Help please, physio and length of time to see improvement.

[milz88]

Hi, I had the physio out to my horse for the first time since he has had his hocks medicated, she came on wednesday, he trotted up fairly well initially and then after she worked on him he trotted up much free(er) and straighter. She is working over his whole body because the bone scan showed up very red areas in his neck and back, and she said he was very tight.

As far as we can see he has responded well to the hock medication and trotted up sound after his last flexion test, however, to ride he is still very stiff on a small circle, but plain sailing on a straight line, would you say this is now only because of his stiffness in his neck/back?

I hacked him after she had been and he felt pretty good, he always feels brilliant in walk but just becomes so stiff in trot, I also rode today and he did feel better than before, i schooled him a little on the gallops and he felt very good in trot and not too bad on a circle, in fact, really floaty but he was very excited!

She said to me its best to keep riding, stretching and flexing, incorporate a little hill work as he just needs to reuse these muscles again, and I should work him through the stiffness, he had most of winter off due to the bad weather (I don't have my own arena) and then when I brought him back into work in feb, he started to show his lameness so as you can tell he hasn't done a proper schooling session for a very long time.

I am hoping the more i work him and push through the stiffness, he will improve, she is coming back in 2 weeks. Does any one have any similar experiences?/advice. Many thanks.

 

[JenniferLA]

I have been involved in the rehabilitation of many ex race horses and often saw the same problems you are having at the moment, where they have been used to simply gallop flat out in a straight line and often become stiff and unable to bend.

The physio should be able to work out the muscles that are tight in your horse's body, and like you say yourself, you will have to work through the stiffness and encourage him to use those muscles that were so tight before.

He will find it much easier to work in a straight line, so lots of hacking will do him good to start building up his fitness. With the ex racehorses, we often hacked only for roughly 6 weeks so that the horse can build up its strength before any major bending is asked of them. As long as they do not hack with their head's high up in the air it is often the best thing.

As and when you feel ready you can start to incorporate school work into his routine, using big circles and making the corners quite big, so that you are asking him to bend a little but not huge amounts that are going to make him feel sore.

Best of luck with your horse!

 

[milz88]

Thank you for your reply! I think I have to be patient and not expect perfect results quickly, I know this, it's just about making sure I am building him up properly.

I would say he certainly has not done a proper schooling session (45-hour) since November, so I will have to take it steady, I usually start off with a 10min hack to the arena, but then walk around the gallops first bending left and right, he also tends to put his head in the right place out of choice and will work into a contact nicely, then I do some trot in straight lines, and then literally 5 mins of trotting with big cricles and wide corners which he seems very happy doing.

then if I ride back up to the arena he does struggle more on the surface and especially on a corner or circle, however, today I did push him a bit more than before to bend around my leg on a 15m circle and he was a little better doing this than before she came, he struggles more on the right rein and in trot, but in walk feels fabulous and swingy, he can do a small 5-10m circle well.

I was thinking of lunging him tomorrow, but I am not sure if I should do more fittening work first and bending/stretching and larger circles until he finds it easier to do a small circle.

sorry for the rambling, its just my thoughts, appreicate the reply.

 

[JenniferLA]

Personally, i would avoid doing anything smaller than a 20m circle, because his muscles will not be developed enough or strong enough to cope with it for any benefit.

I know how frustrating it must be to want to get on him and test what he might be able to do now compared with how he was before, but like you have said, you need to give him time and build him up steadily. Once he has started to build upand improve you might then find that you will ask him to do a 10m circle and he will do it no problem.

Like i have said, i would avoid lunging as he will find smaller circles harder. If you cannot or don't want to ride, why not long rein him. It is something you can do in straight lines as well as hold a contact with the horse.

Let me know how he improves, and if you have any more questions.

 

[milz88]

I agree, I think he is ok with 20m + at the moment but smaller is too difficult, I really think hill work would help build his strength and use his back muscles, and I have some great hills here, so I think because I pushed him a bit in the school today to see how he was, I will hack and do hill work for a week or so with lots of bending then do a little in the school again to check progress, he is great to hack as he enjoys it so much (especially after not doing anything exciting for so long) and really works forward into a contact.

I also think lunging would be quite a big ask at this early stage, I look forward to her coming back and seeing him again in 2 weeks and seeing if there is improvement.

Thank you for your help