Raff has had a 6 month holiday... now what?!?!

Bowen4Horses

Bowen4Horses

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Hi All

Due to pregnancy/caesarean/complications... my darling Raff has had 6months off work... and it's now time to start riding him again.

how do i do that?!?

i know that lunging/long reining would be best, but we don't have a school and our field is, um, squishy...so we'll probably start off with bits of hacking.

do i just get on and have a little walk down the road? i read somewhere that we should do a week's walking for every month off... does that mean i have to only walk for 6 weeks?!?

also, is he going to be mental?
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has anyone ever given their horse that long off and then got back on with no problems?
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thoughts muchos appreciated x
 
Just going through his myself. My horse had almost 7 months off and for various reasons can not be lunged so I just got on.

Started with 15 mins walk and building it up. Yes you should keep to walk for a minimum of 4 weeks when they have had this much time off, then introduce trot for short bursts then build up. I would do further month before canter.
 
depends on the horse! I've got straight on one that hasn't been ridden for 2 years - we also have one that'll bronc like he's a professional if you don't ride him for 3 days.....

6 weeks walking sounds about right - as he hasn't been ridden because of your soundness issues rather than his, you have the bonus of starting with a sound horse
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Make sure you walk for a short time to start with - say half an hour, then you can build up the time reasonably quickly - say quarter an hour a week - as his back muscles begin to build up to be able to carry you properly. Start introducing trot towards the 5/6th week and then go from there!

Have fun!
 
Hello!!

My Welsh Cob hadn't been ridden for ages (At least 6 months)when I got on him a couple of weeks ago, I am a wuss and even on my standards he was an absolute angel!!

If you don't fancy hacking and the lorry can make it to SS Eds.. Give me a shout! I'll check first, but I am certain nobody will mind you borrowing the one here to have a potter about in!! x
 
QR- My horse was out of work for a year, i started off with 15mins walking and adding something like 5 mins on every week and a half. When i was up to 30-40 mins walkin i started introducing bits of trot, not much just a burst here and there and built it up. i did a few months of just walking and trotting before i indrocuced canter- teh same way as trot a little burst now and then. Hope this helps.

It all depends on the horse, listen to how they feel eg - if theyr're struggling.
My horse did at one point so i took him back a 'step'.
 
Depends on the horse...my lad had 4 months off some years back as I injured my back. He would have been fine to hop on and ride but I knew he needed to have a bit of a re-cap on the roads first as he can be a spooky daft idiot...so I took him out for walks around the lanes for a week in hand so he could see all the monsters again...he was fine when I got on him though...bit excited for the first couple of times but then settled back into the swing of things.
 
thank you for your answers... i didn't realise it would take so long! i had visions of jumping on and cantering off into the sunset (well, maybe not quite)

i have been walking (and trotting) him down the road in hand, and he hasn't batted an eyelid at anything. bless... so i'm hopeful he'll be quite chilled.

now.. just waiting for the wind to stop so i can get back onboard... it's blowing a gale here

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Ahh, see I think you could do a little bit of trotting, I mean, youngsters are backed and ridden away at trot quite quickly. Trotting wont kill him, he may be a bit unbalanced but I think a bit of trotting up and down hill will help build him up again. 6 weeks of walking sounds very long just for a horse that has had a rather long holiday. The cantering may take a bit longer but again a wee canter up a short hill is not really going to hurt him (I hope!) Now if he was recovering from an injury then absolutely you do need to take it slowly but i think he will be fine!

I would perhaps make sure you have someone with you when you first go out for a hack just to make sure he is OK. Im sure he will be a star and he wont have forgotten his manners and how to be ridden. Good luck!
 
If he's had daily turnout then theres no reason why you cant immediately start with 30mins work a day, preferably out hacking, with short spells of trot totalling 5 mins.
No need to lunge or long-rein- he's not coming back from any sort of injury!
 
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