TOPLINES... Hands-On Approach and Nutritional Assistance


Horses with toplines that are sunken in over the withers, concave along the back and dished-in around the hips and hindquarters are not living up to their full potential


by Russell Mueller performs, looks and feels. Y


One of the biggest misconceptions regarding a horse’s topline is that the topline is made up of fat; in reality, it


our horse’s topline and overall muscle development play critical roles in how your horse


is 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. Often referred to as a loss of weight, it is important to identify whether the weight loss is focused on the topline, which is muscle loss, or over the ribs, which is fat loss due to a shortage of calories. Muscle loss and weight loss or rib cover must be evaluated separately.


DOES MY HORSE HAVE A “POOR” TOPLINE? Determining if your horse can improve in the topline area involves evaluation of several key areas, including the withers, along the back, loin, croup and down into the hip area. Sometimes visual evaluation can be misleading, especially with winter hair coats, so it takes a hands-on approach:


Step 1. Place the palm of your hand on the side of your horse’s withers and see if your hand falls inward, remains flat, or flexes outward. If it falls inward, your horse has lost some muscle. If your hand is flat, depending on the breed/horse,


8 | www.holistichorse.com


the amount of muscle may be adequate or can still use improvement. If your hand flexes outward there is adequate muscling in that area.


While exercise will condition and train existing muscles, it can help build a topline only if the nutritional building blocks of muscle are available in the diet.


Step 2. With your fingertips placed on the horse’s backbone and your palm pointed downwards toward the ribs, you can conduct the same assessment along the horse’s back, loin, and croup. A comprehensive assessment video can be seen at www.prognutrition.com/tes. This “Topline Evaluation System” helps assign a score or grade for your horse’s topline to further determine the stages of topline development.


WHAT CAUSES A LOSS OF TOPLINE? Several factors can contribute to muscle loss along the topline including:


Holistic Horse™ • February/March 2012 • Vol.19, Issue 77


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