Product Review: How To Keep Rehab Rides Mentally Stimulating
It’s been a long year. After multiple rounds of expensive vet-prescribed therapies, months of stall rest, dedicated, careful hand walks and then tack walking, it was time to start bringing my horse back into work after a terrible ligament injury. Mikey was finally sound. And while I had waited so long – literally, sooo long – to hear that from my vet, I was cautiously optimistic as we progressed to this new chapter of what felt like an endless saga of recovery.
We started with trotting for just a few minutes in straight lines on firm ground. Then trotting for longer. Then trotting in large circles. Then canter. It was a slog, and each ride felt precarious. Sometimes our trot sets were more exciting than they were supposed to be – I was riding a horse that had been on rest and out of work for an entire year, after all. But still, we kept on, explosions and all.
Now, I finally feel like I can see the light at the end of this very, very long rehab tunnel. Our rides last for long enough now that sometimes trotting in figure-eight patterns and 20-meter circles get, well, quite boring. So to mix it up, and to add brief pieces of more advanced work back into the routine (slowly, carefully and vet-approved, of course), I turned to Ride iQ.
As it turns out, there’s a lot of productive schooling you can do at just the walk and trot that is both mentally stimulating for me and my horse, and building back appropriate fitness. World-class instructors from Kyle Carter to Holly Hepp Hudspeth have lessons and hack chats dedicated for the very place I’m at with my horse in this moment. Rehabbing horses is hard enough – it can feel quite lonely. Hearing Kyle’s advice and trying Holly’s (and Lauren Sprieser and Lesley Grant Law) lessons not only made me feel less alone, but they filled me with confidence and inspiration for the future.
We’ve still got a ways to go in our rehab. But Ride iQ’s incredible library of riding exercises, conversations and theory has been a welcomed tool and even a warm sense of community during what has been a difficult time with my injured horse. And, above all, it’s saved me from riding my umpteenth 20-meter circle this week.
If you’re in the mood for a little *spark* of inspiration, give Ride iQ a try. Heels Down subscribers have early access to Ride iQ’s Black Friday sales. Use the code EARLY30 to get 30% off the first payment of any membership. Get started today!