mr P's rehab program - weeks 1 - 3

Week 1 
This was the week Mr P arrived and prior to us having the ultrasound and vet review, so our focus this week was just letting him settle in and monitoring how he was. Mr P was quite foot sore when he arrived and was barefoot.
1. a 10 minute walk each day grass
2. Daily hand picking or turn out for up to 1 hour in yard size paddock with grass. 

Why we did this:
Ideally we would have started a walking program with Mr P earlier than this but he only came to us about 2 months after his injury. It was our understanding that he had been on total box rest in that time. So we wanted to start his program gradually, but also wanted to get some more constant movement happening. Thankfully he was very quiet (and grass focused!), so he could be trusted to be turned out into a small grass space to pick on grass.
 
Week 2
1. 15 minute hand walk grass
2. Introduced ground exercises:

• Stability pads
• Dynamic Mobilisation Exercises - DMEs (“Carrot Stretches”)

3. Turn out for up to 1 hour in yard size paddock with grass

Why we did this:
Ultrasound findings were positive so wanted to start progressing amount of load through tendon
Physiotherapy assessment found that the was taking less weight through the right forelimb, so the ground exercises of stability pads and DMEs were introduced to help encourage more loading through the right forelimb.
 
Week 3
1. 20 min hand walk grass
2. Continued with ground exercises with addition of:

• Spinal mobility

3. Introduced walking over trot poles
4. Turn out for up to 2 hours in yard size paddock with grass
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Why we did this:
Mr P was tolerating the workload well so continued to progress load incrementally. Tendons don’t like a lot of rapid change so load increases should be introduced slowly.
Physiotherapy assessment this week found that he had restricted lumbar spine mobility (low back), so exercises were introduced to help improve this
We noted that Mr P’s proprioception (awareness of where he was putting his feet) wasn’t great, especially in the front. So we introduced trot poles on the ground for him to walk over to get him thinking more about picking up his feet and where he needed to place them in order to avoid hitting the poles.

Disclaimer: 
This program was designed specifically for Mr P and should not be used as a template for your own horse's tendon rehab program. Please seek the advice of your vet and rehab therapist in helping you design the appropriate program for your horse.

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