How to bring your horse back into work in Spring
Spring is the time that we all come out of hibernation, pack our wet weather gear away and bring our horses back into work. But fresh feed, muddy paddocks and out of work muscles can make bringing your horse back into work tricky. However, with the right tools you can ensure your horse’s spring come back is injury free.
Easy does it
If you’ve decided to keep your horse in rugs rather than reins over winter you’ll be excited to bring them back in to work! But it’s important not to rush back into heavy work. When your horse has been mooching around the paddock it can be a shock to the system to make them trot around a heavy arena or along a hard road so keep your rides short and sweet. It’s also a great idea to incorporate therapies which target healing and stop niggles in legs. The leg wraps in our Activo-Med therapy system do exactly this and can be incorporated in your everyday routine.
Build it up
Your horse’s fitness levels will have dropped over the winter break but with gentle consistent work they’ll be back in no time. A great way to do this is by incorporating a lunging program into your training. This means that you can keep a close eye on your horse’s movement to make sure they are moving correctly. If you are lucky enough to have a training facility with a horse treadmill, or better still, a water treadmill, there isn’t much better to help bring your horse back into work. The buoyancy of the water protects the joints and soft tissue meaning you can gently increase your horse’s fitness.
Take time to Warm Up and Cool Down
Warming up is always an important part of your training regime but more so when your horse is coming back into work. To compliment your under saddle warm up the Activo-Med Therapy system is the perfect way to warm up and cool your horse down. Activo-Med’s Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy (PEMF) can assist in loosening up the muscular system, making it an ideal addition to warm up exercises. The PEMF combines with the Cyclonic Massage to boost circulation and promote an increase in cellular oxygen levels, maximising the efficiency of your training. Post-training, the use of Activo-Med can assist in the acceleration of healing processes and stimulate lymphatic draining.
Springing into work
Spring feed means energy levels are high which can be great for lazy horses, not so good for your energetic performance horse! With slippery paddocks falls are almost inevitable and there is nothing worse than your horse feeling stiff. By using stretches you can help identify where the niggles are and then focus your treatment efforts in those places. A Power Pad or a hand held laser are perfect to localise the treatment and fix any issues before they become big ones!
Locking Up
If your horse has a tendency to indulge a little too much in spring feed this is a good time to lock them into a smaller paddock or yard where the feed isn’t so plentiful. During this time you can use your Activo-Med Therapy System to help reduce swelling by giving your horse a full body massage from poll to tail.