After Filly's box rest the vet came back out to check that no sequestrum had formed. I'm pleased to say that there was no sign of any problem with her leg.Box rest was at last over.
What I did not want her to do was go straight to the field and go crazy. After 14 days box rest that would be just asking for a pulled muscle. To overcome this I waited until the outdoor school was empty and we went in there to blow off some steam.
As I wanted a gradual build up to let her muscles warm up we started with just walk and trot on a 22 foot rope, which gave me some control over speed.
But I knew she was going to want to run at some point and did not want her cantering on such a tight circle. Fortunately one of our tools is a 45 foot rope so we transferred onto that. Now Filly could run, but I could control her a bit to stop her doing anything stupid in her excitement like trying to jump out of the school. I don't usually use gloves when I play with horses as I like to keep maximum feel on the rope but for this exercise I used them. Rope burn is painful and needed to be avoided.
And, boy, did she have a good time. She ran for joy with lots of leaping and twisting. I was very glad we didn't just put her in the rock hard field. For about 5 minutes she just had fun and I enjoyed every moment with her though being a little worried she would hurt herself.
Once done she just came and stood next to me as though to say, "Ok that's enough, field now please". The turn out was then totally un-eventful.
Since then I have been gradually bringing her back to being ridden. We spent several days playing online, then a long walk down the local lanes for variety and a few days of liberty. The liberty was really good fun. She now mimics my legs. So if I strike of in the imitation of a horses front legs at canter she canters alongside me. Great fun.
I've ridden her twice recently and it went pretty well. I've even started riding without holding the reins, just using two sticks and my body and legs to direct her. The aim is to get enough confidence in her to take the halter off altogether. Hopefully that will be soon. We just need to get better transitions from forwards to halt sorted out and then it will be time.
What I did not want her to do was go straight to the field and go crazy. After 14 days box rest that would be just asking for a pulled muscle. To overcome this I waited until the outdoor school was empty and we went in there to blow off some steam.
As I wanted a gradual build up to let her muscles warm up we started with just walk and trot on a 22 foot rope, which gave me some control over speed.
But I knew she was going to want to run at some point and did not want her cantering on such a tight circle. Fortunately one of our tools is a 45 foot rope so we transferred onto that. Now Filly could run, but I could control her a bit to stop her doing anything stupid in her excitement like trying to jump out of the school. I don't usually use gloves when I play with horses as I like to keep maximum feel on the rope but for this exercise I used them. Rope burn is painful and needed to be avoided.
And, boy, did she have a good time. She ran for joy with lots of leaping and twisting. I was very glad we didn't just put her in the rock hard field. For about 5 minutes she just had fun and I enjoyed every moment with her though being a little worried she would hurt herself.
Once done she just came and stood next to me as though to say, "Ok that's enough, field now please". The turn out was then totally un-eventful.
Since then I have been gradually bringing her back to being ridden. We spent several days playing online, then a long walk down the local lanes for variety and a few days of liberty. The liberty was really good fun. She now mimics my legs. So if I strike of in the imitation of a horses front legs at canter she canters alongside me. Great fun.
I've ridden her twice recently and it went pretty well. I've even started riding without holding the reins, just using two sticks and my body and legs to direct her. The aim is to get enough confidence in her to take the halter off altogether. Hopefully that will be soon. We just need to get better transitions from forwards to halt sorted out and then it will be time.
No comments:
Post a Comment