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Condition/Confo Question- building hindquarters

3K views 22 replies 9 participants last post by  steeldustgurl 
#1 · (Edited)
This is my 8 yo Paso Fino mare- I posted when I was looking to buy her. Now it's been about 2 months and I've been trying to build her overall muscle tone with excersize and diet- I see a little change but it's been slower going than I'd hoped. I think as a paso she might never get those big muscles but I'd really like to build out those hindquarters. Do you think that is possible or will she always have that bony look to her hips/croup?

Here is a pic from last week.
 

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#3 ·
We live in an area with tons of hills so that almost all we've been doing. I get out on her 3-4 times a week for anything from 1 to 3 hours. I wish it could be more frequent but... You know... Life ;). Trying to work on keeping her really collected in the gait and make her gait up the hills rather than canter...
 
#5 ·
Being Paso(a breed I don't personally have experience in BTW) she will likely always be 'light on' in the HQ compared to some types. But I'd be getting a good veterinary chiro come check/treat her, and getting her hooves in shape, both of which should help her.
 
#6 ·
Agree with Loosie.. and those feet.. get those feet attended to properly. Those hind feet are putting a lot of strain on her hocks and she may not use herself as much behind as it may be uncomfortable for her.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Thanks all for the comments- I can't remember if the pics were before or after her last trim but the farrier is coming back out this Thursday- I'd like to get some opinions of his work- maybe I'll post in hooves after the trim. I think what looks like a real bad angle on that back left is from the hill we're on but we'll see after the pics.

I wish we had a horse chiro here :( I'd love to get her adjusted, I have a sneaking suspicion that she is a little 'ouchy' around the hips. I actually have a friend who is a great horse vet and I was even thinking of 'sponsoring' her trip to visit if she'd adjust my horse and give her a good once over!

Edit: that top pic was definitely post trim, the second pic is the one I can't remember...
 
#11 ·
I love Pasos! My husband is from PR and took me riding out there :) They're thrilling to ride (like riding a caterpillar!)

That being said, she is very under-muscled and definitely needs a trim.
I got a Belgian from a yucky situation where his muscles were very atrophied from malnutrition. I put almost 400 pounds back on him, but his hips and top line were still hollow and sad looking. I don't have much time to ride him every day, and all my property is flat as a board so no hills. I added 10,000 IU of Vitamin E a day and in a month he fluffed up! It's been 3 months since I started and he has an apple butt and his top line is filling out well!
That being said, Vitamin E is stupidly expensive - especially for horses. I found buying human vitamin E capsules at BJ's was WAY cheaper - then putting them in with hay cubes to soak. I also found splitting his dose in half twice a day was more affective.
Being half his size and weight maybe only 5,000 IU would be better for you Paso.
 
#12 ·
Thanks! I will look into the additional vitamin E. I've been giving her ShoGlo supplement but she tends to get rain rot as well, so I've been trying to add in more vitamin A as well. We are on REALLY hilly 4 acre pasture, 24/7 turnout with another horse, which is why I expected to see some hindquarters building (previously she was just tied up). This is also why I have a sneaking suspicion ya'll are right about the SI joint and maybe she's not using herself correctly. Since we don't have any horse chiro near I've been researching some bodywork to do on my own that might help- we'll see!
 
#17 ·
I thought I'd post some updated pics here rather than starting a new thread- my feed store started carrying Calf Manna which was recommended on another thread as the closest thing to a ration balancer I might be able to get. I read lots of good reviews about the results, so I started her on (only) 2 cups a day about 2/2.5 weeks ago. I feel like I can see a really obvious improvement in her condition, I was wondering if anyone else thought so as well? I think her hindquarters and top line are finally filling out, her coat is SUPER shiny and turning a really nice copper/red color. I started her on paprika too, but I would think it's too soon to see the results from that yet, I attribute the color to the calf manna. Anyways, here's a few pics from today....(please ignore the dorky braids we are trying to keep the burrs at bay) on the split frames the newer pics are on top.







 
#18 ·
Hi,

I can't honestly say I can see a difference in her body sorry. Did you get a chiro or such? If so, what did they say about her 'hunter's bump' & hoof balance?

You won't see a difference because of nutrition in only a couple of weeks.
 
#19 ·
Aw really, darn. Well that's why I put them up for opinion.

We don't have horse chiro here, barely have horse vets. I have a recommendation for a vet from across the island that I'm going to call this month for vaccinations and teeth floating, maybe he'll have input. That's the best I can get here. I posted hoof pics on my other thread about the ripples.

But I will say though that I see lots of before and after pics with marked changes because of nutrition that you can see after only a couple weeks. If anything I can attest that her coat is looking and feeling great.
 
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