What has everyone done when bringing their horse back from a lesion on the proximal suspensory? Horse was turned out the whole time and able to be ridden at a walk so not super out of shape as there was no stall rest.
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Did your vet not give you some guidelines for getting the horse back into work?
Mine always gave me a general guide for starting trot work and such.
I think in your case the important part is the footing as you get everything back up to strength. No uneven footing, etc.
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He just said “bring her back to full work” no jumping once she was sound at the walk. And to ice her after every ride.
@Draftcross_novice what duration of walking under saddle are you up to? For a very generic rehab, once you are up to 30 minutes of walking, I’d add 1-2 minutes of trotting straight lines only, increasing time every 4-5 rides or every week.
Once you are at about 15 minutes of trotting straight lines, add in trotting through the corners but don’t increase the duration. Keep walking for 30 minutes total too.
Once you are at 20-30 minutes of trotting, you add one lap of canter each way. Increase canter every 4-5 rides. At this point, I usually start decreasing the amount of walking a little bit as the rides can get very long in duration (30 walk, 30 trot, adding in canter makes for a long ride).
After you are at 30 trot and 15 canter, start adding in circles. At this point when I had a day where I had less time, I’d shorten the trot time a little bit. I’d think at the end of rehab you’d want to be at 20 min walking, 20-30 trot, 20-30 canter consistently with a sound horse.
Keys to a rehab are consistency, patience, only increasing duration or intensity in the same week. If things don’t feel great, decrease and stay at the same duration for longer.
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I think I’ve posted this before but this is the schedule I followed for PSD as received from my vet:
Walking
- Week 1: walking in hand 5 minutes, 2x a day
- Week 2: Walking in hand 10 minutes, 2x a day
- Week 3: Walking in hand 15 minutes, 2x a day
- Week 4: Walking in hand 20 minutes, 2x a day
- Week 5: Walking in hand 25 minutes once daily; 15 min tack walk once daily
- Week 6: Walking in hand 25 minutes once daily; 20 min tack walk once daily
- Weeks 7 and 8: Walking in hand 20minutes once daily; 25min tack walk once daily
Re-ultrasound
- Weeks 9 and 10: Walking 15 mins once in hand; 25 min tack walk; 1 minute of trot each direction for 2 total minutes
- Weeks 11 and 12: Waling 15 mins once in hand; 25 min tack walk; 2 minute of trot each direction for 4 total minutes
- Week 13: Walking 15 mins once in hand; 25 min tack walk; 3 minute of trot each direction for 6 total minutes
- Weeks 14: Walking 15 mins once in hand; 25 min tack walk; 4 minute of trot each direction
*Week 15 and 16: Walking 15 mins once in hand; 25 min tack walk; 5 minute of trot each direction
(My last go 'round with the RH I got up to 20 minutes of trotting before adding the canter, but didn’t the first time with LH and followed this exactly- YMMV)
Re-ultrasound
- Weeks 17 and 18: Walk 25 minutes; 12 trotting, 1 min canter each direction
- Weeks 19 and 20: Walk 25 min; 12 trotting; 2 min canter each direction
- Week 21: 25 min walk; 14 trotting; 2 minutes canter each direction-- possibly adding a little forwards and back at the trot
- Week 22 Walking 20-25 minutes; 14 min trotting; 3 min. canter each direction
Week 23: Walking 20-25 minutes; 16 min trotting; 3 min canter each direction, adding a small amount of lateral work into daily work - Weeks 24 and 25: walking 20-25 minutes, 18 min trotting; 4 min of canter each direction
re-ultrasound
If everything is going well start adding small grids and resume jumping if that’s your thing, or more strenuous lateral work, collection and engagement slowly.
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