Farm chores and heavy work...

[paradoxcowgirl]

Just wondering, for any others who have livestock, horses, etc, how long before you were able to get back to regular farm chores? Unloading hay, shoveling manure etc? I've hired a 4H girl to help out, and plan to keep her busy through the end of the year or longer, but wondering how soon others were able to get back to doing chores etc.

[mtngrl]

My surgeon said no lifting over 15 lbs for 8 weeks. You might be able to muck out stalls if you are mindful about how much you pick up. Honestly, I wasn't up to that until a month out. I like to lift weights and couldn't do that until 10 weeks post op even though my surgeon said it was okay at 8 weeks.

Every doctor has their own protocol and might let you work like that sooner, so be sure to check with your doctor.

[paradoxcowgirl]

Every doctor has their own protocol and might let you work like that sooner, so be sure to check with your doctor.

Oh I definitely will! I'm going to go get a load of hay Tuesday so we'll have several weeks worth on hand...and my husband is capable of going and getting it if I remind him it's orchard not alfalfa lol.

[mtngrl]

Out in Colorado, it is hard to get the 50-70 lb bales. We get ginormous bales that are square and have to be moved with a forklift. We can't use alfalfa, my gelding will founder.

[Kindle]

I was able to feed/water my horses as soon as I got home (4 days postop). I had a 20 pound lifting restriction for 3 weeks so I had to limit myself to several trips with just a couple flakes of hay each time and 1/2 filled buckets of water. (My heated hose took a crapper when I was in Mexico having surgery so I was manually filling the heated trough until I could replace it). My horses aren't in stalls so there's no shoveling there, but it was the middle of winter in Idaho so I had plenty of snow to shovel. I had a friend hand shovel for those 1st 3 weeks and I moved a lot of the snow myself with the plow on the ATV. After 3 weeks I was back to shoveling snow, lifting 40 pound bags of feed and 60-80 pound bales of hay. The good thing is I never lost strength or muscle tone as I lost weight. Who needs to go to the gym when you live on a farm?!?

[paradoxcowgirl]

I was able to feed/water my horses as soon as I got home (4 days postop). After 3 weeks I was back to shoveling snow, lifting 40 pound bags of feed and 60-80 pound bales of hay. The good thing is I never lost strength or muscle tone as I lost weight. Who needs to go to the gym when you live on a farm?!?

I hope I'm back to it all as quickly!

[Numbers]

3 or 4 weeks you should be back CLOSE to normal, but not fully. The really heavy stuff will be 3 months or so. I would be careful for 12 weeks. You will have incisions in your abdominal section and that is your core strength area you pull most of your strength from. So if a horse starts to spook or snap its head, your core is what you draw strength from. So I would be careful of that for a few months.

Not a big deal, just something to be mindful of. They are big critters, with minds of their own....

[paradoxcowgirl]

They are big critters, with minds of their own....

True! Thank you, I think I'll plan to extend my 4H helper through the new year and ease back into things, one thing at a time!

[Kindle]

True! Thank you, I think I'll plan to extend my 4H helper through the new year and ease back into things, one thing at a time!

She wanna come to my house, too? Tell her I've got 8 tons of hay already stacked....just need two more .... If it ever stops raining/snowing. But tell her to bring her tall muck boots.