Bringing a horse back into work?

[Blizzard]

Any tips would be appreciated. Im going to be bringing a horse back into work, he has been off over half a year due to no rider, but he does have quite a bit of muscle wastage, under saddle, around hind quarters etc. He has also lost some condition, and well just looks pretty awful at the moment.
Not quite as bad as an RSPCA case but quite sorry if you know what I mean.

The horse has passed a 5 stage vetting a few months back, just had teeth done which were sharp and may have contributed to the lost condition.

Ive seen photo's of him this summer and he looks gorgeous, he is one of those horses who doesnt move at all in the field, just stands and eats, so his muscle seems to vanish if he isnt in work.

Any action plans would be great, regarding work, care etc, also should I get one of those special saddle pads for horses with muscle wastage?

Thank you!

 

[Morrigan_Lady]

For condition, I would probably recommend some sort of conditioning feed and maybe get some multi vitamins aswell. I feel Calm & Condtion and Alfa Chaff with Soya oil and a scoop of Codlivine muti-vits a day to my 4 yo and he looks great. He was very poor when I got him and had very little muscle. I find a great way to help aid top line is to work them as long and low as you can, try lunging him off the head collor with no tack to encourage him to relax in his back and bring his head down. I often trot my boy round on the buckle with his nose on the floor and it really helps him to stretch through his back and he's got a fab top line. Its hard work and it want happen over night, but youll soon see improvements. Just dont over do it, lots of walking on a long rein to start, then slowly introduce trot, again on a long rein.
Hope this helps.

 

[virtual]

Is this the 17.2hh hunter? If so he'll probably take a bit longer to get back to full fitness than a smaller horse.

If he's in poor condition, get his weight right first, then you can concentrate on fitness. We often start by walking them down the lane (either on foot or leading from another horse), starting with 10mins and building it up over a couple of weeks to 45mins, then start riding them for short amounts of time (in walk). After 4-6 weeks you can start to introduce short trots and so on.

When he's got so little muscle I'd be inclined to avoid anything too strenuous like school work or lunging until he's built up a bit.

He's bound to change shape, so don't go for an expensive saddle first time round!

 

[Blizzard]

Yes that is him!

Thank you, yes his back muscles are pretty rubbish at the mo so Im going to go for a 2nd hand wintec I think until he is fit and in good condition again.

 

[GTs]

I do not see why a bigger horse would take longer than a smaller horse -

In polo we turn our horses out for 4-6 months our rule of thumb is a week to get them back for every week they have off.

 

[virtual]

[ QUOTE ]
I do not see why a bigger horse would take longer than a smaller horse -

In polo we turn our horses out for 4-6 months our rule of thumb is a week to get them back for every week they have off.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you mean a week for every month? (otherwise they'd take 4-6 months to get back)

Bigger horses have more muscle to build up and they've got to carry their own weight etc. They also often have draught in them (especially hunter types), which generally take longer to fitten than TBs and WB types.

 

[GTs]

Yes, I meant a week for each month.

I was just thinking you meant taller, rather than a heavy horse.