Confidence in riding after a horse has been rehabbed

[Waxwing]

Hi my horse if off for rehab livery in a week or; if the rehab goes well I may extend by another month for further schooling to ensure she is going well. I have budgeted for about three months in total and obviously hope she successfully comes back into work. I know that a lot if not all of her presenting behaviours were pain related and hope that if she is now pain free these will diminish.

My question is has anyone who lost their confidence with a horse who had behaviours due to an underlying issue got it back after the horse has been successfully treated and rehabbed. I have other friends who have successfully rehabbed horses with SI issues and and have returned to the full range of activities they previously did, however in their case the SI issues tended to result in loss of performance and unwillingness to jump, not the explosive bucking we have had.

I am fully committed to ensuring the horse has everything she needs for the next few months and would love to have the same confidence in her as I did when I tried her. However for the past six months even when all was going well with her I rode with a neck strap and in a body protector. I have been riding another horse recently in lessons and on hacks, after the initial hack didn't feel any need for a neck strap and for the past couple of lessons the back protector has stayed in the car.

Obviously time will tell and I can't make any decisions about the future until I know if the rehab has been successful, but I don't want to go back to be a rider who only feels comfortable getting on a horse with a back protector and neck strap. I guess I have answered my own question really.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I suggest you start riding her at the rehab yard with your back protector and neck strap, probably on a lead-rein the 1st time. See how it goes, let your confidence grow with every uneventful ride and take your time before giving up your 'props'. You will get there.

 

[nagblagger]

Could you ride her at the rehab yard to get the 'feel' of her. There is no stigma with riding with a neck strap or body protector.

 

[Spiritedly]

As others have said ride her a few times at the rehab place before bringing home. Also go and watch her being ridden a few times before you get back on so you can see if her behaviour has changed.

 

[Tiddlypom]

If you don’t feel safe riding her, don’t put yourself through it.

Sorry to put a downer on it, but if she still has yet undiagnosed niggles the explosive bucking could return without warning. Are you the type of rider who will cope with that? I would have been when I was younger, but absolutely not now.

 

[scats]

I think you have to weigh up whether you want to take the risk. Life is short, injuries massively interfere with life and riding is meant to be fun.
I had an explosive bucker who broke my ankle (not my recent incident, but 15 years ago) and then he broke my same ankle again 6 months later in another explosion. I never regained my confidence in him and retired him young. It just wasn’t worth the risk as he gave no warning when it was going to happen.
Teenage me would have carried on. Older more sensible me, with a job and responsibilities… not so much.

 

[airliner]

Totally agree with everything else said here already.

Are you able to have someone else ride your horse a few times, especially the first ride? And are you able to ride another horse in the meantime? Both of those things should put some confidence in yourself as well as your horse when getting going again.

Also keep the mindset of “ride the horse you are on, not the one you know.” I have to remind myself of this all the time.

Fingers crossed for you and your horse!

 

[mini-eventer]

I remember your early posts and you were really enjoying this horse, based on that I think you can get it back. It is different with a horse you have never enjoyed get back on with support and see how you feel.

Wear your back protector and neck strap. I still have a neck strap on my 15yr old, and I do slip my fingers under it when he feels tense, or he feels a bit keen cantering. I am pretty experience but bounce less these days. There is no shame in it

 

[canteron]

could you keep up some riding in the meantime to maintain confidence.
I have also just done a Lucinda Green course ‘Ready4Trouble’ which essentially taught a slightly defensive style of riding. It might be useful to see if you can find something similar so you are concentrating on your position ‘rules’ rather than let your brain have the space to go where it wants when you get back on?

 

[Red-1]

I would congratulate your nervous system for feeling nervous on this mare, as your gut was right and she had issues.

I would cautiously go watch and then ride and only proceed if your gut tells you that all is now well.

Trust your gut, it was always correct with this mare.

 

[Asha]

Lots of great comments on here. Especially that you should never worry about using a neck strap/body protector. I use them all the time ( plus an airjacket) even on our steady eddy Finn. I had it drilled into me when i was younger, better safe than sorry.

