Author: Amanda C

When Bobby and I drove past Equicare on our way home from Arizona and I realized exactly what kind of facility it was, I tucked that tidbit of information in the back of my mind. I figured that maybe someday I’d call and ask about pricing… I guess I just assumed it would be expensive, since it seemed fancy.

Then a couple weeks ago a friend of mine posted on facebook about taking her horse there, so I messaged her and asked her what she thought about it and what the prices were like. I was blown away by how cheap it was – only $35 for the aquatred and $45 for the saltwater spa. I did a bunch of research online about both, called and talked to the owner of the facility, and booked Henry an appointment.

I was especially interested in the aquatred because Henry is conformationally weak and perpetually a bit stiff in his lower lumbar area. Engaging that part of him is really difficult for both of us, and while we’ve had some success using certain exercises under saddle, it’s obviously been really slow going and not particularly consistent. The aquatred is supposed to be great at targeting those muscles.

I also wanted to put him in the saltwater spa, just to see what we thought about that treatment. Henry’s got the typical wear and tear on his ankles that you see in horses that raced, and now he has another fairly demanding career full of galloping and jumping. Anything that could help reduce inflammation and increase blood flow to his precious lower limbs is a-ok by me. Plus he banged his hind ankle pretty hard while playing out in the field a couple weeks ago, and while superficial, it’s been slow to heal. You claim the saltwater spa can help both things? Sign us up.

We started out with the aquatred. They led another horse through in front of Henry to let him see that he wasn’t gonna die, and then started leading him slowly down the ramp. He planted his feet for a couple minutes and took a good look with several snorts, but eventually acquiesced and very gracefully (heavy sarcasm) walked down the ramp into the water. You have to play this video, if only to see his face at the end.

Once he walked forward onto the actual treadmill part they let him stand for a minute to settle, then slowly started adding a little speed until he figured out how to walk in the water. As soon as he started moving he was golden, and plodded right along.

It was REALLY cool to watch him in there and see exactly what muscles were getting the most workout. Pretty much all of their “sit” muscles, basically, and a wider range of motion than they normally use. I had to video it because it was so cool to see all those muscles working from above.

Since it was his first time they left the jets off (the jets add extra resistance to the water to increase the intensity of the workout) and only had him stay in for about 7 minutes. They prefer to start them slow and gradually build up, so the horses don’t get too anxious or tired or sore. Even though he’s a really fit horse, he was still a little bit veiny from exertion when he came out of the water.

From there they stuck him on the equiciser, to let him walk and settle and chill out for a bit before he got into the saltwater spa. The spa is a little bit of an intimidating looking machine, and it fills with very cold water, so they want to start with a calm horse.

After a few minutes on the Henny-Go-Round (which I found endlessly entertaining, although he spent most of the time tormenting poor Wyatt, the very sedate QH they put in with him as a buddy) they brought him in, hosed his legs off, picked his feet, and put a diaper on him. Yep, you read that right. No pooping in the saltwater spa.

I thought he might be a little dumb about this one, because its a small narrow space that they have to step up into, but he walked right in, they closed the doors, and then it slowly started filling (up to his knees) with water. His eyes bugged out a little at first, then he started wanting to paw and play with the water, but for the most part he was totally chill about it. After a few minutes he started making his normal goofy Henry faces, which usually means he’s bored.

Once that was done the machine drained the water, he walked out, and then they stuck him back on the equiciser while the owner showed me around and told me about all the cool new stuff they’re adding. It’s already an awesome facility, but it’ll be pretty incredible when they’re done. I’m pretty excited to know that this place is only about an hour’s haul away… I see lots more aquatred in Henry’s future!

 

When Bobby and I were on our way back from Arizona, with only about an hour left to go in our drive we passed a place called Equicare. I was so bored by that point that I was googling everything of interest that we passed, so I plugged Equicare into my phone and pulled up the website. I was pleased to find out that it was a rehab center that offered everything from an underwater treadmill to a saltwater spa and everything in between. I didn’t realize we were so close to a facility like that.

It seems like some forms of therapy are super common- massage and chiropractic for example. Henry has had both, although for him massage is by far the best. He loves it and the difference after a session is obvious, so he gets to see his most favorite massage lady on a regular basis.

But those aren’t the only forms of therapy…I’ve seen a lot of eventers, showjumpers, and dressage riders utilizing many different things to help keep their horses fit and feeling good. The aquatred (aka underwater treadmill aka aquaciser) in particular is supposed to be absolutely fantastic for strength and conditioning. I feel like those of us with sporthorses are always looking for ways to increase our horses’ fitness while keeping the physical pounding to a minimum. I mean… if it’s good enough for Valegro…

About the aquatred at Equicare:

The HydroHorse is an in-ground, submerged treadmill, with 1,400 gallons of heated water and whirlpool jets. It provides a controlled, buoyant environment for low-impact exercise, and speeds the return to fitness and performance.

It is effective in treating bowed tendons, pulled suspensory ligaments, splints, bucked shins, saucer fractures, joint injuries, post surgical recovery and many other conditions. In addition, use of the HydroHorse adds significant tone and conditioning to the back and stifle muscles and forms the cornerstone of a low-stress fitness program for horses that need to attain or maintain competitive condition.

The HydroHorse underwater treadmill builds muscles and cardiovascular strength in a partially buoyant environment that reduces stress and concussion by up to 60 percent. The horse exercises in a controlled environment, in a straight line on a flat surface, using its normal gait, with full range of motion and the same muscles that it uses on traditional surfaces.

