How do you leg up a rope horse after time off?

Legging up a rope horse after a rest period requires rebuilding cardiovascular fitness and muscular conditioning progressively before the horse is asked to perform at competition intensity, and the length of the conditioning period should be proportional to the length of the rest. A horse that has been off two weeks needs less reconditioning than one that has been off three months, and the common mistake of returning a rested horse to full work immediately because it appears physically sound is one of the most reliable ways to cause soft tissue injuries. Soft tissue — tendons, ligaments, and supporting structures — deconditions at a different rate than cardiovascular fitness, and a horse that feels energetic and forward after a rest may have a cardiovascular system recovering faster than its tendons and ligaments, creating a horse that feels capable of more than it can safely absorb. Begin the return to work with walking: twenty to thirty minutes of active walking for the first week, which moves the joints, begins rebuilding circulation to the soft tissues, and allows the handler to evaluate the horse's movement without stress. Add trotting in the second week, sustained loping in the third, and return to cattle work and stops only when the horse is moving freely and energetically through a full loping session without stiffness or reluctance. Increase the intensity of stops and the number of cattle runs gradually over the following two to three weeks rather than returning to full competition volume immediately. Horses given adequate reconditioning time return to their previous performance level faster and with less injury risk than horses rushed back to full work before their bodies are ready.