My Welsh cob is coming back into work after a very long period off due to lameness. We know there are major laminitic changes in his feet & so there is a genuine doubt as to whether he'll stand up to work. He was walked out in hand for nearly a fortnight & has now been ridden out in walk for nearly a fortnight, starting with very short distances & now doing about 25 minutes (including waiting for traffic time) 6 days a week. My plan, subject to him staying sound, is to gradually increase this but stay in walk until the end of August.
Am I the only person who sees the value in this very old-fashioned approach? I will admit it's a slightly longer period of walk than was used to bring back the hunters when I was a child, but then he's rehabbing from a long standing lameness rather than just time off. I ask because I've had comments about not taking him out for proper rides with a trot & canter, I've even been told that he does it in the field so why fuss so much! Now my view is that in the field he's only dealing with his own body, plus I would hope (though I occasionally doubt) that he'd have the sense to stop if it hurt. Under saddle his options are fewer, plus if we're in a group I sometimes think adrenalin takes over & they'll carry on when they shouldn't.
I intend to carry on as planned anyway. If he can't stay sound with this level of bringing back into work then realistically he isn't going to stay sound as a riding pony, but at least I'll have an answer. I just find it hard to believe that after being out of work since October people think that a pony can come straight back into full, albeit hacking, work. I do wonder about horse care nowadays - we have better drugs, treatments, rugs & fancy feeds but common sense & basic care seem to have decreased significantly. Or am I a boring old fart? Answers on a postcard to The Victor Meldrew Appreciation Society!
Am I the only person who sees the value in this very old-fashioned approach? I will admit it's a slightly longer period of walk than was used to bring back the hunters when I was a child, but then he's rehabbing from a long standing lameness rather than just time off. I ask because I've had comments about not taking him out for proper rides with a trot & canter, I've even been told that he does it in the field so why fuss so much! Now my view is that in the field he's only dealing with his own body, plus I would hope (though I occasionally doubt) that he'd have the sense to stop if it hurt. Under saddle his options are fewer, plus if we're in a group I sometimes think adrenalin takes over & they'll carry on when they shouldn't.
I intend to carry on as planned anyway. If he can't stay sound with this level of bringing back into work then realistically he isn't going to stay sound as a riding pony, but at least I'll have an answer. I just find it hard to believe that after being out of work since October people think that a pony can come straight back into full, albeit hacking, work. I do wonder about horse care nowadays - we have better drugs, treatments, rugs & fancy feeds but common sense & basic care seem to have decreased significantly. Or am I a boring old fart? Answers on a postcard to The Victor Meldrew Appreciation Society!