Advice/ideas please :)

J

jenningtons

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Hello I recently decided to put my horse back in to work in the menage after his legs started to pick up (he has arthritis in both back hocks). I understand because he's been out of work apart from occasionally hacking he will be a bit rusty and i have started working on getting him in more of an outline which he has improved with but he seems to have trouble bending and holding himself up especially with his head. I know he will need to build his muscles up but from having ridden him in the past he has always been quite difficult to maintain good head carriage. He also seems to be worse in walk that trot he can be quite lazy and tends to trip over his own feet. Any advice or any schooling exercises i can try?? Thank you :)
 
Cool. You should be able to ask a bit of him then.

Be very careful about riding 'in an outline' too much in walk - it's a quick way to get the horse behind the leg and holding in the back. If he's tripping, especially, it's likely because he feels restricted. Pole work in walk, on a light contact, can be very helpful for building strength and suppleness with minimum impact.

Transitions are the backbone of training. Every one is a 'weightlifting rep' and an opportunity to get the horse on the aids. Be honest that the horse is staying straight, reacting quickly but calmly etc

Re 'outline'. . .this phrase makes me nervous. How are you going about 'asking'? If his neck isn't soft he will find it impossible to bend and step under. If you don't worry about the outline is he more balanced and responsive?

Be patient. How long has he had off? It will take him at least twice as long to get back to the same level of fitness with regular, empathetic riding.

Be aware that even on the painkillers, his hocks are not magically new. Has he seen a physio for any compensatory patterns that may have developed? Have you had a lesson on him to assess where he is and make a rough program?
 
Hi he is generally the same when he isn't going on an outline. I do realise it will take time for him i was just asking for tips on exercises or anything that would benefit him. From when he used to school before he was always generally quite lazy and the same as above so i really wanted to try and get him out of this as his schooling progresses as his legs do need the work to maintain his muscle as if not worked my vet told me his 3rd metatarsals will go in his hocks and this is when he will have to be pts. He has the vet out regularly and she seems happy with his legs and each time she has come he seems to get better on them. Thank you for your advice so far I will try some pole work and a loose contact tomorrow with him :)
 
I'd say transitions are your friend, especially with hock issues. Wide turns and not a lot of work that loads the hock unevenly. If his lateral work was good before some shallow leg yield would be useful but I would keep that sort of thing to a minimum.

Hacking is great, but you're on that already. :)

As far as him not being reactive to the leg, that could partly have been due to the hocks but it's also a schooling issue. Exercises per se won't cure it, getting him sharper off the leg will help him do the exercises correctly.

With arthritic horses it's important to warm up really well and not ask too much initially. If you're aggressive with the leg at the beginning when he CAN'T go forward well yet, you're effectively schooling him to ignore you. Lots of free walk, quiet trot on a soft contact, even a bit of easy canter, before you start asking him to collect and work in more strenuous ways
 
^^ What TarrSteps said.
Also, little and often. Better to do 20 minutes a day than 1 hour twice a week :)
 
smja said:
^^ What TarrSteps said.
Also, little and often. Better to do 20 minutes a day than 1 hour twice a week :)
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Hey, yeah i don''t push him he currently does 20 minutes 2-3 times a week as the vet said he should be rode that amount and obviously he isnt fit enough and capable enough to do everyday :)
Sometimes he does take the mick a bit though as sometimes if im out on a hack i can think he's not doing as well and as soon as we head for home he jogs or i see him galloping around the field so i do think some of it has to do with him being lazy but i understand with his legs how he can struggle.
 
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