Horse's movement after recovery from injury

["Alisa Ann Waxman" <Alisa_Ann_Waxman@notes.ntrs.com>]

Hi RideCamp!

I'm back!  It's Alisa Waxman (the crazy woman who drove across the country -
Chicago to Death Valley- in December last year).  After nearly a year of just
filing my Ridecamp Digests without looking at them (due to MBA courses, an
unbelievable work load, a wedding, selling a house and moving), I am now finding
time to reading a few.  They are prompting me to call on the expertise of the
group for some opinions.  I need your feedback on horses who have returned from
injuries.

Background:
My nine year old Arab mare Pye was injured right before the New Mexico Renegade
Ride last March.  Her front right ankle swelled like a balloon.  It was
diagnosed as three different things by three different vets (tendon/soft tissue
ankle injury/arthritis) .  I treated it as instructed, gave her time off and
waited until the end of June.  I then rode her once lightly and discovered we
had a second issue with the left rear (leg snapped forward at the end of the
extension when trotting - I liked to call it a "hitch in her giddy-up"!).  I
stayed off her until October.

Issue:
I started riding lightly again the last week or so of October.  Before the
injury, she had the most fluid, even, floating trot.  Now, while she is not off,
she travels somewhat unevenly (I feel it when I am on her).  I also "see" her
front right foot swing out (paddle?) at a trot.   A friend said that this may
just be how she will travel from here on out.    I have been stepping the
workouts up a bit (riding about 1 hour, 3x per week), and she has stayed sound
and the legs look good.

Question:
Have others of you had horses come back from injuries with different movement
than before, and have they come back to full strength/ability?   I'm a bit
worried the unevenness will create other problems, particularly when I start
adding distance.

I'd appreciate any thoughts/experiences/feedback you have on this topic.  My
thanks in advance to the group.

BTW, I know I am remiss in not having sent a thank you post after my DVE
adventure last year.  A lot of you gave me some good travel advice, info on
places to stay, etc.  I actually wrote a very, very  long post, that was never
fully finished (I'm a perfectionist).  It related all my experiences blow by
blow...  In the end, I was afraid it was too boring/too long for most people.

I do want to say that if you get a chance to do the Death Valley Encounter, go
for it!   It was a great experience, with challenging, beautiful trails and
wonderful people.   If you are considering going and want to see my "book" let
me know.

Thanks and happy riding,

Alisa Waxman
Chicago, Illinois
and
AKB Pyewacket (coming back from injury) &
AKB Midnight Rainbow (new Anglo-Arab mare)




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