Building Muscle after Injury

Question
Hello! I have a horse that has been getting hurt a lot in the pasture. Before
she had all of these injuries, she and I were working on collecting our trot,
and getting into the canter. Her first injury, she cut a pretty decent size cut
in her left front leg, towards the top of the leg. She was out for commission
for about 3 weeks. After she got healed up, I decided I would do some ground
work with her. Right after she got healed, she ran under a tree branch, and cut
her back open pretty bad. Now she has been out of commission for about another 3
weeks (a total of 6 weeks) I know I should take it slow with her. What would be
be best method for working on builing her muscle back up?

Answer
Hi Anna,
Sorry to hear your horse was injured. Horses can be pretty tough and can heal very well. Here is my suggestion. I would first have your vet to check her out to make sure all is well and have her cleared to work much like you would need a Dr's slip to go back to work after an injury. Then I would would go back to normal work. You will be suprised at how she will come back around as if nothing had happened. Just start at a walk to get her going again...then work on the trot and then the canter. Finish up with the walk. I do that with all horses. I start the training with a walk...and I end it with a walk. I wouldn't worry so much about building her back up,. That will happen on it's own. But as I suggested, clear her with your vet first. He could tell you if there are any trouble spots you should worry about. Good luck and stay safe.....both you and your horse.