Unlike swimming, which uses a different set of muscles and does not replicate the workout that the horse receives on land, the HydroHorse builds topline and leg muscles with the added benefits of the therapeutic effects of the warm water and the Jacuzzi jets.

While Equicare offers a lot of different services, the other one that I found super interesting for Henry was the saltwater spa. I’ve seen this pop up more and more these days and have become increasingly curious. Some blurbs about the saltwater spa:

• The saltwater in the spa is aerated and chilled to a constant 35° F. The hyper-cooled saltwater reduces limb temperature (and hence inflammation) far beyond traditional icing techniques, thereby inhibiting enzyme degeneration of tendons and ligaments post-injury.
• Saltwater at this temperature allows a far greater concentration of oxygen, which, combined with the aeration, greatly increases the overall oxygen content of the spa solution, which is believed to promote healing in the same way a hyperbaric chamber does.
• Exposure to this low temperature results in a significant, drug-free reduction of pain.
• As the legs re-warm after treatment, blood flow is greatly increased to the injury site.
• The aeration massages the horse’s legs, increases oxygen content, stimulates blood flow and cleanses open wounds.
• The Epsom and sea salt solution acts as a hypertonic poultice, which means that it draws inflammation out of the horse’s limbs far more effectively than fresh water. The salt also aids in wound cleansing.

Equicare also has a Theraplate, regenerative laser therapy, Game Ready, and a solarium (we saw several solariums at barns in Europe, so fancy).

Have any of you used therapies like this on your horses, or been interested in them? What’s worked for you and what hasn’t? And if you don’t like them or haven’t used them – why not?

And yes, of course I booked Henry an appointment for the aquatred and the saltwater spa, because how could I not? More about that tomorrow!

How could I not?

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Jeffer’s – 10% off with coupon code LD10

Big Dee’s – 20% off Back on Track

Adam’s  Horse Supplies – 10-60% off

 

 

 

This year with Henry has been a really interesting one in a lot of ways, probably most of which (for me anyway) is the increased trainer involvement. Several of my past horses have obviously had trainer rides, but really only one of them was shown or ridden regularly by a pro, and that was Sadie.

She was a baby, just learning the ropes, and since I had bred and raised her I really wanted her to have the best possible start. Aside from her, though, the rest of my horses have been resale projects, so were almost exclusively ridden and shown by me. This year when I tossed Trainer aboard for Henry’s first couple of Trainings, I wasn’t really expecting it to go much further than that. There was no grandiose end goal, I just wanted him to have a confident ride over some bigger courses before I made the attempt. But I’ve been really surprised by just how much I enjoy watching a pro ride and show him – I really love it. Some of my favorite things about it, for example:

• seeing my horse learn new things
• having his confidence grow, which in turn grows my own confidence
• just being able to watch him compete (damn, he tears up XC, and looks so happy doing it)
• enjoying competitions without actually competing (less pressure)
• getting some good results on his USEA record
• it brings me joy to see my horse bring joy to someone else

The first time she mentioned running him Prelim, my first reaction was “YES!” with zero hesitation. That was never part of the original plan, but I would love to see him do it. And yes, mostly just because it’d be cool as hell – one more notch in Henry’s girth. And also because if he’s run around Prelim (and maybe even a CIC* like we’ve discussed), he’ll be totally golden with anything I half-assedly attempt to point him towards at Training. I’ve literally never had a horse that was more experienced than I was.

On the flip side of things, when you’ve only got one horse and limited budget, playing owner becomes tricky. Really tricky. Especially as you go up the levels and things get more expensive (and not just USEF fees, show fees, etc, but also the increased level of care). I still want to ride and show him, because I’m unwilling to hand him over totally. I’m also unwilling to give up showing him for a while, because we’re finally to the point that I had labeled Wildest Dreams a couple years ago and I don’t want to hit the pause button. That makes it really challenging to try to map out a schedule, especially when both of you want to run around the same venue. And because I just don’t have the money to send him to every recognized show in Area V… not even half of them. To make it work, it’s definitely going to take some compromise (or a sugar daddy. Maybe two.).

I’m just gonna keep my options open and see what road the horse takes us down. In the meantime, we’ll keep having fun with it and re-evaluate things as we go along. Damn, it’s fun playing owner sometimes though. Anyone else really enjoy watching a pro show and ride your horse?

 

 

One of my best friends (who I’ve known since I was 13 and she was 12 – poor thing has survived 2 decades of me and lived to tell about it) just acquired her own little farm. That’s the kind of life-long goal that we often talked about when we were kids, so this is a pretty big “dream come true” moment in her life and seems like a long time coming. The only difference is that we used to talk about having a pony breeding farm, and uh… I’m pretty sure that’s off the table.

It’s been fun though, and interesting, to talk things through with her as she decides how she wants to develop her property. She’s starting pretty much from scratch with the horse facilities, so there have been lots of discussions about barns and turnouts and riding areas and jumps (and yes, XC fences!). Within reason of course, because sadly, unlike we planned when we were kids, she is not independently wealthy yet.

So, out of curiosity, if you were starting with say 10 acres and building up your own horse property, how would you do it? And just to take all the fun out of it, pretend you’re on your normal, regular person’s budget. How would you maximize your dollars but still make a good, usable facility to fit your needs? What things would you put as higher priority and spend more money on versus things you could live without?

For those of you who already have your own place – what are the things you wish you’d done differently? What are the things you’re really glad that you did?