re-conditioning after 2 yrs

["Judy Finchum" <judy@telecomm.umetel.maine.edu>]

Hi RideCampers,
   Even though my thermometer read -5 this morning, I have spring fever 
and am starting to plan my re-conditioning program for my 13 yr. arab 
mare, who has not been ridden since Sept. 2nd due to sof tissue 
injuries in her hip.  (Some of you may recall my earlier post about 
discovering her front legs are uneven, one is longer than the other.  
With changes in shoeing, her over-developed shoulder is reducing in 
size and she has been looking good when moving around in the 
pasture.)  However, last week she lost a  front  shoe and twisted her 
fetlock during the process and has been recovering from that...I wish 
Murphy would go away and leave us alone!
    Anyway, when she has recovered, I plan on getting her back in shape 
and am not sure of the best way to do this.  She was in excellent 
physical condition (and pretty good mental condition) after doing 
LSD, dressage lessons and group lessons for three years.  My plan was 
to do some CTRs and move on up to endurance, if we liked it.  Well, 
Murphy came a-knocking and for one reason and another and another, we 
have done very little of anything for the past two years, and she has 
done nothing but be a pasture potato since Sept.  (She's not really a 
potato, though, she must have some herding instinct....when the 
other horses are all comfy and relaxed, she'll herd them over to 
another area, or claim their spot, so she keeps herself busy)
    I understand when conditioning that it is so important to strengthen 
the joints, tendons & ligaments thru LSD first and that the speed and 
aerobic/anarobic comes last.  That's what we did before the lay-off.  
My questiion:  How do I know how much stress her joints, tendons & 
ligaments can tolerate....before she's lame or sore?  Of course, I do 
plan to start out slowly and I have a heart monitor from Roger R, but
that will guide me on her heart/lungs, not joints....
   I would guess that the fact that she was in such good shape before would 
mean we could accelerate the re-conditioning.  I used to run 30+ 
miles for many years, then wasn't able to 5 years ago.  I recently started 
running again (2 miles 5 times a week) with no adverse effects....but 
will it be the same for her?

TIA for your wisdom.

Judy &
Hilary....Mom, just tell Murphy to take a hike!
Newburgh, ME  USA

PS....this isn't related to this thread, but....reading about Lari 
Shea's injuries to her ribs & lungs from wearing her water 
bottles...I was tossed off onto a hard packed dirt road (no road 
apples, though ; ) during a ride, and the cell phone I carried in my 
fanny pack displaced a vertebra in my lower back.  And I thought I 
was carrying the phone in case I got hurt, not expecting it would be 
the cause of the injury...I think I'll tape it to my helmet from now 
on!
   Hope you're a fast healer, Lari, and will soon be riding again.
























































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