Exercise dilemma

[Winters100]

Hi,

I am in an odd situation and am at a loss as to what to do for my 3 at present. Would appreciate any advice.

I have 3 horses. 2 are very fit, the 3rd was bought recently, but is already quite fit. All sane and sensible. About a month and a half ago I had a fall and broke my hand. A silly fall, no fault of the horse, and I thought no big deal, just some weeks in a cast and then all would be OK. I have now developed a pretty bad complication from this and have come to understand that there is basically no way to know how long before I can ride again. The first specialist told me to look at 2 weeks to 5 years, the other today told me that if I am very lucky it might be around 6 months but can be much longer. It is something called Sudecks Atrophy in case anyone has experience of it.

So what to do with horses who are used to working twice a day? Until now I have been having them exercised partly by paying a pro, partly by having a young rider move them, and then loose schooling and lunging myself. This worked for me when I was looking at a c. 6 week period, but the young rider can't do this long term as she is now back at collage, so if I want to keep them fit I need to pay a pro to ride all 3, and their current work schedule is 9 days work to 1 day off, so we are not talking pennies.

Of course I have hopes that the recovery may be shorter as I am quite strong and healthy generally, but there is no way of knowing. It is also possible that I am not able to ride again.

So what to do with the horses? I am reluctant to turn them away as 1 is a good-doer and 1 is mid teens so I worry that it would be hard for her to come back to work after an extended break. Unfortunately loaners or sharers are not really common in my discipline, and I don't really know of any who would keep them at the level of work that I like them to have.

Options as I see them:

1. turn them away
2. Pay to have them kept in current schedule and hope like hell that I am one of the lucky ones who recovers quickly
3. Have them put in carousel for an hour a day and then lunge / loose school. This may be difficult however as I have a lot of pain and I am told that this may increase to a very high level before it gets better.
4. Some sort of combination of 2 and 3 - maybe ridden a couple of times a week by the pro and try to keep them ticking over in the meantime

Any good ideas for me?

Thanks

 

[maya2008]

I would turn away any you can. Then perhaps pay for the one you can't, which would probably be the mid-teens horse. The good doer could wear a muzzle. In my experience, turning away gives you an unfit horse with training intact at the end of the period at grass. Having someone else ride them gets them out of how you do things, and can give them habits and 'buttons' you don't want.

 

[doodle]

Is a carousel a horse walker? If so I can’t think of anything more boring for a horse to do that for an hour every day. But then I hate them apart from maybe a few minutes warm up/down.

 

[Neddie123]

Working them twice a day is a lot especially if they are having nine days in a row before a break, although you don't mention what you do with them. You might find they benefit form some time off. Maybe turn away the ones you can and the one you think will struggle could be kept ticking over by the pro at a lower workload?

 

[ycbm]

How important is it to you that they are fit when you want to ride again?

What difficulty will it cause any of the 3 horses to be turned away?

Would there be any difficulty holding your livery places?

It's winter soon and I would, if the answers to those questions are supportive, turn them all away.

PS, I've looked it up and your complication looks really nasty. Sympathies.

 

[milliepops]

do they really need to be kept at that level of fitness? I think I'd aim for a happy medium of getting someone to tick them over a couple of times a week, at least the teenage one, and let them down a fair bit. Agree with Kamikaze re horse walkers, i can see they have a purpose but I wouldn't want to depend on one for exercise unless it was one of the huge oval shaped ones.

 

[Auslander]

I would turn away too. It's nearly winter, so the good doer isn't going to explode, and the older one will be fine - mid teens isn't old.
Seems pointless paying a fortune to keep them in work while you don't have more of a timescale for getting back in the saddle.

 

[Winters100]

Is a carousel a horse walker? If so I can’t think of anything more boring for a horse to do that for an hour every day. But then I hate them apart from maybe a few minutes warm up/down.

Yes, I also hate it and so seldom use it - but it looks like it might be the only way to move them if I have the level of pain that the doctor is warning me to expect.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Turn them away. It's the only thing that makes sense in the circumstances.

 

[Winters100]

How important is it to you that they are fit when you want to ride again?

What difficulty will it cause any of the 3 horses to be turned away?

Would there be any difficulty holding your livery places?

It's winter soon and I would, if the answers to those questions are supportive, turn them all away.

PS, I've looked it up and your complication looks really nasty. Sympathies.

