Bringing a horse backing into work 6 months after injury

[spla]

Hi all,
So I have read endless threads on here about bringing a horse back into work after injury or time off but I am looking for some advice specific to my horses injury.

How my horse became lame is a long story (I will post all the details below for those who are interested) but basically he was diagnosed with inflammation of muscles around the sacroiliac joint in November 2013 causing him to be lame behind, still lame in April 2014 and vet diagnosed tendinitis and tightness in hamstring. Physio sorted the hamstring and 6 weeks later he is finally sound.

I am looking to bring him back into work now very slowly and this is what I would like advice on. I have walked him out in hand along the road for the last 4 days, starting at 5 minutes and now up to 20 mins. So far so good. I will probably get the vet out after another week or so of light work just to confirm he is still sound. I am looking for ideas of what to do now? I am quite reluctant to lunge him in case it puts too much strain on his joints but I would appreciate any advice Thanks.

The long story...
He was injured when out on loan in November 2013 (never loaning him out again!), he was quite badly lame on a hind leg, especially in trot and downhill. Vet came out and diagnosed inflammation of muscles around the sacroiliac joint. He was given 7 days of bute and field rest for 8 weeks. I was away at the time but after 8 weeks the loaner assured me he was sound but she did not have time to bring him back into work... I arrived home in April and took the horse home when I noticed he was still lame. Vet was called and examined him, he was almost perfectly sound when trotting in a straight line but severely lame behind when trotting in a circle. He had mild tendinitis in his front left tendon and she noticed that his hamstring in his hind leg seemed to be tight or 'caught' (she suspected this was a probably a completely separate injury/lameness to the s.i. joint but we do not know if he was ever truly sound in between so we can not be sure). Physio came out and messaged his back and resolved the hamstring problem. He was given another 6 days of bute, 1 week of box rest and 4 weeks field rest. After this vet seen him again and has confirmed he is sound (finally!). He currently lives out 24/7 and loves it.

 

[boats]

Ive one coming back from
Injury at the moment and I found the easiest thing to do was to get a Physio regularly and to follow the plan she gave me. I'm glad I did because if I hadn't I would have brought him back into work much faster than she advised.

 

[be positive]

I brought one back into work last year following a long period of rest, we walked for about 6 weeks on the roads and local bridleways gradually increasing until he was doing about 11/2 hours most days, physio came every 4 weeks to check progress and treat him, he also did daily stretches and some inhand work over poles to help with his use of the muscles that were weak. After 6 weeks we introduced trotting again building up the time and doing more hill work, he was also tight in his hamstrings and not 100% sound due to muscle wastage but over the summer he got stronger, it may take months to build up the work but once you have the basic fitness you can then start to introduce schooling and canter work.

 

[MerrySherryRider]

My physio also gave me a detailed plan after a serious injury and monitored our progress. She was very specific and the advice was invaluable.

 

[pansymouse]

The formula is simple; get a good physio, get them working with your vet and then follow their advice to the letter and never push the pace. You will probably be so bored of walking that you think your head is doing to fall off but you will get a lasting, strong repair by doing it by the book.

 

[Goldenstar]

You need imput from a good physio for some injuries a lot of ridden walking can be the worse thing as it is quite tough on their backs.
If your horse where mine it would be doing some walking ridden ,walking lead from another horse and walking over poles and small logs on the ground in hand as a start point .