4. Moving on from treadmill exercise and preparation for ridden work.Horses subject to prolonged periods of box rest and/or walking exercise have a tendency to descend into an extended spinal posture with an elongated abdominal line. Since the role of rectus abdominis (RA) is to limit thoracolumbar extension when a horse lands from suspension (and hence RA is more active in trot (with a suspension phase) than in walk (no suspension) [58,59], it seems inevitable that restriction to box rest and/or walking exercise alone will predispose the horse to an extended thoracolumbar posture. The simplest means of rectifying this is to use trot within the exercise programme. However, whether trot work is possible is dictated by the most limiting orthopaedic issue. In cases where trotting is not possible but tension in the ‘string’ is to be maintained, therapists often advocate various techniques to maintain abdominal muscle strength such as the use of baited stretches and sternal lifts, lateral bending/slalom exercise in walk or walking over raised poles. In our experience, regaining abdominal muscle strength and the ability to flex the thoracolumbar spine prior to ridden work is of paramount importance for a successful return to ridden work. For many cases a suitable progression from land treadmill exercise would be ground schooling (in straight lines in walk and trot) prior to lungeing in all three gaits followed by ridden work. In certain cases safety considerations may take precedent over optimal postural development and horses may go straight from land treadmill to ridden work if it is suspected they will be difficult to manage safely during ground schooling. Generally, it is beneficial to reintroduce a variety of surfaces and loading patterns before returning to normal ridden exercise for the purpose of enhancing proprioceptive and neuromuscular function.