It’s hard to be patient during recovery, but rushing risks re-injury or permanent loss of function.

If you don’t prioritize regaining strength in both the injured area and the surrounding muscles, you’re setting your horse up for future injury.

As you near the finish line of rehab, the biggest mistake is thinking you're in the clear. A small misstep or pushing too hard too soon can send you back to square one.

We live in a world that avoids pain, but when rehabbing a horse, pain is part of the process. Horses can get antsy during long periods of rest, like being cooped up in a stall for months.

Sometimes, sedatives or calming agents are necessary, especially if the horse's energy level poses a risk for re-injury.

But if your horse is always under the influence of drugs:

That’s why it’s best to avoid drugs during the mobility and strength phases if possible, to ensure you aren’t masking signs of injury aggravation or re-injury.

The goal of rehab is for your horse to regain full mobility and usage of the injured body part, which often means relearning how that body part works post-injury.

The hard truth is that the injured area may never return to its original state, but with proper rehab, you can strengthen it (and the surrounding muscles) to reduce the risk of future injury.

​On the flip side, incomplete or rushed rehab leaves your horse vulnerable to re-injury, or worse, compensation injuries in other areas. The only way to ensure success is to understand and respect the limitations of the injured area throughout the process. Track your horse’s progress and recognize that recovery is not always linear.

During my horse’s most recent rehab, the vet said he’d never return to upper-level competition, no matter how well his rehab went.

After working through the emotions that comes with that news, I realized that helping him strengthen key areas to support mobility could enhance his future ability.

This process is a test of patience, much like weightlifting: a single day won’t make a noticeable difference. But, after 3 years, it’s clear that helping a horse use their whole body properly is the key to longevity and peak performance.

Sometimes, injuries aren’t just about the specific body part. For example, my horse’s front leg injury wasn’t caused by the leg itself, but by a lack of core engagement and straightness, which overloaded his front end. Tools like the Equiband System can help strengthen the core and hind end to balance the body and prevent injuries.

Whether you use the Equiband or another tool, the takeaway is this: Strengthening is essential. After the rehab process, your horse’s body needs to be stronger than it was before to handle the workload ahead.