Crested neck

[The Simple Life Farm]

I have a 3yo mare that has a crested neck, it is not broken. This started last year when she was overweight. Over the winter, I was able to get her weight down, now her neck is "wiggly". She is an easy keeper, she can gain weight by breathing LOL. When she walks, I can see it move back and forth. I have trimmed down her bridle path, and that did not help. She is at a good weight now, I would not want her to lose more.

Please give any advise you have to offer. I was told to work her on a lunge line instead of the round pen in hopes to build up her neck muscles, so I have started that (hasn't been long enough to see results). I feed her a moderate amount of hay, and a total of 1 1/2 cups of sweet feed daily. I only show her in halter obsdtacle, so I am not trying to acheive perfect results, only to keep it from breaking. Thanks for your help and opinions.

 

[Marty]

That's a good question and I don't think there are going to be a bunch of solutions if any at all

There is a product called "Quiescience or Quie.........something like that I heard was a supplement

to try to reduce the fat deposits in the neck but I have no idea about his product but you might want to look into it. The only other thing I can think of is more conditioning, but she may be stuck with this crest.

 

[mini1]

In over 20 some years with horses of several breeds, I have never seen anyone that was able to reduce a crested neck. That's not to say there isn't a way to fix it but I haven't seen it. I'm afraid she may be stuck with it, just watch the weight so it doesn't get worse and break.

Kelly

 

[Jill]

I do not know if this works but was told by two people that ground flax seed can help with a cresty neck. I use ground flax seed, but as a coat enhancer (none of my show horses have cresty necks). Good luck!

 

[Willow Glen]

I have a mare i got with a crested neck she has had laminitis which is under control now

But was reading somwhere that a crested neck is to much sugar in the diet and that they cant have to much carbohydrates (like how some people cant have to much milk),

High sugar content can come from your grain, grass being to high in it or evan your hay,

So I let her out early morning for grass and then she is taken off before 10am before the sugar levels rise to much in the grass after 10am the sugar levels rise due to the heat,

on cloudy or wet days or winter the levels dont rise as much so she is left out longer,

We cut our hay slightly later so the sugar levels arnt as high in the hay, her grain isnt high in carbohydrates or sugar.

I have seen a big difference in her neck but it has taken a little while she also hasent had any sorness either due to laminitis since I stared this,

It works for my girl might for yours.

you probly dont have to go to the extreme we have like cutting our hay at a certain time of season and time of day we do this because we make our own on the farm so its easy for us to do this.

But the time of day they are on grass is a easy but very effective way to help lower the sugar levels in there diet.

 

[targetsmom]

Please do a forum search on this topic, and also for founder, as the 2 are related. You might check the best of the forum too, and I think there was something recently.

I had a mare almost 50 years ago (EGAD!!) that had a cresty neck and she foundered a number of times. I now have a mini with a cresty neck, so I have done some research on this, as I want to reduce the chance that she founders.

My feeding/management plan for her: No grass, and a low carbohydrate diet, supplemented with Remission (similar to the Quiessence someone else mentioned, but made for founder-prone horses with cresty necks. Valley Vet or many of the major on-line suppliers carry it.) I feed second cutting hay, Nutrena Senior Feed (which I feed my older big horse: a complete feed which is fairly low in carbs. Sweet feed is usually very high in carbs!), rinsed, soaked beet pulp, vitamins, and a nightly treat of soaked alfalfa cubes. I also sweat her neck (using sweating lotion) as she is currently being shown. The neck hasn't seemed to hurt her much in the show ring, as for the past three years she was the high point halter mini for the New England Pinto Horse Association, and on the Miniature Pinto of the Year Top Ten list.

She is the black and white mini in the snow in my avatar.

 

[evedex]

You can have your local feed mill test your hay for sugar content. If it is a concern, then it is worth the few dollars.

If your sugar content is too high, soaking it for 20 minutes in water, will leach out most of the sugar....don't soak it much longer, however, or you will start taking out the nutrients as well.

