Fixing an ewe neck through exercise?

It is a conformational fault- but can be /improved/ by exercise.

The type of exercise is very important. Trails and endurance won't do it alone. Typically, you want to build the top line of the horse. You need to get the horse using it's back and neck muscles.

The best way to do this is through dressage and hill work.

The frame you should be aiming for it 'long and low'. You want to have your horses head stretched out and low (as low as you can get it!) while using his hindquarters to propel him forward. This is the first step to collection, and it fantastic for building up the neck.

To get him to lower his neck-

Get into a nice forward working trot. Sponge the inside rein while pushing with your seat and legs. He should yield to the pressure and drop his head.

As soon as he drops his head, reward and loosen the reins, allowing him to stretch.

If he has some stiffness and refuses to drop his head and lengthen his stride, you can try doing some suppling lateral exercises.

This has worked with me. After my horse had a 3 month spell, he lost all his muscle and had a slight ewe neck.

After working 'long and low' for about a month, I could see a difference.

Hill work will also help. Find a nice steep hill- make your horse WALK up the hill , allowing his neck to stretch out nice and low. He will gain more muscle by walking up a hill rather than racing up the hill.

Good luck:)

If you are spending most of your time training and conditioning for trail and endurance, then you won't have the time to devote to this, in my opinion. If your horse has a true ewe neck, it can be improved in appearance, but the function will not improve significantly. If not, and you have been riding him with a hollow back and using the muscles of the underside of the neck, there will be a dip in front of the withers and a bulge at the bottom line of the neck that can be completely transformed by correct long and low conditioning and collected work. This work will, over time, develop the muscles along the top and sides of the neck, while the overdeveloped muscles at the underside will atrophy. When you reach the point in conditioning where you can build the scalenus muscles at the base of the neck, your horse will be able to telescope the neck forward which significantly enhances building of the right topline muscles. This work involves first building strength in the abdominal and loin muscles to oppose and relax the longissimus dorsi muscles that stabilize the spine, so your horse can elevate the spine. Once the pelvis can tilt forward to engage the hips, and the wither elevates, the neck can then fall into proper position for this work to improve its muscling.

Whether or not your horse's ewe neck is a conformation issue or an acquired condition, your horse can benefit from correct conditioning. If you have the time to devote to this, I would find a qualified dressage trainer to show you how to correctly train long and low and perform the exercises required to achieve this. Your horse will be better balanced and conditioned for athletic performance if you do this, which can ultimately mean less energy expenditure during endurance competitions and less propensity to injuries, so it is worth considering irregardless of appearance of the neck.

There are right ways and wrong ways to do the exercises required, and I would not advise attempting it based on advice found on the internet. To get the results you want, you need the assistance of a qualified dressage trainer with knowledge of equine anatomy and biomechanics, and the physiology of exercise.

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Ewe Neck

A true ewe neck is from conformation, but I have seen many horses that look "ewey" simply from poor riding. When a horse goes around hollow and bracing against the bit, you will see a lot of muscle development under the neck, which will give the impression of a ewe neck. Both can be improved through proper exercise. It will be more challenging for a horse with a true ewe necked horse as it is not going to feel natural for them to go round.

To improve, start with bitted up lunging. Set up so the horse is going long & low and learns throughness. I highly prefer triangle/vienna/european/balancing reins. They have loads of ways to be adjusted, they have some give, but not the stretchy type of give of elastic that will eventually just lead to the horse pulling more.

http://www.sstack.com/Draw---Side-Reins-/Dura-Tech...

If you & your horse are not familiar with lunging in side reins, have an experienced person help you through the first few sessions, as some horses can have loud reactions and get "trapped" when they first feel side reins.

For riding, it would be excellent to take a few dressage lessons so you can get on the right track towards feeling & encouraging proper carriage. Proper transitions, true bending & true straightness, basic lateral work, can help to get your horse using his topline properly which will lead to better muscle development.

Again, I definitely recommend a few dressage lessons. A horse with a true ewe is going to be challenging to get into a proper frame, so some support and guidance will be very useful.

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ewe neck is simply muscle thats been built up on the bottom of the neck instead of the top

so lots of rounding up work and getting on the bit etc

It takes along time tho..probably even a year or more

It can't be fixed, but can be improved by trying to build up top line.

Feeding some build up cubes or similar can help to improve muscle tone and bulk as well as help with trying to build some top line up.

Working in an outline and lunging in a Pessoa (makes them go in a low and natural outline) will help. Side reins can help if your horse carries himself properly, if he's on his forehand at all, it wont help because he'll become unbalanced.

well it is because of the conformation , but whilst riding gently squeeze on each rein , towards you . this will bring there neck in towards the chest, squeeze the left rein towards you and then the right and so on, this will help and also help the appearance of the ewe neck and also make your horse look very elegant.