Are you planning to get a good swim with your American horse? Swimming with your horse can be an exciting and unique experience, offering exercise and bonding time. Whether for fun, exercise, or hydrotherapy, swimming with horses is always an exciting experience for both of you. However, it can be quite challenging for beginners, so it’s important to research how to swim safely without risking injury to your horse or getting stuck in deep water.
Swimming with your horse can be an exhilarating experience that deepens your bond with your equine companion while enjoying the water together. When I first tried it with my horse, I was amazed by how natural and graceful he was in the water. Before getting in, finding a suitable location is crucial—a quiet pond or a designated swimming area with gradual entry points. Swimming with your horse can strengthen trust and build a unique connection as you navigate the water together.
So, we’ve put together some tips to help you safely prepare for a swim with your horse. As a beginner, it’s always helpful to have a guide on how to swim with your horses, so in this article, we will discuss all things “swimming with horses” and lay out some things to consider before diving into this activity (no pun intended). Swimming with your horse can be a wonderful experience, offering fun and therapeutic benefits. According to the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), swimming is often used for horse rehabilitation and fitness. However, before diving in, it’s essential to consider safety guidelines to ensure a positive experience for both you and your equine companion. So let us first consider a horse’s swimming technique:
How Do Horses Swim?
Horses swimming propel through the water by trotting their legs, similar to how they trot on the ground. However, they can’t breathe underwater, so they need to keep their heads and nostrils above the surface while swimming. Additionally, water should not get into their ears as it can cause infection if it gets blocked in the ear canal.
How To Swim With Your Horse
Good preparation beforehand is necessary to ensure you have a safe and fun swimming activity with your horse, so here’s a quick guide on getting everything ready to swim with your horse safely. Swimming with horses is a unique and rewarding experience, but it requires careful planning and consideration to ensure you and your horse are comfortable and secure throughout the activity.
Preparing Your Horse For The Swim
Before bringing your horse into the water, you’ll need to do some ground training first:
- Moving away from pressure: If you swim alongside your equine, stay far from your horse to avoid getting kicked. If it comes close to you, you may use your hand to push the horse away by its shoulder.
- Responding to reins and leg pressure: If you ride on your horse as it swims, it must react quickly to neck reining and your leg cues.
- Understanding and responding to your verbal cues: When your horse reaches solid ground, it may bolt forward. It could mean trouble if you are not prepared.
Getting The Swimming Area Ready
Before swimming, you must find a good spot and check for no obstacles in or under the water, like trees, boulders, pilings, branches or garbage, and deep mud. The best conditions for swimming are sandy or gravel-type bottoms; there must be firm ground and a shoreline that gradually extends into the deep water.
Before taking your horse into it, you must also check if the area has enough space for swimming and depth. It would help to find a dry spot to leave your saddle and tack.
Introducing The Horse To The Water
Take your horse to the water slowly, letting it walk to the edge and sniff around. Then, encourage it to take a couple of steps toward the water, and if the horse bolts, let the horse relax and start over, taking a couple more steps forward.
If it’s the horse’s first time to reach the water deep enough to swim, it might panic or feel uneasy. But it can help if you can have an experienced horse lead the beginner horse or bring a friend with some experience swimming with horses. However, you must keep a reasonable distance from each other to avoid a collision or getting each other kicked.
Swimming With Your Horse
You have to choose how to spend time in the water with your four-legged companion: riding on their back or swimming alongside them.
Riding on a horse’s back as it makes its way in the water is hassle-free for you but difficult for the horse. You must have good balance to prevent falling off next to the horse and getting hit by its legs. Using a saddle may be easier, but remember that water can damage the leather.
While you may enjoy riding your horse through a deep body of water, this will be a hard and tiring task for your horse. Therefore, you’ll eventually need to get off your equine to reduce its workload and ensure that it can keep its head, nose, and ears above water to minimize the risk of drowning. It may sound like additional work for you, but it can also be a fun exercise; besides, it’s called swimming with your horse for a reason, not “riding your horse through a deep body of water.”
On the other hand, swimming beside your horse while it pulls you along is easier for your equine but riskier for you. You may need to grip its mane by the withers and kick your feet to keep up with your horse. To steer your horse, push his nose in the desired direction. Be ready when the horse reaches a depth they can touch because it might speed up and lurch out of the water.
Here’s a revised version of your statement incorporating the words “horse swimming”:
Swimming with your horse is an incredible way to strengthen your bond while providing a fun and refreshing form of exercise. Horse swimming promotes physical fitness for both you and your equine partner and enhances trust and communication between you. With patience, proper preparation, and attention to safety, you and your horse can enjoy the water together, creating lasting memories.
