excitable horse after 3 weeks of rest

[Katherine T]

hi guys,

i have a horse that has been off for 3 and 1/2 weeks and respectivly is rull of energy. i knowthis would be normal but because i am riding at a heavily occupied riding center it is disterbing some of the horses who are being ridden. i am going to try to time my rides very early or very late to reduce dirsturbing other horses but does anybody have any excersizes or sugestions that are very energy consuming. preferably in walk and trot. or anything that requires her to pay close attention to me and not get distracted. thx so much

- k+g

[Barbara F.]

Are you allowed to do circles yet? Transitions? If so, I would do very LARGE circles, lots of changes of direction and a bit of forward and back in trot and even in walk. The only thing about the forward and back is that it might get your horse a bit too engaged behind and more forward than you would like at this point. Can you do small hills? They will tire your horse out a bit, but will put some strain on the legs and I don't know what the injury was.

[Torie153]

lots of transitions help. Circles, serpentines, lots of changes of direction.

[Cindy Jeffery]

I agree with everyone here....lots of circles and changes of direction. Spirals are good where you start out large and gradually work down to small without breaking to a walk, then gradually go large again, keep repeating this and other exercises mentioned. This will keep your horse busy which is what she is craving, but be careful not to over stress any injury. By all means start the spirals at the walk and then do them at the trot and come down to a walk to cool. When you get more fit and experienced you can canter.

[Kayla]

If you have the option to walk up and down hills, that is a good exercise that consumes quite a bit of energy if you can keep them at a decent pace and actively on the bit. It's good for strenghen the stifle and muscle development too..

[BarnBum]

I would do some longeing before you ride. Maybe only like ten minutes of a concentrated trot or maybe even canter. That way she can get out all her little 'spasms', let her go fast and be an idiot for a minute or so then make her round up and work. You can longe out of the arena so you dont disturb others.
Good luck.

[Fiona]

Was your horse off because of soundness issues? If so maybe circles etc may not be in your horse's best interest...have you thought about using some Ace to keep the edge off him as he starts back? It could also reduce the chance of reinjury....

[Jill Evans]

You need to start on the ground. Re-establish who is 'boss' . Basic ground manners. Try doing some basic lungeing. This horse has been at rest for awhile and depending on the reasons why, injury, illness, maintain a short but calm and controlled exercise/introduction back to work. You are right to start out without any distraction especially from other horses, especially ones that your horse has known previously. Your horse is only trying to re-establish its hierarchy so to speak, after time off. Give it time and patience and things will beging to smooth out. Thats what horses are all about. Time and Patience!

[Geoffrey Pannell]

Hi Katherine, You have probably sorted the energetic horse out by now , but I thought I'd put my two cents worth in anyway. What were you feeding the horse at the time? Both when it was having a spell and when you started work on it again. More often than not [ and this is not ment as a critisizem][SIC] we over feed our horses on high energy feed and then try to manage a fizzy horse. The best way to get through this is to back off any high to moderate energy feeds and find a big hill and WALK up and down it three or four times a day for a week increasing the amoumt of times each day , gradually increasing the feed over a couple of weeks . Feed them all the roughage they want of course, good plain hay or the like. Iknow you will see a difference by the end of the first week, it is what we do with our T.B.'s when thay come back into work. hope this helps ,Cheers Geoffery

[Laine]

Even if i am only 11 i have a horse after 3 days off gets a little fresh i just make him get his mind on the job i just do a lot of flexing and go do some big and little circles. walk trot some cantering some times in big lines buts that my way.




Laine

[Sarah Yeoman]

Why don't you try some Camomile Tea in her feed. I have use Camomile Tea in breakfast and tea/supper feeds. I started with just 1 opened tea bag in each feed. After a few days I noticied that I had a clamer horse. I'm saying it will work on everything - but it did work on mine! Good Luck

[Dori Nowazek]

I think the best thing for you to do would be to lunge her first so shes all warmed up and has had a
bit of time to work out some of her big energy.