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How should I bring him back into work?
Q: I have a six-year-old TB gelding who unfortunately due to the drought over summer developed a crack in the sole of his front foot. When the rains finally came, in spite of poulticing he went lame, and has had to have the past five months off.
I decided to keep him turned out until spring when the ground will be more suitable, but I must say the thought of bringing him back into work is a little terrifying after what will be seven months off.
Should I start off quietly lungeing him and doing ground work for a couple of weeks, and then either send him to a trainer to put a couple of weeks’ work into him? Or do I do it all myself?
I have been told by friends to just get on and ride him and he will be fine, but my confidence isn’t that great, he does have a high flight response and is very quick if he gets a fright, and at 40 plus years I just don’t bounce like I used to.
I came off him last year when something frightened him from behind, and since then I have been dealing with real confidence issues with him. I started to get confidence back with him over summer but then of course he went lame.
Do I start off free lungeing him and then move up to lungeing with a Pessoa or side reins? Do I lunge him daily starting with 10 minutes, gradually moving up to 20 minutes over two weeks, or is this too much? I will get his back, teeth, gear all checked beforehand but any advice on getting a horse safely back riding following time off would be appreciated.
Nicky, via email
A: I’m glad you reckon spring is coming because I’m well and truly over winter and the acres of mud that seem to be omnipresent this year.
Your question about bringing a horse back into work is timely, and the good news is that I don’t think you need think that the length of time a horse has been “out” is directly proportional to the amount of trouble he’s going to give you when you bring him back “in”. As long as you factor into your physical training programme a period of gradually increasing work to bring him back to full fitness, and you are continually checking that he doesn’t need to do any warm-up exercises before you clamber aboard, then you’ll be fine.
We recently brought back into work a horse who’d done nothing since we broke him in two years prior. He was happy to take his rider for a walk, very short trot, and a few strides of canter within a couple of days of being back at work. Why? Because he remembered that he found his last lot of ridden work easy and fun. Another horse, who had sore feet at the end of his training semester just two months ago, has come back very wary. His attitude is, “But why should I line myself up to be ridden? Humans made me uncomfortable last time, so why is this time going to be easier?”
The young horse I’m referring to has lost his confidence in humans, in exactly the same way as you have described your loss of confidence in your gelding.
I am a firm believer that we don’t “lose” confidence. I’d rather say – we “gain” wisdom. Humans experience what can happen when we hit the ground, and horses find out what can happen when they’re inconsiderately ridden. In both cases, it hurts, and for very sensible reasons, neither party wants to ignite a painful chain reaction again.
Should you leap straight on your guy to bring him back to work? No, I wouldn’t. What I recommend is that you start him on a physical fitness programme that encourages him to move his legs in a regular, rhythmical fashion. Loose lungeing is great as he will be unrestrained and therefore he can tell you which direction and pace he finds the most comfortable. If you have to lunge him, keep the circle as big as possible, and if he has more difficulty going one way than the other, then it’s because he is finding it physically more difficult to go one way than the other, not because he’s being naughty.
I would be very careful of using side reins or any sort of influential rein contact on a horse that’s been lame and is being prepared for his first ride after a spell. Any sort of rein contact is designed to affect the way the horse carries himself. What right do you have to insist that he rounds his back when he might be uncomfortable because he’s coming back to work after a period of soreness?
Once you have developed his fitness to a level to where you have the control to effect rideable, rhythmical trot-canter-trot transitions, then it’s time to have fun with your imagination. Compile a comprehensive list of all the things that you REALLY don’t want to happen when you ride him for the first time. Then make sure they happen before you even put your hat on!
If you wouldn’t want your kids to leap out of the bushes when you’re riding him – pay them to do it when you’re still on the ground.
If you think he’s going to find a particular place in your riding area spooky – lunge him there.
If you feel you are going to have to be very quiet and careful when you ride him – be as noisy and busy as you possibly can on the ground.
Why? Because then you get the opportunity to see how he’s going to react and assess whether or not you could ride his reaction.
If you find there is one particular rein, or pace, or transition that causes him to look uncomfortable, then by all means get his back, teeth and gear all checked. However, if you haven’t ridden him for five months, his back should be okay unless he’s being carrying himself strangely to compensate for a soreness that’s a little closer to the ground. So, I’d add a check of his shock absorbers (front legs, especially feet as you’ve already mentioned these were sore) as a final thing before you decide that you or someone else is going to ride him
If his health professionals say he’s okay but you are still wary of his over-reaction to things, then by all means send him to a trainer.
Good trainers avoid being near or riding a horse that’s in explosion mode. How do they do this? They are at pains to avoid dangerous situations. They monitor and assess every single reaction, of every single stimulus, of every single horse they deal with.
Good trainers never ignore a reaction that indicates a horse isn’t 100% happy. They don’t necessarily back away from the question, but they know they’ll only be safe if they carry on a little more slowly.
So, Nicky, don’t imagine any horror stories but don’t go where angels fear to tread. Before you do anything with any horse, test and measure his reactions to simulated stimuli under controlled circumstances, and then make an informed decision as to how highly your horse rates his enormous responsibility of looking after your health and safety.
