Develop Your Horse’s Topline
Topline is the term used to describe the muscle coverage over the top of the horse’s neck, withers, back, loin, and croup. Because topline is muscle, a horse with a good topline will be stronger and more athletic, and will present a more pleasing appearance.
What should we feed to develop the perfect topline? First we must understand that the shape of the back can vary greatly from one individual to another, and so the topline will vary in length and in curvature, with some relationship between the two. Horses with toplines that are sunken in over their withers, concave along the back and loin, or dished in around their hip bones and hindquarters will have diminished strength in those areas.
It has been a common practice for many years to feed additional calories from fat supplements or grains to try and improve a horse’s topline condition. This is not very successful as these calories are either used for energy and exercise or they are stored as fat. Typical fat storage areas in horses are behind the shoulders, over the ribs and neck, and around the tailhead, but not necessarily over the topline. A horse would have to be fed quite a lot of additional calories for fat to be laid down over the back. If we think of humans for example, you wouldn’t eat multiple doughnuts with the end goal of developing muscles over your back and shoulders. One of the biggest misconceptions regarding a horse’s topline is that the topline is made up of fat – it is actually made mostly of muscle. Since the muscles along the withers, back, loin, and croup make up the horse’s topline, losses in this area are actually atrophy of these muscles.
Along with proper diet, correct exercise will help develop the horse’s topline. The horse should be ridden in a soft, balanced frame, and carrying himself comfortably. Other excellent ways to build muscle include lunging with side reins, working over cavalletti both on the lunge line and under saddle, and walking or trotting up hills at a level appropriate to the horse’s condition.