Well if they are turned away it will be at the livery yard, maybe I am using the wrong term as they will still be stabled at night (we are in Poland and I would not want them out 24 hours in winter). I just really mean for them to be in the paddock all day rather than in work. I guess it seems the sensible thing to do being as I have no idea how this is going to play out, but I am thinking to do it gently, maybe keep them ridden a few times a week for a month just to see how it goes..... I am generally quite optimistic but i was not expecting this.

 

[P.forpony]

For heavens sake don’t lunge/loose school!
The last thing you need is to compromise your own recovery.

Give yourself a bit of a break.
Turn away if you like, it will probably do the teen good especially if they’re out during the day to move around. The good doer will be fine as long as it’s not knee deep luscious grass.
Or if you want to keep them ticking over just dial it right back. Maybe the Pro riding once a week, 2 days a week on on the walker and maybe some walking in hand, if you can safely manage?

Either way don’t worry, they will be just fine. They don’t need to be in hard work all the time. Yes they will get unfit but it’s not the end of the world.
Take some pressure off so you can focus on your recovery ?
Hopefully it’s as speedy as possible!

 

[doodle]

I would rather turn away than use it.

Just looked the condition up. They thought I had it after I broke my hand too. It wasn’t healing and causing a lot of pain. I was convinced the screws holding the bone together were loose. Surgeon was sure I was over reacting. They tried various things for 10 months. Casts, splints, physio, scans and blood tests to check for bone infection. Eventually they decided to go back in and bone graft the break. But also saying if they did and it was that syndrome it would make things much much worse. Anyway at month 11 they went back in and yep the screws were loose! Also there were multiple chips of bone under the repair on the palm side of my hand, but these had fused to the bone and so they left them (why they didn’t see them on the first operation I don’t know). They didn’t need to do the bone graft they just removed the loose screws. They also realised that the point of the broken bone above the screws had broken off and could be seen on the second X-ray (which they missed!) Very quick recovery for that operation and hand back to normal.

So what I am saying is it might not be as bad as you fear. I should have made a complaint as there was issue after issue with the whole thing and a year out of my life with a dodgy hand after a silly spook!

 

[Winters100]

Working them twice a day is a lot especially if they are having nine days in a row before a break, although you don't mention what you do with them. You might find they benefit form some time off. Maybe turn away the ones you can and the one you think will struggle could be kept ticking over by the pro at a lower workload?

Usually I train in the morning, quite hard training but they are fit and up to it, then in the afternoon lunge, loose school or hack (usually 1 ridden and 2 led). They seem good on it because they get to eat a lot because they are in hard work. But you are right that maybe they will like a holiday,

 

[blitznbobs]

Could you loan them out to a competent teenager or young rider ?

 

[Gingerwitch]

Sorry to hear about your injury. I would worry that unless the walker was oval and large and went both ways that you could end up with leg injuries or very one sided horses. I too would let down and give them a holiday as it's too tempting to push yourself too soon if the £'s are running away plus you may becoming back in 6 months not riding fit to 3 pinging fit horses.

 

[Muddywellies]

Turn them away and concentrate on yourself. Your own health and recovery is by far the most important thing.

 

[chaps89]

I would turn away and save the pennies for having them bought back into work when you have a clearer idea of when that is. So long as they have plenty of turnout and aren't shut in, I'd start letting them down gently over the next few weeks then allow them a holiday.
When you do get back in the swing of things you probably won't want them over fit and in full work anyway I'd imagine?

 

[Winters100]

I would rather turn away than use it.

Just looked the condition up. They thought I had it after I broke my hand too. It wasn’t healing and causing a lot of pain. I was convinced the screws holding the bone together were loose. Surgeon was sure I was over reacting. They tried various things for 10 months. Casts, splints, physio, scans and blood tests to check for bone infection. Eventually they decided to go back in and bone graft the break. But also saying if they did and it was that syndrome it would make things much much worse. Anyway at month 11 they went back in and yep the screws were loose! Also there were multiple chips of bone under the repair on the palm side of my hand, but these had fused to the bone and so they left them (why they didn’t see them on the first operation I don’t know). They didn’t need to do the bone graft they just removed the loose screws. They also realised that the point of the broken bone above the screws had broken off and could be seen on the second X-ray (which they missed!) Very quick recovery for that operation and hand back to normal.

