Recovering from Bum Strain

[dressagelove]

Feeling like the worst mummy in the world. Got to the farm last night, and T is very unhappy lifting hind legs ups, and resting a lot and seemingly very uncomfortable in general. After further investigation I found some pulled / strained muscles either site on his tail, midway down his buttock. Very very tight and hot. He isn't actually lame at all, even in trot however.

Spoke to my vet and he advised hot towel and cold hose sessions, 3x in one session, 3x sessions a day. He is being kept in a flat sandy fenced area with access to his stable, so no turn out.
Vet said it should feel better in 3-5 days. But he said they can suffer repeat injuries in the same place once they have done something like this, is this right?
Will I need to build his work up again as is he was unfit, and how can I strengthen the area to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Not sure whether I have overworked him on hillwork, or in the arena as I have been focussing a lot on getting him to 'sit', or whether he's done it in the field, but I feel awful about it, and blaming myself

 

[be positive]

I would get a physio in once the initial soreness has settled, they will be able to treat the cause and help you make a plan to avoid it happening again, if he was unfit and being asked to sit as well as hillwork it could have been too much, they need to have a good level of fitness to be able to work correctly, the longer you spend walking to build him up correctly the less chance of it reoccurring, I would be walking for several weeks following this type of injury.

 

[dressagelove]

Thanks bepositive. Yeah, I thought he was at a fairly good level of fitness, but evidently not
I've left a message for the physio, so will get them out next week probably. Walking and hacking for several weeks, but avoiding hills? We are in the pennines, so it's pretty hard to avoid hills around here!

 

[stencilface]

Is he stabled? Would turning out for constant movement helpi if he is?