Back to work? With the NQR horse

[Long_Time_Lurker]

I think hand walking and then line driving with bands would be better to begin with than lunging. You need to do straight lines as much as possible to start. For maybe 2 months. If that goes well and his back seems to improve with building a little more muscle next would be walking under saddle also with bands. That’s probably all until spring when it has been a full year, but doing SOMETHING will probably be good for you both mentally.

If at any point his back gets worse rather than better, then stop and try to treat it.

[fivestrideline]

@Long_Time_Lurker

If at any point his back gets worse rather than better, then stop and try to treat it.

This is a viable option. I’ll start him slowly and keep an eye on it, but only do “more” treatments if it seems to bother him.

As far as long lining as several people have said, I don’t know how. And I don’t have anyone to teach me, no enclosed arena, and a horse that got very confused the last time someone tried to longline him (they weren’t super confident either). He lunges, and I walk a huge circle to keep him on as large a track as possible. He may need to be lunged when we go to trot, because trotting in hand has a bit of play/nip behavior we are trying to fix (and getting after him about it kinda undermines the goal of trotting in hand. I’d like to keep those separate if possible).

Luckily I’m in the SE, so we are actually heading into our best weather. Winters are cold but not brutal, with mud being the biggest issue outside of a Winter Storm or two, usually. Who knows what it’ll look like this year though.

[FromTheGalaxy]

I don’t have anything to contribute, just wanted to say thank you for this thread and for everyone giving advice. I have been slowly bringing my TB mare back into work after over 2 years off (colic surgery, followed by having a foal). I’ve been eager but also wary of getting back on her, and this thread has made me realize that we won’t hurt anything by continuing ground work for a few more months before introducing work under saddle. I’m not sure why, but I didn’t even consider ground driving or using Equibands!

[dynamite0319]

I agree with @IPEsq’s advice. But would add the saddle part is concerning to me. I have a 9yo OTTB who is a hot mess. We don’t do any work, full stop, unless his saddle fits well. He has a few spinous processes that consider kissing, but I and my treating vet believe that KS is overdiagnosed and overtreated right now. Slow, correct work with a well fitting saddle often “cures” KS horses. My horse has a plethora of issues in his SI area likely related to a recently found/diagnosed broken pelvis that probably happened when he was a foal since he was never off work for it and ran as a 2yo.
If you are only doing work at a walk you might consider investing in one of the nicer bareback pads until you can get your saddle fitting him better. I have a Brockamp pad and I LOVE it.
If this were my horse I’d do a ton of walking for the next couple/few months (depending on the climate where you live). Having some hills is AWESOME and probably even better than the equiband. Poles on the ground are great, too. Then push him in the spring a bit harder and see what you’ve got. Slow is fast and fast is slow when it comes to horses!

[endlessclimb]

@dynamite0319

Brockamp pad

This looks just like the “barefoot” bareback pads - is it the same under a different brand?

[dynamite0319]

I have never head of the barefoot bareback pads. There is only one distributor of the Brockamp pads in the US and Canada. They are made in Italy and imported from Germany. I had to wait a bit for mine, but it was worth the wait! I like how padded it is and it’s very well made. I’m probably going to use it to start my chincoteague pony under saddle rather than a “real” saddle bc it’s light and the suede is sticky.
However, I’m sure there are other pads that are great that would work, too.

[fivestrideline]

It’s such a struggle because I’d love to get him something perfectly fitted (realizing I’ll have to adjust/get something else later), but to the fitters’ credit, none of them are particularly thrilled to fit this horse out of the pasture. At least not the ones that aren’t just pushing saddles out the door. FWIW his TC fits pretty well with a half pad.

I’ve heard two trains of thought for KS types, one is the bareback pad route and the other is actually the western saddle route. Bareback puts all the rider’s weight on a relatively small space (I’m not heavy, and I do carry my weight across my thighs vs just digging my pointy seatbones in, but still), but little chance for pinching. Western is heavier tack but spreads the weight across the back better than bareback or an English style.

