Coming back to jumping after injury - what height would you do?

[Birker2020]

Quick update - my horse is recovering from a sprain to the lateral branch of the suspensory ligament on his n/f. I think he's had this injury a long time. Anyway he has had various treatments including PRP and is now at the stage of doing trot and canter work and is doing very well. I've decided to take him to a novice dressage class on the 19th Feb but would like to crack on with jumping too as that is my first love.

The vet said I could start jumping starting with a cross pole to see how he gets on.

We were jumping up to 3ft 3 before his injury but I am not sure now whether to introduce jumping at the height we were at previously (average of 2ft 9 ish) or whether to start small - say 2ft - 2ft 3 and see how he gets on as there is a little clear round class at the start of March I was thinking about doing. This will give me chance to introduce pole work and a few cross poles before our outing.

Do you think the height of the jump would really make a difference to whether the injury flares up again or not? As I understand it I should be warming up well, riding on a good surface which is not too deep, not doing any jump off turns for the foreseeable future and just taking it easy monitoring the injury as we go along.

Would you start small or would you start at the height before the injury? The reason I ask is that it took me a hell of a long time to be able to jump confidently at 3ft 3. If I start at the beginning it will be a long climb confidence wise for me again, whereas if I just plunge back in where I left off it will help me.

But at the end of the day Bailey's well being comes first so what do you reckon?

 

[BeckyD]

Glad to hear your boy is now back in work! I'm having a similar dilemma, as Bill had a minor tweak to his check ligament and has been rehabbing since November. I've just started jumping again and so far am sticking to about 2'3" and mainly just cross poles. We did a few jumps on Friday, and then a few more on Monday. I thought I'd introduce them gently and just monitor the leg and how he is coping. Seems OK so far, so I plan to jump once/twice a week (little and often) over small jumps, building up over the next month to 80/90cm.

I think it pays to start gently as to me logic would dictate that the higher the jump, the heavier the landing.

I also think that if there's any doubt in your mind whatsoever whether you should be jumping so high, that it will affect your confidence and affect the way you ride.

 

[diggerbez]

i'm really not an expert on legs or tendons or anthing like that but i would probably start small and stay small for quite a while until i was totally sure that the injury was fixed...in fact i would probably focus on my dressage work for a few months and maybe just do a little bit of polework/ small cross poles to break things up....i think that the height must surely make a difference? a small cross pole can just be cantered over but a 2ft9-3ft big square oxer will put much more strain in terms of both take off and landing? however, i don't know your horse or how long he has been back in trot/canter work so feel free to ignore me good luck

 

[FigJam]

I am just looking to reintroduce jumping to my horse after injury- she had an injury to the cruciate ligament in her stifle Sept 2010. Arthroscopy op, box rest and field rest followed and then we began ridden work again in July 2011. We gradually built that up and then in Sept 2011 reintroduced schooling and dressage. She’s done really well with the dressage (in fact, going better than before!) and stood up to normal hacking (eg galloping where we can!) fine, so we are now reintroducing jumping again and hoping it goes as well as the hacking/dressage has done.

In fact, on Saturday we are heading out to do our first round of SJs in almost 18 months- the giddy heights of 55cm and 65cm at my RC show. This height should be barely a knee lift for her and will just get the right muscles working again. Aim is to do a few rounds here and there at 75cm or thereabouts this month and see how that goes, then hopefully up to 85-90cm next month with the end goal hopefully being some intro level eventing this season.

She was jumping 1.05m competitively and 1.10m in lessons before the injury, but with the recent injury plus her age, I’m just going to be happy to get back to intro level again with her if I can.

A couple small height rounds to get back started again is definitely a good idea, then regular, short sessions slowly building up how much you jump and what height you jump would be the best idea?

 

[amage]

My vet's advice when coming back post injury was small enough to not put too much pressure on but big enough that my mare would focus and not do anything too silly or explosive. I did heaps of roadwork and slow steady build up then heaps of pole work to get us back in action

 

[gunnergundog]

Starting jumping....to me....means starting at home - which for me is not a full course, sadly! - soooo, first session would be crosses, including grids (but prob not bounces) and 2ft6/9 fences.

Assuming that was successful, I would repeat on a weekly basis for a month and then build up to 3ft for a month and then 3ft 3......I would look for a clear round at about 2ft 9 at the end of the first month and take from there. It depends a lot on how often you are riding/jumping....what the ground is like both in the arena and outside for his recovery really.

Sorry, I know it's not what you want to hear, but yes, I do think the height of the jump can make an impact on a branch/suspensory injury......just look at videos/pictures of that leading fetlock on landing. My view is you've come so far, so gently gently catch the monkey! Not worth rushing it and risking all!

Good luck whatever you do!

 

[Birker2020]

Hi guys thanks for your suggestions. I am inclined to agree and will start off small again. My physio friend spoke to me tonight and has kindly suggested showing me some polework exercises I can do with Bailey to strengthen the muscles before I start leaving the ground! So I am going to take her advice to start with and then your advice to start small and build up. The last thing I want to do is compromise any healing as I am so very grateful to have come so far. Thank you for your help x