Conditioning After Colic Surgery

[Geno]

My horse has been recovering from colic surgery the past 2 months. He has been doing amazing and is getting ready for light lunging and regular turnout for one more month, then we can start back to work!

I’ve been doing research these past 2 months to understand the best approach for creating a schedule to bring him back into full work. I struggle with this as most of the information I have been able to find is around bringing horses back into work after a specific injury.

Does anyone have guidance as to how I should go about creating a schedule to bring my horse back into work post colic surgery? I really want to take this slow to ensure that he is reconditioned correctly. I am working with jumping and dressage trainers, but I’d like to attempt creating the schedule first to present to them.

This is my attempt (I was planning on going through week 12 but I haven’t finished by schedule yet). I have a more detailed file indicating minutes at each exercise but this summary should work for my question. I had planned to do 4 days of work, 1 day off and repeat:

Week 1: Walk slowing increasing in time from 20-60 minutes
Week 2: Walk while incoporating few poles and hills
Week 3: Walk w/ some poles and hills; start short trot sets
Week 4: Same as week 3, increasing trot set times
Week 5: Walk w/ some poles and hills; trot sets with some poles
Week 6: Same as week 5; short canter sets
Week 7: Same as week 6; slowing increasing canter set times
Week 8: Same as week 7; start incoporating canter poles

As some background, he was competing at Training level before I purchased him. I had him at home for about 2 months before he coliced and required surgery. He is a warmblood so does take some work to condition.

Thank you so much for your help!

[Zuri]

Are you hand walking him now or turning him out yet for short durations? Have you discussed this with the vets who did the surgery or your treating vet? I am happy to share what my vets instructed me to do.

[Geno]

He has been getting hand walked since the surgery and is now in small pasture turnout. That has been slowly increased so he is out during the evening, okay’ed by the vet. Thursday the vet is out to okay him for regular turnout, which will be one additional month before he can start work again, other than light lunging as suggested by the surgery clinic.

The surgical vets suggested I work with my regular vet on “back to work” plan. Since she will be out on Thursday, I was hoping to jump the gun and have a plan put together that we can review and modify as she suggests.

Any information you could share would be great! Thank you so much!

[2tempe]

I think your schedule looks pretty good; when I did my mare, though, we did not get to 60 minutes in the first week; maybe only to 35-40 min.
One thing to keep in mind is that you can do lateral work (unlike a soft tissue situation where they tell you straight lines). I added in leg yields, shoulder in, etc to the walk work pretty quickly to get some of the suppleness thinking into the program. Few steps at a time, then straight then repeat.

What amazes me is that Wise Dan (racehorse) had colic surgery on May 16th and was breezing before the end of July. They may race him as early as end of August. HOW CAN THAT BE??

[retreadeventer]

I would increase the walking just a little bit slower. It looks like you are going from 20 min. to one hour in one week? That’s a bit accelerated in my opinion. I think going from 15 min. to half an hour in the first 7-10 days and then monitoring all other things with him, go to 45 min. second week/10 days. Their whole system has taken a life-changing hit and the horse’s body is repairing tissue like mad, so extra stress of sudden work is not good. I would avoid breaking him into a sweat for the first two weeks.
Some horses bounce right back and you can go on but we have always been very conservative the first two weeks especially with a nervous horse.

[Geno]

Slowing down the walk time in the first week makes complete sense, thank you so much. I was just going off of starting at 20 minutes and increasing by 5 minutes a day with 1 day off that week given my 4 days on 1 day off schedule. I can definitely incorporate some lateral work in our schedule.

He has been surprisingly calm throughout this whole process. No issues with stall rest, completely calm the first day that he was allowed out of his stall in turnout. Gaining weight, so much so that I keep asking my vet if I should cut back on the grain yet and she keeps telling me no. We keep hay in front of him 24/7 in a slow feeder hay net, both inside and outside. Someone at the barn actually got insurance on her horse after she saw how well mine has done post surgery.

I am really happy with the suggestions as I feel since he has been doing so well these past 2 months I might have rushed him back into full work. This really has helped my perspective, exactly what I needed to be told. Thank you!

[Zuri]

It is a slow process. Taking into consideration the weather and humidity, increasing the walk US 5 minutes a day is a good plan. You will be able to see how he tolerates it and after assessing him, you go from there. You have a good tentative schedule that can be amended as you go. He is going to be sore from using muscles he hasn’t used in a while. Keeping your riding sessions short initially and increasing slowly is key.

[2tempe]

Retread - had to laugh at the “don’t break a sweat”. Its a very good suggestion conceptually, but here in Florida we are all sweating before the tack is on!

[freshman]

[QUOTE=2tempe;7698124]
What amazes me is that Wise Dan (racehorse) had colic surgery on May 16th and was breezing before the end of July. They may race him as early as end of August. HOW CAN THAT BE??[/QUOTE]

Wise Dan is on a completely accelerated program designed to put him back into training ASAP and his work schedule reflects it. They mean to get him in shape to run the big fall stakes races with the goal of being competitive in a BC race in his final year, so this means not giving him even the minimal standard time to rest or recover from his ordeal before going back to training. This sure doesn’t mean it is good for any horse in general in Wise Dan specifically, to go on this schedule post colic surgery. He may or not make it back with good result. Much risk is being taken and we will just have to see how it turns out.

[BeastEventer]

I think it looks good! Just as a caution, the horse I rehabbed from surgery was VERY ouchy and uncomfortable with the canter work starting out. Would even act a little colicy that afternoon/evening. I was told this was normal, but personally, had it been up to me (I was just the rider:(), I would have taken it a bit slower with this particular horse. They are all so different! I hope everything goes smoothly!

[Geno]

Thanks, everyone!

The vet was out today and gave him the all clear for regular turnout and light lunging. I went over my attempt at a schedule above and with a few tweaks she agreed that it was a good approach.

We are going to start this week with 10 minute lunging sessions, most of the time at the walk, then move up to 20 minutes next week while increasing trot time. After the first 2 weeks on lunge only, I will start riding him at the walk.

She suggested I wait 12 weeks at the least for jumping, she feels I should give him 12-16 weeks of flat work only before I start over fences. I’ll see where he is once that time rolls around.

I’m very excited, but even through this excitement I will listen to what my horse tells me and take it as slow as he likes!

I’ll take some pre/post photos and share after he is back up to form.

[Duckz]

Lincoln had colic surgery back in December 2008. Due to complications after surgery I wasn’t able to sit on him again until July 2009. IIRC he was on stall rest with a little hand walking December - March, and then on small paddock turnout April - June. In July I started him back under saddle. Prior to surgery he was jumping 3’ courses and in work six days/week. Rehab looked something like this:

Week 1: work up to 25 min walk
Week 2: 30 min walk + some trot
Week 3: 30-40 min walk and trot
Week 4: 45 min walk and trot (increases trot time)
Week 5: start to add canter
Weeks 6-8: build up canter work.

By the 8 week mark he was back to normal flat work and jumping small fences. 100% ramp up to normal over the next couple months. He did some showing that fall. YMMV of course, and there’s no such thing as too much caution in these situations! At any sign of distress or ouchy-ness I would have dialed back the plan, but (bless his heart) he never put a foot wrong during rehab.

As a fun aside, in 2010 we started eventing. Linc got pulled for a drug test at his first recognized BN. The overseeing vet was one of the vets who assisted in the colic surgery! Boy was he ever pleased as punch!

Best of luck in rehab. It’s a scary but exciting time! They can absolutely recover 110% I can’t wait to see updates!