Phase 1 complete!

Today is a good day. For the last two weeks, I have been working with Forrest for 2 weeks now hand walking him with his tack on. On day one we noticed that he just wasn't extending as much on the left leg but as with any rehab the purpose is to build the tendons and get them stretched and strong again. By the end of the first week he was walking noticeably better. We had hit the 20 minute point of walking and he was happy as a clam as I breathed heavily just to keep up. Over the weekend, we kept him at the steady 20 minutes to let his body adjust to the time and the new workout schedule and by Monday we were back to adding 2 minutes to everyday.


Forrest's leg is looking better and better the more he uses it and the more we break down the "bump." I'm told that the rest will more than likely disappear when he starts jogging and using himself and the leg more. But the past week, we have been slowly working to the 30 minute mark which we hit TODAY!!! Still out walking me, but at least I can attempt a fighting chance before I start to breath hard. I guess another hidden benefit to this rehab thing is my sad butts getting into some kind of shape as well. Thanks Forrest always looking out for me in the end! Oye.

So today was the big day. My trainer hadn't seen him walk since day one and I was so nervous at what she would say. Would he be ready for the next level? Would I be held back a week or two? Would we reach our goals? I'm sure Forrest knew something was up with my nervous self as he was a bit of himself today, but it couldn't be helped. As I was walking him around, my trainer slowly drove up only to stop half way to the barn to watch. If I ever felt more nervous it couldn't have been any worse than it was then. She just stayed there watching us walk out track. Finally she drove up and parked her car.

She once again silently got out of the car and just stood there to walk. The tension was thick...what was she going to say? Well she finally spoke up and said his walking looked great but she was still concerned that he wasn't stretching as much as he could. that's not a bad thing, but just that she said he would need to stay one more week at 30 minutes with no weights. Of course I was disappointed as we were suppose to start weights next Monday. But even as she spoke the words she just kept watching him and I eventually got the impression he was doing something that wasn't adding up. Nothing bad, but something funny I guess.

You can watch a horse move all day but she wanted to know what he felt like. Now looking back at the history of Forrest his last major rehab involved his SI on his left hip. And sometimes the only way to know if his hip isn't right or weak is by how he feels. So as she walks up she calmly says now don't freak out but I want to get on and walk him. I trust her 110% so I gave her the leg up and she walked him around. Still you could see she was milling something around in her head. So once again I got the, "Now don't freak out" as she asks him to trot a couple steps.

She stops and gets off. It wasn't that he wasn't stretching with his left front it was that his left HIND and SI was weak again and interfering with his walk. YAY! So she changed her plans and now Forrest will start Monday with her riding him for the next week. We will start him at 7 minutes stay there for a couple days and then add a minute everyday to where when I get back from vacation I will be able to get on and walk for 10 minutes!

So not only are we battling rehabbing his left front, but we are back to ground 0 and have to rehab his SI as well. Luckily the SI is easy and I know exactly what and when to do the things to help him through it. Guess its a good thing I've done that part before.


So all good things!!! Tomorrow and Sunday I will continue "our" 30 minute work out and by Monday we will start with a rider in the tack. I am slightly disappointed it isn't me, but I want to do this right and know in the end its only one more week before I get back up there! better to build it right the first time then get half way through only to break down again!