Don't let the headline of this post fool you. The Sainted Mare has not been snorting bute or sugar cubes or anything like that. We're rehabbing her suspensory injury and we're now at the second stage - the trot stage. Mind you, we've done a lot of very exciting work at the walk; straightness, getting her to come off my leg better, keeping her rhythm steady. Let's face it though, after aw hole the walk gets ether, well, pedestrian.
This weekend we were finally allowed to trot, long sides only. We did our 30 minute power walk warm up, and then I asked her to trot down the long side going down to the barn. Sug almost jumped into the trot, she was so excited. She wanted to power down the line, and tried to show me her extended trot. I had to bring her back and explain to her that although I was very impressed, I didn't want her to reinjure herself. She was so happy to be moving again, she was snaking her neck and tossing her head. It was really cute to see her so happy, and really hard not to go over the 5 minute moratorium as it felt so good!
I'm out of town on a business trip now and my trainer will be amking sure she gets her procribed. She'll be doing her 30 minute power walk, on the bit, and 5 minute trot, also onthe bit, long sides only. I'm bummed to be away, but consoling myself with the fact that when I get back we'll be up to 10 minutes of long-side trotting. :) Bliss!
Thanks for reading, and if you've ever had to rehab your horse, why not share? I'd love to learn from your experience.
Hello just popped over from hay-net where you've been made blog of the day so congrats on that and good luck with the re-hab. Sounds like things are ging well.
ReplyDeleteHi horse care courses! Thanks for stopping by, and for the good news. I hope you'll stop back every now and again!
DeleteThe only rehab I had to do with my Sug was her recovery from a splint bone fracture and surgical removal. I wished I was blogging back then... The return to work was so much easier than rehabbing from a suspensory... still had to be careful... but mostly from developing excessive scar tissue under the remaining bone....
ReplyDeleteGood luck to you both!
I am doing a different type of rehab on my mare, Cashmere. Its a long story, but after some extreme behavorial changes and some odd muscle atrophy, we did a whisker to tip of tail exam by our sainted vet. She was diagonosed with EPM. I never knew this, but EPM can cause behavorial issues w/o all the tripping and uncoordination and she might have had this for years. We are now done with Marquis treatment and slowly back to work. We will have to learn some things over ( like horse traffic in the ring is okay) but I am thrilled to have my nice horse back. It's funny, but she's more affectionateshe now and she seems relieved to be feeling better.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for reading, and for sharing your experience, Laura. You know, I'm not surprised that your mare had behavioral changes. I noticed some with Sug, and when I think about it, it amkes sense. I've got back issues - bulging disks and SI issues -- and the chronic pain and my frustration at my inability to do what I'm used to doing makes me crabby as all get out, tired, and unwilling to work. When I think about it that way, it seems logical that my horse might experience the same kinds of things.
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