Photos of endurance horses/topline and muscling?

[Certifiedgirl]

This is a very interesting topic- just for curiosity I am going to try and post couple pictures of my horses from the day they came home from the racetrack- both are three years olds and raced 3-5 times.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d198/certifiedgirl/073.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d198/certifiedgirl/Dsc02265.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d198/certifiedgirl/Dsc02263.jpg

The second and third pictures are of Taj, the horse I am hoping to try some LD stuff with this summer.

[matryoshka]

It’ll be interesting to see how distance conditioning affects the topline. Butch (aka Reynoldsrap) looked fresh off the track no matter what I did with him–never lost that racehorse look. It might have helped if we’d done dressage. He definitely stood out at the one and only endurance ride we attended. Not that he was the only serious bucker… He had speed and preferred canter/gallop to trot, but I didn’t know whether he had the stamina to do even LD. We didn’t get to find out as I had to RO out because of my junior rider.

[patti]

Not sure …

… how to post photos here, but …

My two endurance horses have radically different toplines.

The Arab/Trakehner 100 mile veteran has a hunter’s bump, and a relatively short back that goes downhill into his withers. Saddle fit has been an issue and I call him the poster child for “don’t buy this topline.” However, with a lot of diligence, he’s managed fine.

The younger horse was one I bought largely because his topline is so much superior to the veteran horse’s. Strong coupling, good hip, and I swear I could ride this one with a bed of nails for a saddle – his topline is just that good.

As with anything, you select and buy the best you can, and build from there, knowing that ain’t a one of them perfect!

Highly recommend good CORRECT dressage and gymnastics to improve a topline. Lots of endurance horses going down the trail strung out and upside down and that can ruin a potentially good topline, for sure, particularly with the miles and hours we log.

–Patti