Exercises to build up hind leg muscle

[beccaahope01]

Hello,
I’ve recently been working with an 11yr old Thoroughbred that my relative has purchased.

Unfortunately he wasn’t ridden or exercised for at least 6 month prior to buying him and was left in his field, no fault of his own or injury just the previous owner had lost interest. We have been bringing him back into work slowly and noticed that he drags his hind legs, particularly his left hind.

We have had the physio out to check him over and they believe it is due to muscle wastage in his hind from having a while off work. They have recommended doing pole work exercises with him to encourage him to left his hind legs when working. So far we have been doing in hand and ridden walk and trot over trotting poles.

I was wondering if anyone has any other exercises or recommendations for him alongside the pole work to keep him engaged and give him something different to try

 

[Equi]

Hills are your friend. Go up them stopping now and then, go down them stopping now and then, back up up them, if a large enough area walk circles on them on each side.

 

[sbloom]

I would be suspicious, why would a horse lose proportionately more muscle from one area than others, when out of work? I would be looking at movement patterns, compensations, posture. The sort of work you're doing can be great, when the timing is right, but adding "load" like pole work to a compromised movement pattern will do more harm than good.

Have a look at equitopiacenter.com, they have a load of introductory stuff on looking and posture/musculature (topline syndrome etc articles) and movement patterns. You'll also find content from all sorts of people who offer good in hand programmes to give you ideas, but my instinct is there's more to this than meets the eye.

 

[TheMule]

He needs a vet check before you continue, the physio is being unprofessional in recommending anything without the all clear because it sounds like a lameness

 

[Goldenstar]

The best way to approach this is leading the horse from another over undulating ground .
It’s a long job and one I would not start without a vet doing some flexions as part of a basic work up.

 

[Goldie's mum]

Hello, welcome to the forum.

I realise this is not your own horse but I wouldn't ever go straight to a physio. Get a diagnosis from a vet, then ask the vet if physiotherapy would help.
It would be a bit unusual for lack of work to affect one leg more than the other and owners often lie about why a horse has been sold from the field.

 

[LEC]

Even spending 6 months in a field shouldn’t have severe atrophy. I suspect you have an underlying issue.