ridecamp@endurance.net: [endurance] Re: endurance-digest V1 #269

[endurance] Re: endurance-digest V1 #269

Katherine J. Brunjes (brunjes@saturn.caps.maine.edu)
Thu, 18 Jan 1996 09:54:11 -0500 (EST)

My Arab mare injured a cheek muscle in August, 1995 - my vet said to rest
her for 3-4 weeks, but all my endurance friends said 6-8 weeks - and my
farrier told me to rest her for three full months - I turned her out to
pasture for the whole months of Sept,Oct,Nov, and started to ride her 3-5
miles flat terrain in Dec. She appears to be fine, we have upped our
schedule to 10-15 miles on varied terrain (and we have 5 feet of snow on
the ground to work around, and icy roads) - three days a week. I do not
regret the three months of rest - she is stronger and working truer than
I have felt her in two years - yesterday it actually hit 43 degrees out
(and the day before it was -25....go figure), and we hit the roads for a
warmup ride, and ended up going 15 miles, with 3/4 of it at a
canter/gallop -

I guess the moral of this is that conservative therapy can work, and
endurance riders know the results of such injuries from experience, and
farriers (esp. good ones that you've had for 20 years, and know your
horses inside and out) who give advice/opinions better be listened to!

Thankful for having my mare back on the trails (in Maine)
Kathy Brunjes