My veteran jumping after SDFT injury (& feeding advice needed)

blood_magik

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This has honestly made my day. :biggrin4:

My veteran did his hind SDFT in April 2012 aged 21 and we were told that he would probably never jump again. I was gutted.

About 9 months after he finished rehab we were cautiously letting him 'jump' (canter over) 50cm fences. He didn't have the power in his back end to get over anything bigger than that but his wee face would light up when he realised what was happening. :redface4:

We've slowly been increasing the height since last summer up to about 80cm.
Today, my instructor and his show groom put him through his paces to see if he could cope with bigger fences and this is what happened (you might want to turn the volume down or mute it):

[video=youtube;bAhaOQSKuKc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAhaOQSKuKc[/video]

I honestly didn't expect him to get over the first fence when it was about 5 holes lower than the one in the video. I was a bit worried about his legs but he was absolutely fine. whew! :biggrin4:

He's not jump fit at the moment and I was told that he needs to lose some weight if he's going to improve :redface4: so his diet started tonight.
I'm not sure how to cut his feed down though so advice would be appreciated.

He's currently getting
1/2 (stubbs scoop) alfa a oil
1/2 baileys topline conditioning mix, and
1/2 Alfa beet.
Ad lib haylage.

I've cut the alfa beet and conditioning mix to 1/4 scoop each but was wondering if I could cut the conditioning mix out completely and just have him on the alfa beet.
The Baileys worked wonders putting condition on him when he needed it but he's now looking a bit too well coming out of winter :tongue4: and the vet has recommended keeping him on the lighter side because of the tendon injury. He's not fat but he's not 'fit', like my competition horses are.

He's ridden 5-6 times a week at the moment, usually for 45-60 mins. He mostly does flatwork and hacking, which is mostly hill work. He jumps once a week in a lesson and is lunged in a pessoa about once a fortnight.
His work is being upped starting from Monday.

What would you guys do if he was yours?

Thanks for reading. :smile4:
 
He looks great !! (Loved the music) not sure I would cut down his feed just yet. I would leave it how it is and see how much he loses if now back in more work and just incase we do get snow.

He is gorgeous !
 
Lovely :) just lovely!! And gives me soo much hope my guy will jump again (he did his left SDFT in sept and his more than half your guys age!)

Sorry no help with the feed :)
 
He looks great and my he's really enjoying himself. You would never guess his age or injury. I have a 21 yr old cob mare and we went through 9 months of rehab following tendon surgery - I used a microtherapy unit on her daily also. She has come back briliiantly - it is just so pleasing after all that hard rehab work. My mare is now on turmeric, micronised lnseed and the ground pepper and she is like a rocket. I wish I could ride her more than twice a week in winter, I am longing for the light evenings now.
 
Hmm.. It has been a bit colder recently. This is why I miss Dubai - it was either hot or very hot. :tongue3:


Thank you :smile3:
He's such a dude - he looked so pleased with himself this morning. :biggrin3:

ETA: He had PRP injections and then 9 months of rehab. He started on a new joint supplement last autumn called Flexadin UCII and it has collagen in it. My vet recommended it.
I recently started putting magnetic boots on him for a few hours every morning while he's in and he gets ice gel and cold boots on after jumping. Paranoid, moi? :tongue3:
 
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