As for confidence getting back on, thats a very personal thing. Only you will know if you want to get back on. Some people ( including myself) cant get the image of what has happened out of their head. If you are like that, then no amount of watching pros ride her will get you over it.
I hope you get to enjoy her again. You are certainly doing everything possible to help get her right.

Best of luck, and as Red-1 says .. trust your gut.

 

[Waxwing]

Hi thank you for all comments; at the moment, assuming of course the rehab is successful I am current leaning towards looking for a new home for her in the spring. I have no issue with ensuring she gets everything she needs now but she is still young and I don't want to spend the next twenty plus years paying for livery for horse that might be fine to ride but I don't have the confidence to ride.

I am riding at least once a week at present, it isn't so much the wearing or not wearing of a back protector etc, it's the feeling of not necessarily needing to as I am am a lot less concerned something might happen. If that makes sense, I have also been able to have a some canters out hacking and just enjoy it.

I am also mindful if she is fit and well and pain free, and consequently feeling good in herself, she may need more of a job than I can give her. I essentially need a horse that is happy hacking out two to three times a week, and joining in a group lesson once or twice a week, and who can cope with have a few days of here and there.

If the rehab isn't successful then there will be different decisions to be made, but based on the vet's finding and the feedback from the physio the prognosis is good. The vets scanned and x rayed every part of he rear end and hind legs and are confident there are no other soft tissue or joint issues other than the ones they identified. They described the medical findings as mild and low grade (not the accompanying behaviours which were quite extreme.)

I am hopeful she can have a future as ridden horse, I'm just not sure I will be the one riding her.

 

[nagblagger]

Reading your last post, if you are totally honest with yourself I think your decision has been made. Embrace it and relax, you never have to get back on her and start investigating the selling process. Why wait until spring?

 

[Waxwing]

I think selling is probably the most likely outcome but I won't do that until I am sure she is sound and successfully back in ridden work and is able to maintain this. As she hasn't been ridden yet I still don't know if the rehab will ultimately be successful.

 

[Ambers Echo]

In my experience what horses do to show pain or other probems is their 'go to' and they are liable to revert if the problem resurfaces. Even after a successful rehab, they can get niggles again and the behaviour may reappear. I prefer a horse not to have explosive behaviours when there is an issue brewing. I am not sure I'd ever trust it again fully. Amber could be quite dramatic but never without warning. So I was happy to ride her after rehabbing. Lottie was never dramatic at all - it was always loss of performance so again I was happy. Max, on the other hand, went from fine to rearing over backwards in an instant. Which is why I was not prepared to ever ride him again. Others would make a different decision after rehab- and that is fine as that's their choice. We all pricess things differently and have different perceptions of risk. But I knew I would never dare push him through - say - a bit of a nap, for fear of his reaction, which would mean I would be no good to him, and he'd be no good for me.

So you need to decide what is right for you - and sounds like you have.

 

[Patterdale]

Ride lots of different horses in the meantime.

When it comes to it, if the thought of getting back on this one leaves you cold, then cut your losses, sell it and get one you like. It’s supposed to be fun and it’s too expensive and time consuming to have one you don’t like, even if the reason for that isn’t the horses fault.

 

[Kirstd33]

I'm in exactly the same situation and despite surgery and 6 months extensive in hand and then ridden rehab followed to the vets letter I'm still left with an explosive, unpredictable pony who is eroding my confidence with every ride and I'm actually not a nervous rider at 45 yrs old (don't ride with a back protector or neck strap - although maybe I should) my thread "please be kind" details it all.
In my case i think coblet should probably not be ridden and retired as he is 17 but yours is a lot younger so possibly could be rehabbed and rehabillitated?
I am however having fortnightly lessons and riding a friends 2 horses who although not saints are meaning that I'm somehow dragging my confidence up a little.

As others have said this hobby too expensive and is supposed to be fun.

