Starting jumping after ligament injury

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hgce

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Hi all,
Any advice/ stories would be lovely regarding starting a horse jumping again after a ligament injury.
He injured his medial collateral ligament in the foot feb 2023. Ever since we have done extensive rehab. We are now comfortably hacking, schooling and turnout. The vets have given the all clear to start jumping this January. However, after such a slow careful rehab, their plan of getting jumping again was just a bit vague. So I’m here looking for some advice!

Do I pop him over one cross pole every couple of days? Then after a couple weeks try jump a few jumps in a session. And so on? I can’t find anything online of how to go about this!
Thank you in advance! Helen
 
I gave it another 6 months of conditioning before jumping bc I am paranoid. I then built up like a baby horse. My horse's jumping confidence was clearly not there as he got closer to the fences than before, so we kept it small and fun for another 6 months, maybe jumping every 2 weeks but never very much ... and then thing kinda fell back into place and TOUCH WOOD he's been perfect ever since.
 
I would do plenty of cavaletti work first, strengthening the muscles as much as possible and then jump a maximum of once a week, building up very progressively
 
I 100% wouldn't follow the vets advice. it is too big a strain on the ligament to get back jumping jumps in that time frame and in the way you mention. The scar tissue in the ligament can still be weak even if horse is sound. I rehab horses with those injuries and the best thing to do is work with a physio to make sure the horse is strong enough to support the ligament as much as possible. We would start with raised pole work slowly inhand to reduce impact, and really be conscious to check if theres any heat or swelling. Then move to raised pole work ridden. then cavaletti and then we would check for an ultrasound to see if leg is holding up.

what you dont want to do to is go straight into 6 days of non jumping and then one days jumping (even if they are small) , that could be damaging, what you want is controlled progressive exercises with a physio over a longer period of time, building back up to jumps and eventually small grids. on top of that make sure hoof balance is good, and also that your arena surface isnt too deep or hard. you've done all the rehab work so far, so would be a pity to potentially cause a set back. ignore vet and get a good physio to give you a plan.
 
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