Rehabbing horse - help with walk exercises

A forum for discussion of training in dressage
Paints
Herd Member
Posts: 79
Joined: Tue Oct 20, 2015 1:46 pm
Location: Hamilton, ON

Rehabbing horse - help with walk exercises

Postby Paints » Wed Mar 09, 2016 2:33 pm

Mods - please move this thread if it should be in a different forum - I wasn't sure where the best place for it was. :D

My horse injured his suspensory ligament 7 months ago - the vets think it was actually reinjured although it had never been diagnosed previously. After 7 months of stall rest, hand walking followed by walking under saddle mostly without contact we have been cleared to begin working with some collection (I think my vet means this in a h/j sense rather than a dressage sense), some leg yield and a minute bit of trot on the straight sides only. He can't do circles, especially small ones - just he corners of the arena. He can do transitions and a bit of reinback. He is still confined to stall rest - we have rigged an outside area about the size of 2 stalls which he is turned out in for 3 hours a day - but he just stands and munches hay.

He has lost a lot of fitness. So far I have worked on getting a nice medium walk - long and stretched but in self carriage. I do transitions and a bit of reinback.

I would love any ideas you may have for walk exercises with these limitations - especially ways to help him gain fitness and suppleness.

thanks.

PaulaO
Bringing Life to the DDBB
Posts: 2174
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2015 4:16 pm
Location: Northern Illinois

Re: Rehabbing horse - help with walk exercises

Postby PaulaO » Wed Mar 09, 2016 5:53 pm

Ground work with poles--leading him over. Under saddle, make shallow loops on the long side to bend him a bit. Can you do turn on the forehand/haunches? If so, do walk squares. Down the long side, do a quarter turn on f/h, down the short side, do quarter turn, etc. Essential a turn in each corner.

MaryC
Novice
Posts: 51
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2015 4:18 pm

Re: Rehabbing horse - help with walk exercises

Postby MaryC » Thu Mar 10, 2016 5:00 pm

BTDT! Medium/collected/extended walk with lots of transitions within the gait; little LY zig zags; lots of suppling in the poll, shoulders, neck and ribcage as you're walking your straight lines; halt - give me your neck - walk - give me your neck - halt. Keep everything within approved limits. There's a lot that can be done in the walk - we do a walk-only day at least every other week just to play with suppling!

And good luck with your rehabbing!

User avatar
Chisamba
Bringing Life to the DDBB
Posts: 4452
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2015 10:33 pm
Location: New Jersey

Re: Rehabbing horse - help with walk exercises

Postby Chisamba » Fri Mar 11, 2016 1:12 am

Shallow walk serpentines, just to the quarterline and back focusing on equal contact in each rein through all the changes of bend.

And i agree transitions within the walk
Last edited by Chisamba on Fri Mar 11, 2016 11:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

mari
Herd Member
Posts: 446
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2015 7:57 am

Re: Rehabbing horse - help with walk exercises

Postby mari » Fri Mar 11, 2016 4:39 am

Keep them coming please! Odin was diagnosed with minor suspensory damage in both front legs yesterday, confirmed with soft tissue scans. I'm very bleak. We're on 6 weeks of rest before the next scan, followed by rehab.
The aim of argument or of discussion should not be victory, but progress. ~ Joseph Joubert


Return to “Dressage Training”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 49 guests