When bringing a horse back into work....

[smirnoff_ice]

....how do you do it?? How do you know when they've done enough work/not enough? Do you make them sweat / out of breath every time you ride or do you just keep it easy? At what point do you start pushing them to do more?

Mo is just coming back into work after vets found a lesion in her lateral digital extensor. She was box-rested for 3 weeks, turned out for 2 weeks and as of last week, is now rideable again. She's been hacked out for 30mins a day (most days), only at a walk. Today i lunged her at a walk in the pessoa for 10 mins. But it all seems too easy for her! She was quite fit, then we went on holiday for 2 weeks, so she wasnt ridden at all. When we came back, she did the LDE 3 days later.

Anyway, i'm blabbing! What do you do with yours? And when would you start working mine harder??!

Any advise greatly appreciated!

Lou.

 

[Sarah_Jane]

I have to admit after an injury like that I do as much walk work as possible to build up the strenth and hardness. Whilst she won't be unfit I would be doing gentle strengthening work for at least a month if not more. Time spent now is worth it later as you get a better base of fitness.

 

[lifeslemons]

Fortunately, I have yet to have had much experience of bringing a horse back into work after an injury - touch wood.

As SJ says, after box rest, prolonged walking is crucial.

However, if a horse has just come back into work following a normal end of season holiday, there is little purporse in more than two weeks walking. I know this doesn't entirely refer to the original post, but so many people walk their horses for weeks on end. WHY?! Chances are the horse will have been walking and trotting in the field anyway, and the majority of competition horses don't loose all of their fitness. Sure, individual circumstances for each horse often dictate otherwise, but in my opinion its a waste of time spending months in walk when the horse (if the horse isn't in recovery.) As an illustration, Mary King takes seven weeks in the winter to bring her horses back into full competition fitness, and how often are her horses ever lame?

Sorry for the rant - but in my opinion this is a real area of poor education!

 

[Bedlam]

Personally I like to do 3 weeks walking, but it's active walking and we go out for at least an hour and a half in the 3rd week.

With regards to the OP, I would now be increasing the time you spend out to an hour, and I'd be making sure she's really striding out rahter than just ambling, and I'd include up and down hills.