I used them, and still do. I believe his core is stronger now than it was before the injury.
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Did you use them while tack walking? For how long did you use them when you started? I’ve only ever used them on horses that were already sound and working.
Also this is a great video, thank you - I’ve watched only parts of it so far but will most definitely watch the entire thing!
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Jec Ballou has a great Horse Fitness Schedule guide that is meant to gradually bring a horse back into work. It’s well structured and incorporates lungeing, under saddle work, pole work and other calisthenics to give the horse a well rounded reintroduction to work. I highly recommend it if you want a step by step guide.
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I will go look for it, thank you!
I did. My horse was at the vet’s rehab facility for a month and they started him with the Equibands there. I believe they were introduced gradually. After he came home I continued to use them, both on the longe and tack walking. We’re pretty much back to work and, at my vet’s suggestion, still use them almost every ride.
Walking raised poles has been proven by research to improve core strength. Add that to your repertoire 2 or 3 days a week.
Well, I may be a nerd, but in-hand work is my first thought. You say he does the upper level work, does he do any of it on the long lines? Don’t get him out and do it tomorrow, but it could be a goal for you to build toward in the future. I really like the in-hand work for fitness building, too, because you can get a sense of what your horse looks like from the ground.
This is my suggestion, too. Get a 30 minute podcast, can warm up for 15 minutes at the walk, add some trotting in straight lines down the long side and across the diagonal when he’s ready for it.
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Coming from a human fitness side, distance runners who are actively training focus on 80% low intensity work and 20% moderate or high intensity. Runners who are coming back from injury or a break will often spend a decent amount of time at 100% low intensity until they are back up to a certain mileage (some more info on this approach ). Low intensity is usually defined as 2-4 minutes per mile slower than your 5k pace - so if you’re running a 5k at 8 minutes per mile, your low intensity could be as slow as 12 minutes per mile. This pace still gives you all the benefits to bones and soft tissue and is actually better for developing your aerobic system - really builds a great network of capillaries across the body. In a horse coming back into work, this is probably carrying a rider at a brisk walk for a week or two and then adding hills for another week or two and only after that, building in some trot.
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He has done a reasonable amount of in hand work but not on long lines - neither he nor I has ever worked with long lines. I’m sure he’d be fine with them, as he is a very agreeable horse who always tries to do what he’s asked. But I have never used them. I have no objection to learning, but I know it’s not easy to do correctly and I don’t want to work him incorrectly when he’s rebuilding muscle and form. I will talk to my trainer about it though, as she is definitely experienced with them.
I actually just did the month+ of walking to bring my teenager back to work. I’ve had him 12 years and he’s had many winters off but this is the first time I really dedicated us to walking. I set up walking cavaletti and did a ton of them as well as really focusing on a forward, long and low walk. His topline looks great and his brain is really the best it’s been after a winter break. Even on days I didn’t want to, we did 15 minutes. I am a believer!
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Lots of good advice. I will only add this: Be less concerned about his age unless you already had him on some type of maintenance. If he was fit and comfortably schooling I2/GP, he will come back to fitness much quicker than a younger horse that hadn’t had much training. That will help with your desire to rush, even though you know it’s contraindicated. Learn to long line if you can! It’s such a great skill to have and will take a lot of the monotony of walk work out of it.
Good luck and let us know your progress. Of course, if you decide you don’t have the time to bring him back, I (ahem) would be willing to take him off your hands! 
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Yes, he was fit and totally comfortable schooling I2. He was not on any maintenance before this, other than a joint supplement he’s been on for years just in case it helps, and I give all my horses prophylactic adequan and legend, which he’s also been getting for years, again just in case it helps! He has had his hocks shockwaved a few times.
I am going to try not to worry about his age, because he has never seemed to notice his age himself! He will tell me what he can do, whatever his age.
Actually right now he is telling me that he is eager to trot, and though I have been convinced from this thread that walking should form the basis of his work and conditioning for some period of time, I am also not sure that it’s such a bad idea to add very brief straight line trots to his work at some point in the fairly near future. But I’ll see how it goes.
I will definitely try to learn how to long line! To add variety and interest to walking I can add ground poles, and I will at some point start to add some hills, and I will add the equiband, and there’s also no reason I can’t actually do some work at the walk, like leg yields etc, but it’s always good to have more options!
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There should be literally no rush when rehabbing a horse. Although your horse wants to trot, you’re the one in charge of the rehab plan. I know it’s tempting but going to fast can set you back a year if an injury flairs up. There is a reason horsemen who know conditioning emphasize how important time at the walk is. 2 weeks is truly nothing when starting back to work.
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I do understand that. I do not intend to rush. But this is not a typical rehab situation. The horse has been turned out in a large field, with other horses, for a year. He has been trotting and cantering plenty out there. So I don’t think 20 second trot sets on arena footing are going to set him back a year. If they do, with this particular injury, then that means he would have had no hope of staying sound as a riding horse. The vet actually said that with this particular injury and in light of what he’s been doing the past year, there’s no reason we couldn’t be starting trot and even canter in 3 to 4 weeks. But I think he was speaking in terms of what the injury could handle and not the re-conditioning of the whole horse.
That being said, I still have been convinced by this thread that walking, and also core mobilization exercises, should form the basis of our rehab for quite some time. I am not actually sure at this point when would be the right time to start introducing very short trot sets to the walking. I am going to read all the resources cited here and think about it. Meanwhile we will focus on walking!
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Actually I should add - with this post and thread, I am trying to figure out what “not rushing” actually means in terms of a schedule.
My mare had a light winter of mostly long lining as I have no indoor. She does not want to work right now! We are mostly walking but we do a lot of walk/trot transitions which help her find another gear and think about forward.
Periodic activity in turnout doesn’t mean anything when it comes to under saddle restarts, especially in an older guy.
He may not act old, but he is. If you want any real chance of getting this horse back to FEI, you need to go slow.
What does go slow mean? No trot and certainly no canter for 1 month.
The walking intensity should be progressive.
Week 1 just walk on a flat surface 3x 20 min. Each ride. Each subsequent week, add 1 more day (up to 5) and 1 new thing, raised poles, a bit of hill work, OR equiband, etc
Week 5, trot work begins in straight lines. Duration up to 30 min. From there……
You’ve gotten a lot of great advice on walk work and rehab plans. Mine it and apply it.
Good luck! Anecdotal, but I once rehabbed a 22 year old back to PGS after a year off. It was a glacial process and I wanted to rush, but I knew better. He was competitive for 4 more years after which I slowly stepped him down to just hacks. He was 34 when I lost him. He was a one and only sort.
Be patient and maybe you’ll have the same luck.
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I thought I was the only one with a sticky horse after time off. 
now I don’t feel so alone.
Another of my horses had a year off for a suspensory injury and (in the middle of the year) unexpected keratoma surgery. (I didn’t have the best horse year last year! 
). That one, unlike this one, turned into a giant couch potato during his time off. Getting him to trot when it was time was a full body workout. He didn’t walk, he ambled - barely. He was beyond sticky, he was totally stuck lol! It was really an ordeal to first get through rehab and then get him fit for dressage again.
