AQHA Professional Horsewoman Carla Wennberg shows you horse-training exercises that strengthen and lengthen your horse’s topline to help him achieve self-carriage. The way you think about topline really is the same whether it’s for English or western riding. A horse’s topline goes from the hip, over the loin, through the back and through the neck. It consists of the muscles the horse uses to carry himself through the gaits, especially in transitions. A strong topline has to be developed for a horse to have self-carriage; it’s how you know whether or not a horse is balanced.We want the topline level. (“Level” may depend on the horse and where he carries himself.) The horse has to have impulsion through his body up to your hand to stay level.
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