 

[Waxwing]

In my experience what horses do to show pain or other probems is their 'go to' and they are liable to revert if the problem resurfaces. Even after a successful rehab, they can get niggles again and the behaviour may reappear. I prefer a horse not to have explosive behaviours when there is an issue brewing. I am not sure I'd ever trust it again fully. Amber could be quite dramatic but never without warning. So I was happy to ride her after rehabbing. Lottie was never dramatic at all - it was always loss of performance so again I was happy. Max, on the other hand, went from fine to rearing over backwards in an instant. Which is why I was not prepared to ever ride him again. Others would make a different decision after rehab- and that is fine as that's their choice. We all pricess things differently and have different perceptions of risk. But I knew I would never dare push him through - say - a bit of a nap, for fear of his reaction, which would mean I would be no good to him, and he'd be no good for me.

So you need to decide what is right for you - and sounds like you have.

This sums up my worries exactly I am concerned that however successful the rehab is that when another niggle arises, or the steroids in her SI start to wear off etc that she will revert to these behaviours to demonstrate she is in pain again.

In the eighteen months we have had I have really had a situation where I've had to push her through something I didn't feel confident managing, we've had a few stops , due to her seeing something she is unsure of on walk and trot hacks where I have felt happy to push her on as all she has tended to do then is stop, have a look and walk back a few steps. I always felt in those situations she had enough confidence in me that if I said it was ok she would listen. However prior to it all going rather wrong in August we were starting to do more together, we'd been out to do a low key dressage test and I had started building in canter on hacks. I had also booked a forest ride; I want a horse I can carry on doing these things with and feel safe and confident on. Even if the rehab goes well I don't think I would feel confident taking her out anywhere. I am not a competitive rider but don't want to limit myself forever to walk and trots round the village and riding in the school at the yard. At the very least I want to be able to go out for a canter without worrying, try a few intro tests and potentially be able to box up and go for low level hacks elsewhere. My DH and other friends are telling me to be more positive, but this isn't about the success or not of the rehab, its about what I feel happy doing in the future.

 

[Kirstd33]

This sums up my worries exactly I am concerned that however successful the rehab is that when another niggle arises, or the steroids in her SI start to wear off etc that she will revert to these behaviours to demonstrate she is in pain again.

In the eighteen months we have had I have really had a situation where I've had to push her through something I didn't feel confident managing, we've had a few stops , due to her seeing something she is unsure of on walk and trot hacks where I have felt happy to push her on as all she has tended to do then is stop, have a look and walk back a few steps. I always felt in those situations she had enough confidence in me that if I said it was ok she would listen. However prior to it all going rather wrong in August we were starting to do more together, we'd been out to do a low key dressage test and I had started building in canter on hacks. I had also booked a forest ride; I want a horse I can carry on doing these things with and feel safe and confident on. Even if the rehab goes well I don't think I would feel confident taking her out anywhere. I am not a competitive rider but don't want to limit myself forever to walk and trots round the village and riding in the school at the yard. At the very least I want to be able to go out for a canter without worrying, try a few intro tests and potentially be able to box up and go for low level hacks elsewhere. My DH and other friends are telling me to be more positive, but this isn't about the success or not of the rehab, its about what I feel happy doing in the future.e sound identical in our outlooks and what we want from a horse/pony - just a sane, sensible, kind creature to enjoy a leisurely bridle path canter with friends, a low-key RC clinic or walk-trot dressage test or the odd funride or 2 without worrying about being bounced off or carted into the next county. These ponies do exist as I ride a friends two and

We sound identical in our outlooks and what we want from a horse/pony - just a sane, sensible, kind creature to enjoy a leisurely bridle path canter with friends, a low-key RC clinic, a non-competitive walk-trot dressage test or the odd funride or 2 without worrying about being bounced off or carted into the next county. These ponies do exist as I ride a friends two and I know many that are out there having fun. I'm 45, nearly 46 and still too young also to be confined to a gentle stroll round the block for fear of what my pony/horse is going to do.

 

[Waxwing]

We sound identical in our outlooks and what we want from a horse/pony - just a sane, sensible, kind creature to enjoy a leisurely bridle path canter with friends, a low-key RC clinic, a non-competitive walk-trot dressage test or the odd funride or 2 without worrying about being bounced off or carted into the next county. These ponies do exist as I ride a friends two and I know many that are out there having fun. I'm 45, nearly 46 and still too young also to be confined to a gentle stroll round the block for fear of what my pony/horse is going to do.

