Getting worried...

[jenren!!]

...about Aramis's exercise. Because of her spavin she should be doing regular work, but with no jockey she hasnt been for a week. We started long-reining her and have been advised to do this every other day or so...but is this enough? In order to keep her muscle would it be more sensible to lunge normally in between long-reining sessions. Will long-reining really help her use herself?

I dont want her spavin to get worse thats all.

[Iron Maiden]

I have read that lunging puts a lot of strain on the horse's joints because of the tightness of the circle & difficulty you can have getting the horse to balance. I would have thought you're much better off long reining, where you can use the whole available space & ask for bend & balance almost as though you are riding. Have you tried taking her out for walks in hand? My youngster had soundness issues & I used to walk him like a dog, we became a familiar sight in the woods near the yard. I used to do ride & lead with him too which was really good fun, I will always have fond memories of 2 fortunately benign horses in formation gently taking the p*ss out of a giggling owner! (My youngster used to bite my foot really hard & distract me while 'dad' stopped for a snack.) Don't know how realistic this would be for you though, and I think most of the others on the yard thought I was a bit nuts to attempt it.

[No_Angel]

My horse was diagnosed with a spavin/arthritis and I was told to exercise her through it, becuase of her behaviour I couldnt exercise her. Ive noticed that shes alot better on the leg this year, thats about 2 years after she was diagnosed for her hock to fuse, im not sure how long they usually take tho.

[Yann]

There's no reason long reining can't give her sufficient exercise, and it can help them work correctly too. There's absolutely nothing stopping you long lining at all paces, it's a case of taking the shorter line than your horse, and / or working on a circle just the same as lunging but in better balance.