One of the biggest concerns for horse owners is building the topline muscles and handling topline loss. The topline of a horse refers to the muscles covering its neck, back, croup, and loin. The best topline supplement for horses should help yield plenty of brawn in these regions.
A horse may have a weak topline for multiple reasons including lack of proper nutrition and exercise. Many factors contribute to the horse’s topline like age, underlying health conditions, and body condition.
In this post, let us discuss a few supplements that can help the horse build a topline and boost its overall health and strength.
Best Topline Supplement For Horses – UPDATED 2022
Topline muscles are not only appealing to look at but also improve a horse’s mobility and enhance its overall fitness and longevity. Horses that indulge in shows and performances must have well-developed toplines to look good and get the right balance and strength for jumping or racing.
While there are several physiological factors contributing to the horse’s topline, one can build a horse’s strength and muscle with the right nutrition and exercise regime.
As muscles are made up of over 70 percent of protein, building and maintaining a horse topline requires feeding it the right amount of dietary protein. Lack of protein in the diet can often lead to poor horse topline.
However, feeding high-protein hay or feed may not give results. The quality of the protein or the amount of amino acids it contains would determine how effective the diet is. Diets including adequate levels of essential amino acids can deliver amazing results for lacking topline.
A horse should be fed good quality forage selected on the basis of its activity level and personal needs. Depending on the protein and energy content in the horse’s forage, it is also advisable to add supplements that help it meet its daily requirements. Proper supplementation would help the animal develop proper muscle mass and build the topline or maintain it.
Horse Topline Supplements – A Complete Guide
While most horse owners would get a balanced, nutrient-dense forage for the animal, there are several factors affecting how well the nutrients are synthesized and absorbed by their body.
Feeding regular horse feed may not provide the essential amino acids active horses need and a good topline cannot be achieved. There are ten essential amino acids that a horse’s diet should include as they are not synthesized naturally.
Lysine, Threonine, and Methionine are the three most limiting essential amino acids in the equine diet, meaning they are highly likely to be deficient, resulting in compromised protein synthesis and ultimately affecting topline.
It is recommended that a horse’s diet should be supplemented with easily digestible, good-quality protein sources containing these amino acids in the correct balance. Some of the best sources of protein for a horse’s diet include Flaxseed meal, Soybean meal, Hempseed meal, Canola meal, and Whey protein concentrate.
Here are a few products you can consider when looking to supplement the horse’s diet for adequate levels of essential amino acids and added vitamins and minerals for muscle growth and repair.
Progressive Nutrition Topline Advanced Support – This supplement is an excellent choice for horses experiencing topline-related problems.
It is a fast-acting, effective product that contains balanced amino acids for a healthy topline gain and other nutrients supporting performance, stamina, and muscle gain in horses.
Hygain Balanced Horse Pellets – These are low-dose, all-round balancer feed concentrate known to provide high levels of Selenium and Vitamin E for healthy cell growth, high-quality protein and essential amino acids for muscle building and Biotin for overall health.
The pellets are made to be versatile in use and can be given to a wide range of horses to help them build a good topline and stay healthy.
Topline Supplement For Senior Horses
Senior horses generally struggle to maintain a healthy weight and muscle. As these animals age, their digestive tract cannot absorb nutrients well from the diet.
Weakening teeth and aging digestive tissues further worsen the problem and the horse can no longer maintain the topline and may need supplementation.
The supplements you choose for senior horses should be carefully selected as they need much more than just protein and amino acids.
Here are some high-quality choices for senior horses you can consider.
Tribute Equine Nutrition Senior Sport – This is a low-starch, high fiber textured feed that is easily digestible and can be used as a total forage replacement for senior horses.
It contains easy-to-digest fiber that supports performance and topline gain and high levels of vitamin E to support muscular and immune systems.
The supplement includes a great balance of essential amino acids, fatty acids, organic minerals, and antioxidants to support performance and dietary needs.
Nutrena Empower Topline Balance – This supplement is designed to be an all-round nutrition boost for horses getting sufficient energy and calories from pasture or forage.
It provides a blend of minerals, vitamins, and essential amino acids horses need to stay healthy and good-looking, including support for a better topline.
It is designed to be suitable for ponies, miniature horses, overweight and senior horses as well as those suffering from disorders or diseases.
Horse Topline Before & After
Topline supplements are intended to support muscle gain in horses and show a noticeable difference in a few weeks when used as directed.
When combined with a well-designed program including adequate exercise, these products help the horse achieve the desired topline that looks appealing.
Here are some pictures that compare horse topline before and after supplementation,
Topline Builder For Horses – What You Should Know?
There are several different products available in the market from various brands that claim to supplement the horse’s diet with essential nutrients and protein to help build topline. However, not every product is created equally.
It is important that you analyze your horse’s condition and requirements before choosing the supplement. You should take a look at the contents of the product to see if they match your animal’s needs.
Also, pay attention to the supplement’s quality before adding it to your horse’s regime. The topline builder should contain proteins and amino acids sourced from high-quality, natural sources and be easy to digest with minimal side effects.
It should also contain important minerals and vitamins for topline growth in the right amounts. You should also check the recommended dosage of the product and follow it based on your horse’s age, weight, and condition for desired results.
Final Thoughts
We hope this guide helps you figure out how you can support your horse’s topline muscle growth and maintain it.
The best topline supplements should help the horse develop strength and muscle mass and achieve a great-looking topline while improving overall health and longevity. Owners should also consider adding some exercises that help stimulate muscle for topline development.
