Bringing a difficult horse back in to work after injury?

[HairyMary]

My ISH has had the summer off due to a hock injury (a strain, he was lame and boxrested for five weeks then came sound and brought back in to work and was then turned away)

He's not the most cooperative of horses, and I'm not the bravest of riders. When he was in work, our system was me giving him his head and getting him as forward as possible (known by onlookers as his 'food blender' because it looked like he was being pinged round the school in a cloud of dust, apparently. He's also not really the sort to walk on hacks and jogs at every possible opportunity.) after about ten minutes he would settle and cooperate perfectly and happily... It wasn't a pain reaction, I just needed to get him in front of my leg and he's a very dominant horse with lots of energy who needs to be told what to do from the start or he will take advantage.

Bringing him back in to work after boxrest was hell I mainly used the roads and walked him out every day, but wasn't able to trot and he rediscovered an old habit of dropping his shoulder and spinning when he realized that I couldn't push him on when he was naughty. I was incredibly glad when the walking stage was over, shall we say!

I took a couple of not so nice falls in that time and I'm really dreading it again (hopefully it won't be so bad because I'll be able to trot without risk to his leg this time round!), so what I'm really asking is would it be damaging to just take him in the school and do what we used to and skip the walking only bit? Or do I just need to buy some superglue and get on with it?

 

[zaminda]

I have used sedelin in this situation with great success.
Also what is he like to lunge/long rein.
If he has been turned out, going straight into some trot work won't kill him.

 

[be positive]

Following a strain injury he needs to be brought back into work carefully otherwise you risk it happening again, the cause may partly be down to him not being worked in properly so the chance of it re-occurring must be high.
I would take the opportunity of him being unfit and use the time to get him working correctly, listening to you not charging around on his own agenda.
Dare I suggest it may take something like draw reins to assist in getting him walking properly, it is a means to an end and in the best interests of both of you to get him fit, keep you safe and maintain his long term soundness.

 

[Sprig]

We skipped the walking bit when my horse was coming back from colic surgery. He is a silly tb and the walking winds him up so much it would take moe out of him than a steady trot. As has been said if they are turned out anyway they will have covered a lot of the walkingon their own. Take it steady, keep asessing how he is getting on but the important thing is that you do what you need to do to stay safe as a priority.

 

[HairyMary]

Thankyou.

Following a strain injury he needs to be brought back into work carefully otherwise you risk it happening again, the cause may partly be down to him not being worked in properly so the chance of it re-occurring must be high.
I would take the opportunity of him being unfit and use the time to get him working correctly, listening to you not charging around on his own agenda.
Dare I suggest it may take something like draw reins to assist in getting him walking properly, it is a means to an end and in the best interests of both of you to get him fit, keep you safe and maintain his long term soundness.

Sadly (or possibly luckily) I was there to watch it happen (He was out in the field, a horse got loose on the yard and sent him crazy, kicked out through a fence and pulled his leg back through awkwardly )

He gets extremely stressed if you try and pin him down with anything (have tried draw reins already ) I'm not sure that I explained my self very well, his problem is actually being very backwards thinking, getting him forward at the start was the cure to that although I see where you are coming from with warming him up slowly to prevent strains, and this is what bothers me

I have used sedelin in this situation with great success.
Also what is he like to lunge/long rein.
If he has been turned out, going straight into some trot work won't kill him.

He's turned out but pretty rubbish to long rein and I don't want to lunge because of the strain it would put on his legs. We could do with some practice on the long reining, just haven't had time. I suppose this is the perfect opportunity!

Does sedalin make them more likely to trip when ridden?

We skipped the walking bit when my horse was coming back from colic surgery. He is a silly tb and the walking winds him up so much it would take moe out of him than a steady trot. As has been said if they are turned out anyway they will have covered a lot of the walkingon their own. Take it steady, keep asessing how he is getting on but the important thing is that you do what you need to do to stay safe as a priority.

I never gave thought to the walking he would have been doing when out

 

[leflynn]

I'd try sedalin or similar. I've never used it on mine, but have used valerian and also zlykene (currently on it on box rest with a fracture). He can be an idiot TB and will happily lose his head for little or no thought to what he does.

I tried walking in hand for 20mins - it turned into rearing in hand with a chifney or bridle and 2 people/lunge lines. He had extra box rest instead and then turned out into a small paddock doped up to the eyeballs on domesedan to get him to the paddock (he was a bit trippy but had a full tube!!).

Once he'd been turned out for a week or so I could ride him without fear of death or destruction (I can be a wimp too). I found hacking with a sensible friend was the best way or he'd spin and go backwards - is this an option for you?
I also started him walking in the school with me riding and a friend walking beside me as a backup for us both
It is better to build up work slowly (as boring as it is), is he better if he's turned away for a couple of weeks to self exercise?

good luck