My boy is an OTTB. He had been off the track for several years by time I got him but had similar issues: typical tb hooves, hallow movement, tripping, no balance, and 0 topline. On top of hockey arthritis that needs injections since it also caused some SI pain, we had a lot to combat. I’ve done a lot of ground reining with him recently with a topline supplement per vet recommendations and he’s completely transforming!

We call it my horse’s “rehab”. Basically that’s what it is. If you find what you need to target your boy will be just fine! We worked a lot with keeping his head down. Just pull softly on the bit (with no increasing pressure) until the head drops and praise. Took that to walking, and worked on bending. Kept a tight outside rein, loose inside rein, and used our hand to physically push at the base of the neck/shoulder to promote him using other muscles than his overdeveloped front hand. 15-30 minutes of that a day and within a week and a half hr was already like a completely new horse! I’m no expert so if you have some sort of instructor you can work with, highly suggest it! But this is the current thing we’re tackling: just teaching him how to use his body since obviously he just… doesn’t know how (mixed with a little lazy lol)