Horse injured pec muscles (girth) / rehab exercises

[Old_Mac_Donald]

My new OTTB got a fright and tried to impale herself on a starpicket. Luckily the picket was capped, and bent over and the mare slid off. In the process, the mare has opened herself up right on the girth line. The wound extends (superficially) from behind the left elbow to the belly button to the inside of the right hind (thigh) and down the right hind to mid cannon. The wound is minimal - but my vet has warned that the mare has caused herself extensive bruising to the pec muscle and thigh muscles, and will be off work “for quite a while”. Well, s…t.

Obviously the mare is on rest at present whilst the skin wounds heal and the edema reduces. She has tight pec muscles anyway, so whilst the bruising is healing (unable to wear a girth), I’m looking for suggestions of ground work / in-hand or lunge (at the walk or jog) exercises and ground pole configurations to help the mare stretch her front end.

The poor girl was tight and cramped up in the front before the accident, and really struggles to take a right outside rein.

Once the swelling goes down and injury has closed I’m going to start hand-walking the mare around the neighbourhood like a teeny-tiny trailride.

The mare is taking things well. Better than me - I’m looking at yet more fencing repairs now!

[JB]

Honestly, once your vet says it’s ok, I would start work with a good massage therapist to help sort out what’s what. Tight pec muscles might be the root of the original problem, they might be a side effect of another, and even if they’re the root, they’ve undoubtedly caused other compensations in triceps and shoulders at the very least. I’d say you need a professional to help see what’s what, and help you with a progression of work

[lorilu]

Also consider a series of PEMF treatments if your vet says OK… It has been shown to speed healing of injuries - in fact, a friend’s horse had a terrible scrape on the cannon bone and it healed with NO proud flesh and it healed faster than anyone predicted.

[IPEsq]

My guy did this but no broken skin other than a very mild abrasion, just massive hematoma and tear in the muscle. He was super quiet in turnout, so I kept turning him out to graze. He seemed to know better than to try anything above a slow jog. Once he seemed less painful, I did a fair amount of bareback walking. I also found PEMF and red light therapy helped with the edema and his comfort, but in your case, I would wait a little for the wound to heal first. He actually wasn’t off work/without a saddle for all that long in hindsight, considering how HUGE his lower chest was at first.

[EmilyM]

I would ask the vet if they can laser the pecs and the wounds.

[Old_Mac_Donald]

That’s not a modality offered here.

[Old_Mac_Donald]

Absolutely, I have an awesome bodyworker dying to put her hands on the mare… just rotten luck this happened before she could!