It’s hard to believe that it was all the way back in April when Scottie went lame, once again. Due to him not being insured for these type of issues anymore and how quickly he improved before the vet came out, we decided not to investigate it and just manage it as though he had reinjured his loss of use injury.
I’m pleased to say that nearly 4 months on, he is looking great. Last week was the first time I trotted him up in the morning in months, as he always looked worse coming out the stable, he trotted up sound! And this is despite all his antics threatening the careful work I have been doing. He jumped out of his pen multiple times to the point where I had to speed up making it bigger. Luckily we were about 2 months into pen rest by this point so it wasn’t too problematic and he is now back out in his normal sized field.
Towards the end of June we started daily hand walking. This month I should have been starting to look at getting back on. But early into his injury we had the saddler out – I had booked them before he went lame. Unfortunately, likely due to how little work he has done recently (due to injury) he has lost a lot of topline and he needs a new saddle. Our saddle has never been a perfect saddle, but he can be tricky and has always been comfortable in it. We always said as soon as he isn’t comfortable, it is time for a new one.
Because Scottie can be difficult when it comes to saddles, I’m not comfortable getting back on him for the first time in months in a brand new saddle. In the past when trying saddles, the saddle that fits him perfectly causes him to bronc as soon as I sit in it. So we have come up with a slightly different plan. Our saddler has given us a raised half pad that will lift the saddle in the areas he has dropped muscle. Working with my vet, we have also tweaked his return to work plan to include less riding.
Typically at this point in our rehab I ride 2-3 times a week, starting at roughly 10-15mins of walk and build up from there. I would also continue hand walking a few days a week. This time, I am focusing on increasing his work and hopefully help him build up some topline. I am long reining him 2-3 times a week, slowly increasing what I am asking from him. I am also walking him over poles once a week. I am hoping both these things will help him start to engage himself again. This will not only improve the fit of his currently saddle, but will mean he is closer to his usual shape when we start looking at new saddles.
At some point next month we will have the physio out to check his back. After that I will start riding him once a week. I will continue at once a week while hopefully starting to introduce trot while long reining. Once we have got to the point where we have started trotting under saddle it will be time to get the saddler out. Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly.
Last Updated on 16/08/2024