Advise pls?

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Shutterbug

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Arion is just coming back into work after a few months off and an inection into his right hock of cortisone. His movement in that hock is much improved but he is as stiff as an old board bless him.

We started with some lunging and long reining and have now progressed to hacking - which we have been doing for the past 2 weeks - I have only tried one short uphill canter with him while out and he seemed to cope fine but I will be remaning in walk with minimal trot work which will be gradually increased over the coming weeks. I am currently riding 5 days a week for about 30-45mins at mostly walk in the forestry.

Last night I thought I would take him into the school and try schooling him just to see where we were at - which the vet said was fine - he was striding out nicely on a long rein, we did some long and low work which he really didnt find too easy. After 30 mins I thought I will try him on the bit now for a short time but as soon as I asked him to come onto the bit and actually work for me, he shortened his stride up and felt choppy and for the life of me I could not get him to extend his walk at all - he just kept trying to trot.

Possibly a tight back from not having done much for the last 4-5 months making it hard for him to collect? Ideas on how can I encourage him to stretch himself through his back and round himself so that he doesnt immediately shorten his stride as soon as I take up contact? He's 16'3 and last night I felt like I was riding a shetland pony his stride was that short. lol

He is not lame, has had his saddle reflocked and fitted recently and his teeth done recently so there are no issues there. I have never had to bring a horse back into work before, and have never had this problem so Im just looking for some tips please :)

many thanks in advance
 
Schooling is much harder work on the hindquarters than hacking because you are turning and circling, whereas hacking you are mostly on a straight line.

Firstly, i personally think 30 minutes was more than enough for a first schooling session. So he could have done enough physically before you even started trying to work him on the bit.

Secondly, if a horse is correctly on the bit then it is using its hindquarters. If the horse wasnt using itself enough (because he cant) and you had an increased contact, its a bit like driving a car with the handbrake on.

I would start by asking for more engagement when out hacking, for a short time when the horse is well warmed up. And if you work in the school then stick to 20 minutes at first. Its still early days from a long period off work and with a physical problem. I think you should ask for smaller steps (ask less) at the moment
 
Thanks Teddy - I think you misunderstood my post though - I wasnt schooling him for 30 mins that would be far too much work for him at the moment - I walked him round on a long rein for about 30 mins encouraging him to stretch down long and low for about 5 mins and then tried asking for collection for about 2 mins.

I will try your suggestion of trying asking for collection at the end of our hacks and see how we get on :)
 
Hevs said:
Thanks Teddy - I think you misunderstood my post though - I wasnt schooling him for 30 mins that would be far too much work for him at the moment - I walked him round on a long rein for about 30 mins encouraging him to stretch down long and low for about 5 mins and then tried asking for collection for about 2 mins.

I will try your suggestion of trying asking for collection at the end of our hacks and see how we get on :)
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That is still a lot of work for a horse which has had that much time off; it might seem only walking to you but it'll be hard work for him. Ideally, he should have at least a month of just walking before you think of anything else and cantering should be right off the agenda for another month after that at least if you want horse to stay sound. What's the saying, something like for every month they've been off then that means that many weeks walking so you're really pushing your horse far too fast IMHO. Agree with everything TT has said.
 
Work in the school is terribly hard for a recupperating horse.

My horse has a problem with his hock - and the school just accerbates it. We stay out of it now - and all our work is done out hacking.
 
'He has had an inection into his right hock of cortisone'

Maybe I am wrong but this does give improvement but if it is for arthritic changes then I believe it is time limited and will need doing again to maintain improvement .
The more pressure put on the joint the more likely it is for another treatment to be needed
My mare had had cortisone andhyluronic acid and depo steroid injected into the coffin joint .This gave relief for about 6 months and then need re medicating.
I would say that work needs to be very very slowly built up and I wouldn't be cantering.
 
Maesfen said:
That is still a lot of work for a horse which has had that much time off; it might seem only walking to you but it'll be hard work for him. Ideally, he should have at least a month of just walking before you think of anything else and cantering should be right off the agenda for another month after that at least if you want horse to stay sound. What's the saying, something like for every month they've been off then that means that many weeks walking so you're really pushing your horse far too fast IMHO. Agree with everything TT has said.
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Vets advise was to lunge for 2 weeks, hack for 2 weeks then back to schooling. I tried to school him for 2 mins and was not happy with it. Im not schooling him atm at all other than the 2 mins which was purely to assess him to see if there was any way I could start schooling again as per vets advise.
 
amymay said:
Work in the school is terribly hard for a recupperating horse.

My horse has a problem with his hock - and the school just accerbates it. We stay out of it now - and all our work is done out hacking.
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Thats interesting - I will take that on board, with the weather being nice its a great time to do plenty of hacking too so will build him up with hacking alone for the time being :)
 
horselib said:
'He has had an inection into his right hock of cortisone'

Maybe I am wrong but this does give improvement but if it is for arthritic changes then I believe it is time limited and will need doing again to maintain improvement .
The more pressure put on the joint the more likely it is for another treatment to be needed
My mare had had cortisone andhyluronic acid and depo steroid injected into the coffin joint .This gave relief for about 6 months and then need re medicating.
I would say that work needs to be very very slowly built up and I wouldn't be cantering.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that :) It will be a matter of waiting to see according to my vet as to wether he needs it again or not. I have taken the decision not to jump him at all ever, we will hopefully manage some low level dressage and plenty of hacking - I just dont think jumping will help him at all so I will just give it a miss
 
Thank you so much guys for your sensible advise. I will make sure he gets plenty of walking out hacking, no more time being ridden in the school and will slow it down with his bringing back into work - its not like we are in a hurry to do anything after all and his health and wellbeing comes first at the end of the day :)
 
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