schooling advice

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Tim's Girl

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my tb has just been off for 4 months with a hock injury my vet has now given him the all clear to start working again. only problem is he wants 4 weeks of ridden work at walk 3 times a week for an hour and then in the fourth week he has to do straight line trotting to strengthen the joint. my problem with this is he is very unfit and hasnt been ridden for a year as ive decided to concentrate on in hand schooling as i never seem to have alot of time. i told my vet this and he didnt seem to think that it mattered. does anyone have any ideas how i can strengthen the hock without having to ride?
 
What type of injury was it? Generally for beginning after injury the horses need to be working on straight lines and on consistent ground - roadwork is ideal, deep surfaces are not!

I would begin by leading out in hand if I couldn't ride; proper groundwork definitely has its place but rehab from injuries needs long, slow work on straight lines IME.
 
rhino said:
What type of injury was it? Generally for beginning after injury the horses need to be working on straight lines and on consistent ground - roadwork is ideal, deep surfaces are not!

I would begin by leading out in hand if I couldn't ride; proper groundwork definitely has its place but rehab from injuries needs long, slow work on straight lines IME.
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Agree, thats my experience as well, road surfaces and lots of walking in hand, avoid hills to begin with.
 
Do you not want to ride him at all now and looking for something else to do with him or are you worried he is not fit enough to be ridden.

If the latter the 3 weeks walking are just what he needs to get his fitness up, after 3 weeks you start to build up the trot work gradually and all being well in 8 weeks or so he will be fit to do more.

If not wanting to ride at all leading out in hand is really the only option but you would probably need to take much longer to build him up as he will not have to work so hard as he would when ridden.

The other option, if the vet agrees is to turn him away and let him get fitter just being out in the field but he may not recover so well.
 
we do have a short lane that runs by the yard but he goes mad if i take him out of sight of the other horses. he used to be fine out on his own but has suddenly got very pally with the other horses. didnt care where they were when in vets. was thinking of that. my instructor suggested asking the vet if warming up in a very large circle (using a 22ft lunge line) of three or four circuits on each rein would help before i rode.

can remember what the condition was called as cant pronounce it and sheet is at stables. i think it was something to do with a pulled ligament in the bottom joint of the hock.
 
Tim's Girl said:
we do have a short lane that runs by the yard but he goes mad if i take him out of sight of the other horses. he used to be fine out on his own but has suddenly got very pally with the other horses. didnt care where they were when in vets. was thinking of that. my instructor suggested asking the vet if warming up in a very large circle (using a 22ft lunge line) of three or four circuits on each rein would help before i rode.
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Could you ride and lead giving him the safety of one of his friends?
 
be positive said:
Do you not want to ride him at all now and looking for something else to do with him or are you worried he is not fit enough to be ridden.

If the latter the 3 weeks walking are just what he needs to get his fitness up, after 3 weeks you start to build up the trot work gradually and all being well in 8 weeks or so he will be fit to do more.

If not wanting to ride at all leading out in hand is really the only option but you would probably need to take much longer to build him up as he will not have to work so hard as he would when ridden.

The other option, if the vet agrees is to turn him away and let him get fitter just being out in the field but he may not recover so well.
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i do want to ride just fitness issue really and he did the injury being brought back into work. have turned him away for a year as had several things happen regarding planning permission at old yard for stables and then setting up new yard etc. unfortunatley didnt get any spare time to work him properly but his personality is much nicer now and he is generally better behaved!!
 
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