rehab for shoulder injury: what would you do?

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RP fell down in pasture about a month ago and hurt his shoulder badly. The injury is behind the shoulder blade so we don't know exactly what we're dealing with--pulled muscle? torn tendon? not really clear.

I opted (for many reasons) not to do the extended stall rest route though that was the vet's preference, so he's been going out in solo turnout. He has stayed quiet in turnout. He's been sound at the walk for for several weeks, but he's still off at the trot. There has been some improvement in the trot, but the lameness is still very much there. He had one week on bute and two weeks on robaxin, he's now not on any medication.

The vet has suggested we start doing some controlled exercise to see how he responds. Of course, this will start with hand walking on hard/level ground (aka the barn aisle). but then the vet has suggested walking under saddle and then building up to some trot.

I'm not there yet, so this is also thinking ahead of the game. But I'm worried that getting on RP might not be the best option and I'm wondering if after the hand walking the better option would be lunging. There are pros and cons either way of course. If I sit on him I can stick to straight lines. But I worry about the weight of the rider and the saddle, given that it's a shoulder injury. Lunging, will make it a bending line, but I can use a surcingle and there will be no rider weight and if he's going to be silly, I'd rather he be silly on the lunge.

Would be curious to hear others thoughts or other's experiences with shoulder injuries.

[StraightForward]

It's really hard to figure out the best rehab course without being sure what type of injury it is. I think I would just try to go by his apparent comfort level - like if the curved lines seem to be uncomfortable for him, you might be able to do some long-lining and trot him down the long sides of the arena, then walk the short sides. Or see how comfy he seems under saddle. I've just started tack-walking Annabelle, and she is good for the first 10 minutes or so, then starts showing her discomfort, so I get off and do about 5 minutes in hand gentle lateral work and maybe a bit of jogging to get to the full 20 minutes/day the vet wants.

Since we're trying to address SI discomfort, my vet recommended MagnaWave therapy since it can reach the deep tissues. That and bodywork might not be a bad idea since he's likely getting sore in other areas too from compensation and also reduced movement.

[Srhorselady]

Have you considered massage and body work? I would be tempted to ask the Vet about doing very gentle range of motion body work from the ground with a trained horse body worker before any mounted work. Various slow gentle leg stretches.

[Srhorselady]

Also acupuncture.

[Chisamba]

Can you pony him. It's a favorite reconditioning of mine to pony the cray crays

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Can you pony him. It's a favorite reconditioning of mine to pony the cray crays

That's an interesting idea. MM is about as good of a horse to pony off of as I can think of. But it's something I've never done before.

I have a good body worker, but given that we don't have a clear diagnosis I am worried that there is a risk of accidently making the injury worse. But I could try acupuncture or pemf.

[Chisamba]

i lead them together once around the riding arena. then i mount and continue, keeping the ponied horses nose opposite my knee. I carry a dressage whip so if it hangs back in the kick zone, i can touch them with the whip to bring them up. i keep a fairly short pony line until the horse is really used to it, then i let them have a bit of slack once they get the idea and start to keep pace with he ridden horse automatically. then i start do do loopy serpentines, changes of direction, fast walk normal walk. once the horse is pretty safe in the arena, i do not mind taking them out, down the trail over hill and dale. its also nice when you first introduce trot, because if the horse gets a bit frisky you can tire them out without the added difficulty of being on their back. I will saddle them up, and from time to time slap the saddle from the other horse to get them comfortable with the sound of leather squeaking, saddles moving bodies leaning over etc. once the horse is totally ready, i do it in a bridle, and then at some point half way through the work, i slide from the lead horse over onto the ponied horse and ride the other horse, leading the sane horse. the sane horse tends to keep the difficult horse relaxed because they are so used to being next to them from all the previous work.

before i had such things as arenas, round pens, etc and i was starting five to six green beans a year, it was how i starte most of my babies. ponied, then ponied in tack, then switch horses half way through.

[Kyra's Mom]

You can lunge him in a square...it takes a lot of effort on your part. Probably good to start in the arena so he has a fence to stick to. Ditto what someone said about long reining. Also effort on your part but it would avoid the torquing of a circle.

Yeah...ponying can be fun. I used to pony Kyra off of my little Oldenburg mare. It was interesting because they didn't get along too well but I did it anyway with a very close eye on spacing and keeping Kyra (she was the naughty one) out of my zone. It worked out and I was able to exercise both at the same time...bonus .

Susan

[Hayburner]

I also would have suggested some mild Masterson Method bodywork.

It's so hard to know what to do when you don't know the exact injury or the extent of it.

Is he head bobbing lame?

My mare would not bend to the right, she'd pitch a fit when asked. I had bodywork done twice and the worker said if she's not holding it for more than a week or two, try a chiropractor. I had the chiro out, she was not only out in the shoulder she was out in her poll and neck. The way she flies around the pasture it's no wonder

I too would be leery to ride or to lunge.

Hopefully, it works it's way out.

[Josette]

maybe look into cold lazer therapy

http://invma.org/wp-content/uploads/sit ... Ronald.pdf

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I also would have suggested some mild Masterson Method bodywork.

It's so hard to know what to do when you don't know the exact injury or the extent of it.

Is he head bobbing lame?

My mare would not bend to the right, she'd pitch a fit when asked. I had bodywork done twice and the worker said if she's not holding it for more than a week or two, try a chiropractor. I had the chiro out, she was not only out in the shoulder she was out in her poll and neck. The way she flies around the pasture it's no wonder

I too would be leery to ride or to lunge.

Hopefully, it works it's way out.

The bodyworker I used does masterson method. She's quite good. But I'm still a bit worried without knowing the extent of the soft tissue injury that working in the area might tweak something accidentally. But it's something to consider for sure, especially since he's not in anywhere near the kind of pain he was in and of course I would tell her in advance so she could be extra careful in that area.

We actually saw RP's injury happen. He slipped from a dead gallop and wiped out. The first week and a half, he would not put weight on his front leg even while standing and could barely walk. He's now sound at the walk, but still lame at the trot, though that has also improved some from the beginning, of course. I suspect it's the pushing off action of the trot that is still difficult for his shoulder.

I will look into the cold lazer therapy and will try out the ponying--thanks for the clear description/tips, Chisamba. Long-lining is also a good idea. i have not done it with him before, but I've done it plenty with others and it might also be good for his brain to learn something new. I'll need to order some lines!