[mmeqcenter]

On the note of some remaining back soreness - having correctly-built muscle often prevents, helps, and can even solve various areas of soreness. Often people think their retired horses, or horses that haven’t been in work for a while, don’t need chiro and such, because they’re not doing anything. In fact, I typically find that those guys need more frequent work or have more “issues” pointed out during adjustments than those in regular work.
For example, I had a barn-mate who maybe walk/trotted her horse for 20 minutes three times a week. Every chiro adjustment the horse was “out” like, everywhere. Meanwhile, my girl when in heavy dressage work six days a week (she was schooling 3rd level, one day per week was an hour of only walking, one day was hacking/hills) barely had anything “out” during her adjustments. Smidge in the shoulder (where she holds her tension) and TMJ (again, tension, she’s a nervous type), that’d be it at most.

So, if it were me, I’d start OPs horse back with only walking. Hand walks or on the lunge line for 20 minutes three days a week for a week or two. Then four days a week. Then five days a week with up to three of them under saddle. Then all five under saddle, 30 minutes. Then 40 minutes. Admittedly I typically slower than many others do with rehabbing. But I’d be only walking for at least two months.

[dynamite0319]

I was thinking bareback pad more for it for sure not pinching, pushing, squeezing, etc. like a saddle might. I don’t really know that a bareback pad is better for KS in general. And if you are doing walk only work, then it won’t kill you to use a bareback pad like it might if you were doing lots of faster work.

I grew up on a ranch in Montana so have LOTS of western experience. Reining, cutting, roping, ranch work, etc. did it all. I I don’t think that is a great option for your horse right now. He’s not used to western tack. It’s expensive to buy a nice one. I’d get him walk fit as much as possible as safely as possible then see if you need to make bigger tack changes when his work increases.

[NaturallyHappy]

I’m with @Posting_Trot-I would not lunge your horse. It’s hard on stifles and hocks, which I think you mentioned are a bit of a problem. I would also not do it because of the suspensory, although I realize I’m in the minority here. I’m a big fan of PEMF therapy. I use a bemer blanket on my horse every day. I am not a bemer rep, but I do know someone who rents them. Please pm me if you have any interest and I’ll give you the phone number. Im sure your body worker had you do belly lifts. I hope some of this is helpful. Best of luck to you!

[HorseLover65]

I would be inclined to go with the walking approach for fall/winter and wait until spring to test things out further. He isn’t young and he isn’t yet old… kind of in that middle age. Walking (for humans and horses) has so many benefits. Continue with the bodywork to assess how the back responds. You have been so patient. I hope your patience pays off. I wouldn’t invest in a saddle before spring. Good luck!

[mmeqcenter]

Staying at the walk for up to 20 minutes is not usually problematic for joints on the lunge line, in my experience; also I lunge in very large circles. I use a 30’ line and typically walk about 10’ diameter circle myself. YMMV.

[NaturallyHappy]

@mmeqcenter, I agree when it’s a huge circle. I just don’t know many people who do this.

[Bristol_Bay]

The last time my KS horse was due for back and hock injections, my vet recommended Osphos instead as a cheaper, less invasive alternative. It worked well. Just a thought.

Good luck. He may have issues, but having the wrong owner is not one of them.

[fivestrideline]

@Bristol_Bay

Good luck. He may have issues, but having the wrong owner is not one of them.

This made me tear up a little. Thank you for your kind words!

[TooManyTBs]

I was in a similar situation with my last horse, also an 11 year old tb with a suspensory issue who lost it mentally on stall rest. No kissing spine diagnosis (as I didn’t go looking for it with how much the suspensory was costing) but he was very back and body sore when not in consistent correct work. Once this horse was at the early trotting stage I threw him back on turnout before he killed me, himself, or both of us. I continued the rehab plan which was adding 1 minute of trot every 3 days, added canter once he was at 30 minutes of trotting. Canter started at 1 minute, added a minute every 3 days, same as the trot. He felt not great through the trot stage and started feeling decent when we were up to about 5 min of cantering. His was a high hind suspensory injury and that leg never bothered him after the initial issue, but he was SO body sore and just felt generally blah to ride for lack of a better term. My vet had me ride through it. He did get chiro every 4-6 weeks which seemed to help. I have no long term feedback as he died from colic two weeks after he was back in full work, because horses, but he did feel pretty good once past the 5 minutes of cantering stage.