Hi yes that is exactly what I want and I am a similar age to you (few years older ) but I definitely feel too young to be confined to a gentle stroll round the block. If that horse didn't have pain related behaviours, or if these presented differently I think she would be perfect for this as she hacks well alone, doesn't automatically hot up on grass or in company, was schooled well before we got her and is a nice person on the ground. I could handle a loss of performance as an indication something was amiss and maintenance treatment was required; I am less enamoured about the idea of broncing as future indicator of pain.

I appreciate that may not be the case but this is my concern.

 

[eahotson]

Hi yes that is exactly what I want and I am a similar age to you (few years older ) but I definitely feel too young to be confined to a gentle stroll round the block. If that horse didn't have pain related behaviours, or if these presented differently I think she would be perfect for this as she hacks well alone, doesn't automatically hot up on grass or in company, was schooled well before we got her and is a nice person on the ground. I could handle a loss of performance as an indication something was amiss and maintenance treatment was required; I am less enamoured about the idea of broncing as future indicator of pain.

I appreciate that may not be the case but this is my concern.

Just out of curiosity has this mare bronzed with you or just other riders?

 

[Waxwing]

Actually no not with me, several times with my daughter who has fallen off several times and on few other other occasions other riders, Two of these riders had been riding her on a regular basis and the bucks/ broncs with them were is the last month when she was in regular work and everything was now obviously hurting.

With me she only bucked properly once and that was when someone was waving a lunge line about so I forgave her that one. On one occasion I entered up cantering with a my arm out brandishing a schooling whip and she still didn't buck, (it was an exercise in a lesson and I was meant to have put my whip in the hand still holding the reins!)

I have had a couple of small excited bucks, but I don't mind those as that was the horse in front is going fast and you've given me a strong aid to go into canter, I don't mind those as there is no intention to get anyone off. The large repeated bucks with a dropped shoulder and then kicking out when the person comes off, not so much.

I am a fairly quiet rider and also probably wasn't asking a lot of her, we cantered in lessons but I wasn't asking or anything more than twenty meter circles or simply a canter across or around the school. I assume what I was was asking of her usually wasn't causing any pain and consequently she didn't buck.

In the week before we stopped riding her she felt more tense under saddle with me but I didn't get any bucks.

 

[eahotson]

Actually no not with me, several times with my daughter who has fallen off several times and on few other other occasions other riders, Two of these riders had been riding her on a regular basis and the bucks/ broncs with them were is the last month when she was in regular work and everything was now obviously hurting.

With me she only bucked properly once and that was when someone was waving a lunge line about so I forgave her that one. On one occasion I entered up cantering with a my arm out brandishing a schooling whip and she still didn't buck, (it was an exercise in a lesson and I was meant to have put my whip in the hand still holding the reins!)

I have had a couple of small excited bucks, but I don't mind those as that was the horse in front is going fast and you've given me a strong aid to go into canter, I don't mind those as there is no intention to get anyone off. The large repeated bucks with a dropped shoulder and then kicking out when the person comes off, not so much.

I am a fairly quiet rider and also probably wasn't asking a lot of her, we cantered in lessons but I wasn't asking or anything more than twenty meter circles or simply a canter across or around the school. I assume what I was was asking of her usually wasn't causing any pain and consequently she didn't buck.

In the week before we stopped riding her she felt more tense under saddle with me but I didn't get any bucks.

I thought that might be the case.

 

[eahotson]

It sounds as though she might suit a mainly hacking home without too much pressure.

 

[Waxwing]

I would potentially agree but she will need a competent rider who can keep her in regular work; she is not one who can be left for a week or two. I would say she is better with regular, but not necessarily intense work. She had quite enjoyed jumping prior ot the SI issues becoming apparent. (not with me, trot poles are as far as I go!}

 

[Boulty]

Both the option of selling with full disclosure post rehab & seeing how you feel once completed are valid options.

