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[RC] Tight Muscles in Horses - Val Nicoson

The 7 yo gelding I've been riding has had plenty of
LSD conditioning over the past two years and is really
doing well.  This includes plenty of hill work as
well.  He takes great care of himself and pulses
down really well. 
Did a 16-17 mile ride going about 8 MPH...for this
horse that is a solid working trot/cantering along
the trail.  This is about the pace that he has been
conditioning at for awhile now.  The trail was fairly
good with some decent hills...nothing I would consider
too strenuous.   
At the VC (after 16-17 miles) he was a little sluggish
trotting out and the vet checked his rear legs.  Was
told to massage his upper inner thigh muscles (which
were tight) and the hamstrings. While doing so at the
trailer he raised his rear leg up to his body and I
decided to pull him from the competitive ride.  This
was my first Rider Option Pull and went to the vet to
inform the same vet who had checked the horse over. 
Was praised by the vet for the decision to pull (this
really gave me a nice warm fuzzy).  Would rather he
have a happy experience and try again rather than come
up lame or overly sore upon completion.
It's now been two weeks and he is still sore when I
check his rear legs in the hamstring area.  Did do
a fairly slow conditioning ride over the weekend and
he seemed OK...particularly after he got warmed up. 
As a side note:  He is in a large pasture 24/7 so has
plenty of time and room to move about.  
So am wondering...is it OK to continue to condition
him
at all?  Should I stay with fairly flat terrain or is
it OK to do hill work?  Am considering an upcoming
ride with some fairly steep hills...looking at going
fairly slow to conserve his muscles...but with his
continued muscle soreness am rethinking this idea.
Any comments, suggestions or whatever is greatly
appreciated.  
Am still a newbie...have only completed two LD rides
on another horse and two LD rides on this young horse
(he did fine on his first LD a month ago).
Val


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