ridecamp@endurance.net: Re: Swimming horses

Re: Swimming horses

C.M.Newell (reshan@deyr.ultranet.com)
Fri, 07 Mar 1997 09:45:26 -0500

At 11:28 PM 3/6/97 -0700, you wrote:
>I read in an article that the Kanavry's use swimming in their
>conditioning program...is this something that would be useful to employ?
>
>I do have acess to an equine pool, although it would be a 40 min drive.
>Is this a once a week type of thing? How many minutes of swimming
>equals a mile of trail?
>
>How many, if any, out there are using this?
>
>Any side effects to be aware of?
>
>tracy
>
>
Swimming is an excellent cardiovascular conditioning tool, but has
limited usefulness in terms of musculoskeletal conditioning, as the muscles
are used differently than in travel on terra firma, and the skeleton is not
stressed in the same way so as to strengthen it. IMHO, it is best used as a
tool in rehabbing horses after injury, and to limit loss of cardiovascular
fitness in those which cannot work due to lameness problems.
But, hey, what do I know?
--Charlotte

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