If I was in your shoes I’d start tack walking and see what happens in terms of comfort level for your horse. Then I’d work back through whatever rehab plan your vet recommends. Do you have a saddle fitter who can help while he’s in this stage? My horse had a very well fitting saddle prior to the injury which went to a “good enough” fit during rehab. My fitter kept it flocked as well as she could, but also helped with half pads to use while his topline rebuilt.

[IPEsq]

That’s why I say start with a surcingle and hand walk. With my horse with the broken scapula, we were concerned about tree points and concerned about the girth area due to some clear fascial/muscle damage and edema there on the affected side. When it was time to add the bands for his walks, I did Equicore pad, half pad (I used a thinner Ogilvy based on how my surcingle fits and horse’s large withers) and surcingle. This means zero pressure on the lower back.

After some months of this routine, every other day in the bands and working up (the beginning should be very short for a horse who has never worn them, less than 5 mins), then I think it would be a good time to switch to the saddle and reevaluate your fit options at that time. Again, start in hand, just wearing the saddle this time instead of a surcingle. And you can use the saddle also on some days with no bands to gauge tolerance (whereas I wouldn’t bother with a surcingle if you aren’t using the bands that day in the previous phase).

The BOT back pad is great to use for longeing and long lining, but it is far too bulky to put under the Equicore saddle pad. And you don’t get all the benefits putting it on top.

[fivestrideline]

@TooManyTBs

I was in a similar situation with my last horse, also an 11 year old tb with a suspensory issue who lost it mentally on stall rest. No kissing spine diagnosis (as I didn’t go looking for it with how much the suspensory was costing) but he was very back and body sore when not in consistent correct work. Once this horse was at the early trotting stage I threw him back on turnout before he killed me, himself, or both of us. I continued the rehab plan which was adding 1 minute of trot every 3 days, added canter once he was at 30 minutes of trotting. Canter started at 1 minute, added a minute every 3 days, same as the trot. He felt not great through the trot stage

Wow are our horses twins? Though mine was a high front suspensory.

He looked and felt like absolute dog water at the trotting stage, and we eventually gave up entirely (I was mentally exhausted. And he was being a bit dangerous as far as acrobatics under saddle). It’s good to know that he might just have to work through some ickyness - he always felt better after a canter so my old routine was to walk for 10-20 minutes and then go straight to canter. Obviously that doesn’t fit the rehab protocol, but it is interesting.

I’ve moved so I’d need to start over as far as a fitter, and anyways I could use some time to save up in case we need to order something (short backed, 0 wither rotund OTTB + loooooong femur 5’9” me = saddle fitting hell). I’ll start with handwalking for sure, since I do know he will need to have a very specific fit once I go to get on. His Tad Coffin is a great fit when he’s not so fat and flabby.

[IPEsq]

Going straight to canter is not good for suspensory rehab but it is good for backs. But also think about it…the walk and canter are more similar gaits than trot. So by getting him really fit at the walk starting without a rider and then if/when you ever do get back in the saddle, he should walk minimum 30 minutes before you think about anything else that day and be able to comfortably walk an hour before thinking about anything other than tack walking. For a horse with these combined issues.

[fivestrideline]

You know, you’d think there’s be some “accepted” back-to-work schedule for a sound horse out there, if only among vets. I was hoping to find some sort of consistency and then double that plan, but you find anything from wtc the first week to lunging in the Pessoa rig for months. Ugh.

Regardless, I will be handwalking for at least the first month. I plan to work up to 45 minutes, and alternate EquiCore + loose side reins (he likes to bend around the handler and be crooked), hills, and other ground work (I have a core exercises for horses book with some ideas).

From there I’m not sure, either I’ll add some light lunging at the trot in a huge circle or 3 days of tack walking a week. I think I’ll just have to play it by ear based on his back comfort. His feet will also play a role, as I’m switching farriers due to switching farms and praying it’ll work out. I really don’t want to haul out if I don’t have to!