I guess it comes down to how sure you are that you’ve found & treated the problem & how good you are at spotting subtle warning signs (if she gives them) before she explodes.

The Welsh D I had could be fairly explosive and would try to leave the scene of anything he didn’t like at speed (including bolting down a road with me) and would go up if you put too much pressure on him. He was also one of those that needed to be in consistent work. I think some of this was pain related, some of it was him not being fully happy/ settled at the yard I originally had him on, some of it was in his head.

I’m not a particularly good or confident rider but when a lot of this had been improved he did become less “time bomb” and more just normally & more predictably sharp. We did eventually form a decent relationship from god awful beginnings (he wasn’t a very nice person when he wasn’t happy!) & he did develop the ability to be able to have a less rigid workload.

The Highland is currently somewhere on the back pain / kissing spines rehab merry go round. He’s not bucked with me since starting rehab (did threaten with someone else who exercised him when I was away) but he still currently doesn’t feel “right”. If what I’m trying atm doesn’t work I’m probably going to give up as fed up of trying & failing but I’ve also said if the out of the blue launching into space returns then I’ll also give up.

 

[Skib]

I cant comment on the horse but what is so wrong with wearing a body protector? I have always hacked in a bp and for the last 20 years I have worn one in lessons as well.

 

[maya2008]

Actually no not with me, several times with my daughter who has fallen off several times and on few other other occasions other riders, Two of these riders had been riding her on a regular basis and the bucks/ broncs with them were is the last month when she was in regular work and everything was now obviously hurting.

With me she only bucked properly once and that was when someone was waving a lunge line about so I forgave her that one. On one occasion I entered up cantering with a my arm out brandishing a schooling whip and she still didn't buck, (it was an exercise in a lesson and I was meant to have put my whip in the hand still holding the reins!)

I have had a couple of small excited bucks, but I don't mind those as that was the horse in front is going fast and you've given me a strong aid to go into canter, I don't mind those as there is no intention to get anyone off. The large repeated bucks with a dropped shoulder and then kicking out when the person comes off, not so much.

I am a fairly quiet rider and also probably wasn't asking a lot of her, we cantered in lessons but I wasn't asking or anything more than twenty meter circles or simply a canter across or around the school. I assume what I was was asking of her usually wasn't causing any pain and consequently she didn't buck.

In the week before we stopped riding her she felt more tense under saddle with me but I didn't get any bucks.

I always got the impression from your posts that she had bonded to you/preferred your riding style and therefore was more likely to show you an issue in another way (like being tense) rather than exploding. I would honestly see how the rehab goes. You personally had no issues beyond tenseness, and now you know that tense feeling is ‘ouch’ you’d stop there and call the vet in future. Mares can be particular about their riders - in my experience having a mare explode for those who are not their preferred rider but show less dramatic behaviours for their favoured human is definitely a thing.

Having been horse hunting this summer, (an experience for sure!) it might be better the one you know, who for you was fine, than an unknown that could end up worse than what you have.

Obviously if you have to have your horse ridden by others to be able to keep her, then this one needs to find a new human to love, but if it can be just you she doesn’t sound like a terrible match if she heals ok.

 

[eahotson]

I always got the impression from your posts that she had bonded to you/preferred your riding style and therefore was more likely to show you an issue in another way (like being tense) rather than exploding. I would honestly see how the rehab goes. You personally had no issues beyond tenseness, and now you know that tense feeling is ‘ouch’ you’d stop there and call the vet in future. Mares can be particular about their riders - in my experience having a mare explode for those who are not their preferred rider but show less dramatic behaviours for their favoured human is definitely a thing.

Having been horse hunting this summer, (an experience for sure!) it might be better the one you know, who for you was fine, than an unknown that could end up worse than what you have.

Obviously if you have to have your horse ridden by others to be able to keep her, then this one needs to find a new human to love, but if it can be just you she doesn’t sound like a terrible match if she heals ok.

 

[eahotson]

Tell me about Mares.I have my first one.She is actually a very easy going and rideable by most levels of rider.However I got a new instructor and she tolerated her a couple of times then said "She has got to go or else!!".She went.