physical examination by a vet.
“If a horse is in pain, they won’t workcorrectly and you won’t build muscle,”says Gillian.“Once pain has beenexcluded, you want to work your horse ina posture that is activating the musclesyou want to develop. It’s no goodreinforcing a movement pattern wherethe horse’s head is up, their back is inextension and hollowed and their hindlegsaren’t engaged.”
The following four reasons could cause a horse to have poor topline:
- Pain and change in movement
- Nutritional issues
- Exercise (lack of/working incorrectly)
- Saddle fit/rider issues
What is the correct posture for building topline?
The correct posture is where the horse’s headand neck are slightly lowered, and theears are level with the withers. The horse’s neckshould be horizontal and their noseslightly in front of the vertical.
“If the head is too far down, and theylook like they are sniffing the ground, itmeans they are putting a lot of weight onthe forehand and not switching on theright muscles,” explains Gillian.“Whenthe horse is in the correct position, weare looking for them to activate their coremuscles and lift up through their back.
“They should flex their hindlimbs so theybend through their hip, stifle, hock andfetlock as they swing their leg forward.We also want them to reach forwardunderneath their body and tuck theirpelvis in with each hind step. Thiscreates hindlimb engagement.”
How long does it take to improve poor topline?
Be patient! Muscle doesn’t happenovernight. Visible muscle changes take a good six toeight weeks. You increase the number of musclefibres that work inside the muscle to start with,which is why you get an apparent increase instrength and function, but the development ofmuscle is a much slower process.Three signs you’re overdoing it are stiffness, behavioural changes and lack of progress in your horse.
Bycovering a variety of ridden, lungingand in-hand groundwork exercises, you will work therequired muscles in your horse as well asprevent you both from becoming bored. Try these four exercises from Gillian:
1 Spiral in and out on the lunge
“A key exercise for improving poor topline isspiralling in and out of a circle on the lunge. The specialfeatures about this is that because you havelateral bend, you have a slightly differentaction to the muscles on the inside as themuscles on the outside.
“To be straight on thecircle, the outside hindleg and foreleg haveto take a slightly bigger stride and you arenot just challenging the muscles that flex,extend and move the limb on a straight line,you are also working the muscles that workon abduction and adduction. That is askingfor more effort than going on a straight line.”
How to do it:
- In trot, start on a 20m circle and then reduce the size by bringing your horse onto a 10m circle.
- To bring them in, shorten the lunge line so that your horse turns their nose off the line of the 20m circle. Then they will wind in towards you.
- To ask them to go back out onto the bigger circle, walk a larger circle yourself so they stay the same distance from you. You want a little drift to the outside, so the horse’s weight is taken to the outside.
- You want the horse bent in the direction you want to go, so their ribs are flexed to the outside but the inside hindleg steps up and underneath to lift them up. Once you’re in this carrying position, if you can maintain it, you are then working those muscles.
- It will take two or three circles to get back onto the bigger circle. It’s hard work, so two or three circuits of each size before changing the rein is plenty.
2 Step under with the hindleg
Groundwork is a key part of your trainingand can be used for warming up and beforelunging. It’s about relaxation, coordinationof the body and posture. This exercise can bedone before a ridden or lunge session and while tacked up.
How to do it:
- Begin by leading your horse on a small circle in walk, replicating the same posture as on the lunge, so a forward and down head carriage with your horse bent around you and stepping underneath with their inside hindleg.
- As they turn, you want them to step their hindleg forward and underneath their body, which will then encourage the horse to lift up through the core into the carrying posture in the back.
- You can progress this into a shoulder-in along a wall by asking for a gentle sideways movement.
3 Do regular carrot stretches
Stretches are great for recruiting themuscles that lie deeper around thespine and help to stabilise it. This is a good help towards improving poor topline.
How to do it:
- Do carrot stretches to each side and between your horse’s front legs. The lower the end position of their head, the better the lift through the thoracolumbar (main back) region. These are best done after exercise when your horse is warm, or after they’ve been in the field. Do them daily if possible.
- If your horse is on box rest or not warmed up, start with a smaller range of motion, doing between three and five of each stretch.
- Get someone to show you how to avoid your horse ‘cheating’ and how to achieve a good quality of movement.
- Take care of the surface your horse is standing on. It should be non-slip.
- Consider positioning. You can put your horse in the corner of the stable or arena to help keep their body still.
4 Work on a hill
Hill work is an excellent way to build a horse’s topline under saddle.
“Riding up anddown hills increases the activity of themuscles in the hindquarters, the backand the abdominal muscles,” states Gillian.
How to do it
- A slow trotor walk is going to be most beneficial inthe early stages.
- Again, you want the right postureand head carriage with your horselifting and stepping under so they are pushing up the hill rather than pullingon the forehand.
- With regards to the rider’s position,your upper body is perpendicular tothe horizontal, so the steeper the hill,the more forward a position you shouldtake — but, ultimately, you want to staybalanced and light in the saddle.
- If it’s a long, steep hill, walk up it justonce or twice. Walking downhill is justas good because your horse needs tocontrol their descent and flex thehindlegs to step under their body andshift the weight backwards.
- You want a nice slow descent,allowing your horse to balance themselves. Allow freedom of the head as long as itisn’t too high or hollow.
5 Feed for correct topline
Building topline and correcting poor topline isn’t just about exercise, italso requires the correct nutrition.
“In order to build muscle your horseneeds to be in a positive energy balance,which means he is receiving slightly moreenergy than he needs for the work he isdoing,” explains scientist Dr David Marlin.“The second requirement is to havesufficient quality of protein and wejudge that by the amount of lysine.
“Lysine is considered to be thenumber one limiting amino acid, so ifyou don’t have sufficient lysine interms of grams per day for the workyour horse is doing, he won’t developmuscle.In the same breath, feedingtoo much won’t have any effect.Once you’ve reached theminimum requirement, feeding a bigexcess is a waste,” continues David.
“For a 500kg horse in light work you’dtypically need 800g of protein a day,whereas a horse in hard work wouldneed 1,300g of protein a day, so thatequates to 9g of lysine, which isn’t much.”
Leucine (HMB) has also been shown tohave beneficial effects on both muscledevelopment and soreness, but only if fedin large amounts and shortly after exercise.
Speak to your vet and nutritionist todiscuss your horse’s feeding plan.
Main image: © Shutterstock; Inset: © Your Horse Library/Kelsey Media
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