Bringing horse back into work

[Suzy]

I would like to reap the benefits of your past experience.
My horse has been off work for 2 months due to a combination of sore feet and a virus - leading to viral anaemia. Prior to that she was fit and out at PN.

During her lay off she's been out 24/7 in a herd of 6 on about 10 acres and they generally have a bit of a charge about once a day - particularly when called to come and get their dinner! She has got a bit porky, but has certainly retained some fitness because they are a pretty active herd.

I am going to bring her back into work this weekend and wanted your views on how you would approach this, particularly bearing in mind that I only have daylight at weekends - but do have a floodlit school. I am sorry if this sounds a really dim question, but I tend not to give mine such a long time off (so that they are not too hard to get fit again) unless it is enforced, in which case they are normally coming back from box rest and need weeks of walk work. I am therefore not really sure how slow/fast I can take it - obviosly I will assess her as we go along, but would welcome some initial views.

thanks

 

[samp]

Ideally you need to take your time 2 weeks walking 2 weeks trotting - by 3rd week introduce schooling. Then start canter work gradually and buil dup from there. If she has had anaemia may not want to do a lot of work anyway and may take a while to build up

 

[Petrie]

I am in a similar situation. My 10 year old will be coming back into work after 6 weeks off. He has been going out every day, and he is very active in the field.

He has been eventing at Novice/Intermediate level since a 6 yr old, so he has been fit many times before, which I think is really relevent. You didn't mention how old your horse is, but if she is a more established horse who has been fit before, then you won't need to worry as much as you would if she is a youngster.

I would normally only give them about 4 weeks off for the same reason as you - I just don't have time for hours of walking, especially at this time of year. Due to one thing or another, he has had 6 weeks off this time.

I'm not going to worry too much as I don't think he will have lost that much fitness - he's a Tb type who seems to keep himself fit (mostly by weaving constantly in the stable and charging about when he's out!)

I can only ride 4 times a week too, which does make things harder.

Anyway, with him, I will hack him for two weeks, four times a week for an hour to an hour and a half. Mostly walking at first, then building up the trotting. Some of it will be on the roads, but he's not very good in traffic, so much will be off road. We might have a few fun canters towards the end too.

After two weeks of this, I'll start some schooling, simple stuff, then building up gradually to about 45-60 mins schooling twice a week, with two hacks of about 1hr 30 a week.

I will allow about 8 weeks to get to this level. After 3-4 weeks he can go out to some dressage shows, and after 6 weeks he can start some jumping (small stuff in the school first, then building up to a bit of show jumping).

I know the purists would say you need to walk him on the roads every day for two weeks, building up to 2 hours of road work every day after 4 weeks etc etc. But, for an older horse, I don't think all that is necessary, unless you are bringing it back into work after a serious injury such as a tendon.

If that was the case, I would probably send it away as I certainly don't have the time for 2 hours hacking every day - I have to work too!

I think you just have to trust yourself a bit that you know your horse and take each day as it comes. If you can't ride every single day, then I wouldn't worry too much about it, just take a bit longer to get her fit.

Also, if she's been out 24/7 she will have done much of her walking herself.

Good luck!