Rehab Chronicles: Part I

In case the title of this post alarmed you, never fear - this is not about Spring! It's also not about Leo, who is still getting the winter off before hopefully starting his own rehab journey in the actual spring. Both my babies are happy, healthy, and sound *knocks on all the wood*.

This post is about Nigel, the horse I'm rehabbing for Trainer K!

Nigel is one of CEC's two single-eyed horses

Nigel is a 21 year old lesson horse. He's a TB cross of some sort - the kind of fancy mover with auto changes and a heart of gold that has always made him a lesson favorite, and he's spent the last 6 years packing riders of all levels and ages around lessons and lower level hunter shows.  He came up lame in the summer, and has spent the last six months growing fuzzy and fat as his tendon injury healed.

Before he lost his eye to an infection, he was a talented upper level show horse.

Two weeks ago, the vet cleared him to start his rehab.  We got to skip the hand walking bit since he's been able to remain on turnout since his injury.  CEC is a busy lesson barn, and currently has a large number of horses in training, so I offered to take him on as a project since Trainer K doesn't have a ton of time to spend on the endless hours of the tendon rehab process.  The current plan is this:

• Weeks 1 & 2 : 20-30 minutes of walking under saddle
• Weeks 3 & 4 : 30 minutes of walking under saddle
• Weeks 5 & 6 : 45 minutes of walking under saddle

After week 6, the vet will come out to ultrasound, and then we'll hopefully start adding trotting back in to his routine, starting with 5 minutes and increasing from there, eventually working up to something like 45 minutes at the walk, 15 minutes at the trot, and 10 minutes at the canter.  We went through this exact same plan last year with Trainer's horse Dan, who I rode a handful of times.  Let me tell you, ten minutes of continuous cantering is A LOT.  My legs regularly felt like jelly afterwards.

Endless walking is not exactly the most thrilling of endeavors, but I toss headphones on and listen to an audiobook while I do it, and often will either grab the EquiCube or stand up in two point so that I can work on my strength and position - although some days we just do a bareback toodle.  Nigel is thrilled to be back to work, and plods around happily with his ears pricked, playing with the bit and being a fantastic sport about the whole thing.  I'm trying to get 5-6 rides in each week, and should be able to find lesson kids to take over while I'm away for Christmas.  

I ran out of Nigel pics, so here is Bruce (who I rode in my Monday lesson)
meeting the infamous Chalupa Batman for the first time

Nigel may never jump again, but he's not ready to retire yet, and we're all crossing our fingers that his rehab goes as smoothly as possible!  Have you ever dealt with a tendon injury/lengthy rehab process before?