Anyhow I arrived on Saturday morning and he was happily taking in his surroundings, watching the girls sweeping the yard and munching on the lovely haylage he'd been given. It was nice when I called his name he turned to me ears pricked and looked genuinely pleased to see me :)
After a bit of a cuddle and groom (not that he needed it as he was far cleaner than when I dropped him off the week before!) Tim brought him out for me to see him for the first time in 5days. It's fair to say i was impressed with the difference in his muscle development already at this early stage. There was clearly more muscle over his quarter with his spine looking less dipped at the wither also. So happy with the progress so far we headed off to the treadmill for a demo and Jack walked straight in without a seconds worry or hesitation. He started off with a short warm up just on the treadmill with no water and after 5minutes water was added to fetlock level. It's amazing how just a few inches of water makes such a difference to their stride and its easy to see why this sort of work is building the correct muscles much quicker then other methods such as lunging. It's a bit like they are stepping over raised trotting poles every stride which you just can't replicate at home. Although they are only in a bridle the handler does encourage them to work in a long and low frame while they are on the treadmill. The water level was then increased to mid cannon level for a while to make him work that bit harder before back down to fetlock and then no water for the cool down , the session lasted 30minutes in total and over the coming weeks the sessions will become progressively harder with the water level increasing and the speed too. By the end of his 4week stay he will be doing 30 minutes sessions which could include walking with the water at elbow height and even trotting with the water at lower levels. Each day is taken as it comes and the work increased only when they feel Jack is ready. After the session he was taken to the solarium where his legs were hosed off with a hot horse shower and he was crossed tied to dry off under the lights. I don't think Jack has ever experience anything like that but he has taken to it all rather too well, I do hope he's not expecting such treatment back home!
I was impressed with the attention to detail of the staff they don't miss anything. They had noticed the lump in the muscle at the base of his neck which I'd forgotten to tell them about and are laser treating it hoping to help break it down. They also picked up on some heat in his off fore which they have been cold hosing. I know that's what I'm paying them to do and I didn't not tell them these things to trip them up or test them but I am impressed with how quickly they picked up on them and let me know what they could do to treat them. Now that his sessions are starting to ramp up on the treadmill he could start to become a bit sore as muscles that have not been used in a while are suddenly working again so with that in mind Jack will also now be having daily pulse and magnetic therapy in the form of the activo-med rug on in an afternoon to help his muscles relax and recover from his morning work. He also gets a bit of chill out time in a paddock and a little spin on the walker to loosen off it really is 5* treatment there! The place itself is also kept immaculate so clean and tidy its beautiful!
So it's safe to say I'm very pleased with progress so far and excited to see him again in a weeks time when hopefully there will be even bigger improvements to be seen.
In the mean time I've been doing the odd bit of riding on friends horses and I've booked a week off work to visit my parents in the highlands of Scotland too. I thought while Jack is being so well cared for without me I'd make the most of the chance of a little r+r for myself before he's home and all the hard work starts for me!
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