So what I am saying is it might not be as bad as you fear. I should have made a complaint as there was issue after issue with the whole thing and a year out of my life with a dodgy hand after a silly spook!

That sounds really nasty Kamikaze - and good that you spoke up and eventually got it sorted. I am pretty sure that in my case the diagnosis is correct. My OH was the doctor who treated it and he xrayed it every week during the recovery, it mended just fine without any surgery, and no ones fault that this has happened, it just is something that can arise in some small % of injuries. It has been seen by several of his colleagues and they all gave the same diagnosis, but I am very lucky that it has been caught very early so it has a good chance to make a successful recovery.

 

[Trouper]

I am so sorry you are going thro' this and hope it heals as quickly as possible.
I thinks sometimes life tells us that it is just time to stop - so I would turn away for the winter and take the time to concentrate on yourself. They may well benefit from a complete break and I would prefer them to have the time to themselves rather than be ridden by another for a significant amount of time. As others have said, it could cause more problems than it solves.
Worrying about keeping them "ticking over" or, worse, trying to do some of it yourself won't help your recovery so give yourself permission to call a halt!!

 

[emilylou]

I'd turn away. On another note, we deal with lots of patients with Sudecks Atrophy at work. In the UK we call it CRPS. Happy for you to PM me about it to see if I can offer any help.

 

[Polygon]

They are polo ponies, right? In the UK most polo ponies get a complete break over winter (actually are turned away with shoes off etc.) and come back into work just fine the next year. It seems to do them a lot of good mentally too. Of course they need to be fittened up gradually when the time comes but apart from that it sounds like the ideal solution for you. Even if they have to be stabled overnight.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

If they can still get daily turnout and a general look over by staff, I'd just hit the pause button for now.

I'd only pay someone to exercise them if there were to be no turnout (which is quite common here). Then when you get the green light to go ahead, you could pay someone to help you get them fit again, as you get yourself fit again too.

As for walkers, my horse goes in one during the winter on occasion. It is a decent size, and goes both ways. I don't hate them, but I don't love them. Some horses do come out looking visibly looser than when they went in (if they were previously standing in their stable). So in some cases it may be better than the alternative, which is standing in a box.

 

[Leandy]

I would turn away or let them down if you don't have 24hr turnout. Not sure why you wouldn't? Presumably you go to all that effort and expense to keep them fit for a purpose, and if you cannot ride you won't be able to play, compete whatever it is? Give them a holiday and bring back to fitness again when you have a better view on when you will be back to fitness yourself.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Oh and I forgot to say: if you choose one option, such as turning away and it doesn't work for them, and one isn't doing well (some are better in work, some get fat, some get straight up annoying) then you can adjust accordingly. Just because you choose an option now, doesn't mean you can't change it later, I'd assume. So go with the simplest, cheapest, and easiest option first, then adjust as necessary. You may not have to change anything at all.

 

[Winters100]

Thanks all for your good advice. I now have a plan, they will go on holidays from today apart from some light hacking just to keep an element of movement. I bought one of them from the YO and he is happy to take him out for a light hack a couple of times a week, the other 2 will go out with a lady and her Mother who keep a horse at the same yard but are finding him a bit too much for them. All are sensible so riding them in the forest is a pleasure. Other than that they will be dawn to dusk in the field. I am really lucky that everyone has been so kind. YO is going to keep a special eye on them and the pro has offered to ride the good doer for free if he starts gaining weight. We will keep a close eye on them as I have always felt that they do best when fit and working, but for now I will need to compromise. Really big thank you to everyone here for your kind words.

 

[Kat]

Well going into winter turning away a good doer is much less of a worry. Leave him unrugged and don't give him supplemental feed. If that isn't enough to manage his weight you could give him a bib clip and leave unrugged, give him some time on the walker or use a muzzle.

The one in its teens will probably cope with being turned away providing it has plenty of turnout but if not it is more manageable if you only have one to keep in work.

What about looking for an young/upcoming pro who might be prepared to take on the horse on good terms in order to gain experience? I don't know what your discipline and level is but if you are willing to agree to them competing the horse for a minimum period it could be attractive.

 

[P.forpony]

Well done winters100 that all sounds very sensible and positive.
Keep us posted with how you’re getting on.
Wishing you a quick and complication free recovery ?