Bringing back into work (Fitness question)

[3Beasties]

My TB has been out of work for just under 5 weeks due to injury, he has been out 24/7 the whole time (apart from spending 4 days in the stable) and was reasonably fit/ridden regularly before he went lame.

I have now been told to bring him back into work and start building him back up but am worried that I am going to rush it and cause more damage.

How much fitness is he likely to have lost in the 5 weeks? As a rough guide how would you go about bringing him back into work? I have an idea but would be interested to see how you would go about it...

(Just in case it makes a difference he has been diagnosed with Navicular and is now Sound (still early days though) after Cortisone injections and having Heart bars put on)

 

[MiCsarah]

My boy is just coming back into work. He had to do 10 min walk week 1, week 2 20 mins walk a day, week 3 40 min walk a day, week 4 60 min walk a day an then week 5 another 60 mins with a little trot towards the end and then gradually increase and introduce canter. He only had 3 weeks off but he had his hocks fused

 

[3Beasties]

Thanks