 

[Charlotte]

It sounds like you have her weight down, but if she is prone to a cresty neck I would get her on a low carbohydrate diet for sure....like suggested above. Triple Crown makes a good forage product (chopped hay) which is low carb and then I'd replace the sweet feed with a 'diet balancer' product. The Progressive Diet Balancers (one for grass and one for alfalfa) are minerals and other micronutrients with , I think, 0 carbs. This would make a blanaced diet for the horse. Progressive Nutrition

Then, since her neck has been cresty and is 'loose' now I would keep her mane very thin and short. Like this.......

So that there is not a lot of weight on one side to pull it over.

and keep up her exercise routine. I have never heard of working on a lounge line as being for building muscle in the neck. If the horse is lounging correctly the line is loose and the neck isn't being used any more than regular round pen work. I wouldn't want a horse pulling on a lounge line.

It's great that you caught this early. I have been told by vets that once the crest has been fat for a period of time the fat becomes cartlidgenous (sp?) and is there permanently.

Good luck with your girl. I would like to hear after some months how this is going. Educational, you know

Charlotte

 

[AppyLover2]

Vet was here on Wednesday and when I asked about the cresty neck on my gelding he said it's an indication that he's prone to laminitis/founder and to keep him off grass and give him a low protein/sugar feed. He said that if a big horse had a crest like Bambi's (and it really isn't too bad) he would absolutely guarantee the (big) horse would founder. His advice about keeping them off the grass is "from the first time your yard needs to be mowed til the pasture grass looks like hay (probably July)".

Don't mean to hijack your thread but this is Bambi's crest.

 

[Sandee]

I have a 3yo mare that has a crested neck, it is not broken. This started last year when she was overweight. Over the winter, I was able to get her weight down, now her neck is "wiggly". She is an easy keeper, she can gain weight by breathing LOL. When she walks, I can see it move back and forth. I have trimmed down her bridle path, and that did not help. She is at a good weight now, I would not want her to lose more.

Please give any advise you have to offer. I was told to work her on a lunge line instead of the round pen in hopes to build up her neck muscles, so I have started that (hasn't been long enough to see results). I feed her a moderate amount of hay, and a total of 1 1/2 cups of sweet feed daily. I only show her in halter obsdtacle, so I am not trying to acheive perfect results, only to keep it from breaking. Thanks for your help and opinions.

Change that sweet feed! JMO In fact in summer she probably doesn't need any additional feed to the hay or grass that you have her on unless you are working her more than just in halter.

I use a very small amount of beet pulp (1/2 cup dry then add water) for my old gelding who is cresty. Then add a vitamin supplement such as Mare and Maintenance or Born to Win. They both have all the vitamins and none of the "sweet" or starch that puts extra on minis.

He lost some of his crest when we put him on a strict diet (a few years ago) of just hay and grass. He was our first mini and we almost took it too far so in winter you have to really be careful. But it seems the crest is the last place they lose weight.

Feed by the horse's or the ideal weight not by guess on amount of hay. 1.5%-2% of body weight

 

[babygoose]

I have a cresty neck mare too. Since there is the link between cresty neck and founder I have been researching a lot on what to feed. Here is a good site that talks about sugars in feeds. Hay included.

http://www.safergrass.org/index.html

Check out the articles. This is a good one for determining what kinds of hay have the highest sugar contents. What is really interesting to me is that protein is no longer linked with causing founder and alfalfa is one of the safer forages to feed. So many people may be avoiding protiens and inadvertantly giving thier horses high sugar content grass hays.

http://www.safergrass.org/pdf/JEVS8-05.pdf

Anyway, that doesn't really address if a cresty neck can be fixed, but feeding a low sugar diet might help it and help prevent founder.

 

[The Simple Life Farm]

Thanks for all the advice everyone!!!!

As of today, she is gradually being weaned off the sweet feed. She has only been on it for about 2 weeks, since I started her on a regular exercise program. She is kept on a dry lot so I can manage her feed intake. Although she does look longingly at all the green grass

. I am going to print all this out and keep it for future reference. Thanks again!!!!!!!