Bringing a horse back in to work from a lengthy spell

Hi all

Just wondering if anyone who's brought their horse/s in from a spell could share their training regime ideas? Obviosuly it'd be different for each individual horse, but I'm always keen to learn from others, and keen to share my own philosophies Smile

My 12yo TB has come back, from almost 2 years of being a paddock ornament, lol. I've ridden him plenty of times in that 2 years, but nothing which would fall under the category of 'work' or 'schooling'.

Here's what we're doing:

* Make sure his back is looked at, and a general physio check up.
* Asses his feed. Gradually increase protein as work load increases.
* Long, gentle walks on different terrain, encouraging him to dust off those mental cobwebs and stretch those back muscles.
* One lunge a week: gentle lunge session for 15/20 mins max. Re-establishing ground work, and allowing him to find his own balance.
* Schooling: 35 min sessions of large circles, transitions, long & low work. Lots of trotting.
* As he's approaching his teens, I'm spongeing his back & lower leg muscles/tendons with a penetrene & water wash. I'm also adding a few drops of straight penetrene into some aloe vera gel, and massaging into his fetlock joints.
* A friend has offerred me free use of her equissage machine (she'll operate it) which is extremely generous, and I think he'll benefit from it!

Anyone else?