Riding a horse after lameness..

[laurenpalmer]

Hiya,
my horse injured himself on monday in the field and his leg was very swollen, had a few minor cuts and was lame, it was the same yeaterday although today with a poultice and bandage on is less swollen and considerably less lame on it. I was wondering, when he is right again, how much work should i do on him? should i ride him lightly or would you start again from lunging then building it up by walking then a bit of trotting and progress slowly? He is quite fit although i am in the process of getting him fit (after a previous leg problem) for camp so time is not on my side although i don't want to rush it because i obviously don't want him to go lame again! Any suggestions? thank you!

 

[Paint it Lucky]

I would ride him lightly the first day, probably on a hack, do some gentle schooling the next day then rturn to normal work the day after. If he's only off for a few days he won't loose any fitness, I'm presuming his injury is non-tendon/muscle/internal structure related so he should be sound soon and fine to return to normal work.

 

[laurenpalmer]

thanks, yer i pressume that too! he was just messing about in the rain, doesn't look really serious. how long would you wait to jump? x

 

[Paint it Lucky]

I'd wait a week, if he's had no problems by then he should be fine to jump.