Hey fellas,

I just picked up a 8 yr old 16.1 H gelding and was wondering what is the best way to muscle him up with-in the next two months. He gets ridden twice a week now for about six miles and handles it real easy. I have him eating a two slabs of alfalfa and quart of sweet feed a day. I heard that he came from Texas and made his way to Ohio from a breeder. I bought him because I felt sorry for the guy. I can see a diamond in the rough in this horse.

The American Quarter Horse Association and the Quarter Horse Journal are headquartered in Amarillo.  Might be of some benefit to you.

The best way to muscle up a horse is to work him.  Get a pack horse, 4 or 5 days worth of supplies, and go out and check the fence in the little pasture.  Oh wait, you are in Ohio.  

Seriously, the best way is to work him and feed him.  You will need to ride him every day.  Preferrably twice a day.  Give him some sweet feed before you take him out, and when he is standing around doing nothing, let him have all the good grass he can eat.  You might want to think about giving him a vitamins.  I used to use red cell on mares, but on the working horses, I used this stuff called Gold dust for performance horses.  Don't feed them too much of it, cause it makes them a little hot to handle.  You can ride him at night too, he can see better than you can in the dark.  

I would stay away from Red Cell or any vitamins, herbs, minerals, and other "weird shit."

Just feed him well, and ride him.  Everyday.

This isn't rocket science.....what would you to get stronger??

Got hills in Ohio ? Climbing/decending is a great workout and will build muscle quickly. You're going to need more than twice a week though.

Feed sounds ok- it's allways better to keep your horse a little lean. Remember-- if it giggles it's not muscle!

How about a pic ?

Quoted: I would stay away from Red Cell or any vitamins, herbs, minerals, and other "weird shit."

+1

If you can't stop yourself from feeding suppliments just pick ONE and stick with it.

Ride him everyday if possible, feed him well, but don't overfeed, or all you'll get is a fat hyped-up horse. Wherever you buy your feed should be able to tell you what & how much to feed him based on his weight and how hard you work him.

I have 2 AQHA geldings, 10 & 15yr olds that I use for team roping. They stay turned out on 10 acres of grass with free choice quality grass hay, when I'm using them hard, roping & riding 4-7 times a week, I'll feed them each 1 gallon of steamed rolled oats in the morning & evening. When I don't use them hard I'll cut their feed in half, so they won't get to fat. This has worked well for me, they stay muscled-up and in great shape as long as I use them. Work into it slowly, a healthy horse can be rode and worked daily as long as don't abuse them. If he has the breeding, quality feed, and lots of use, he should turn out to be one well muscled horse.

teamroper2004