Let me start by saying I really love the results we've gotten from the local family that runs a therapy barn and aquatread. I've taken several horses there for conditioning. For us, we use it as a supplement to the normal legging up we do- either as a pre-cursor or as a mid-season thing. Usually, it's a progressive, two week program. They do a wonderful job caring for the outside horses.
We have a mare that we took twice in 2015 (12 yo finished horse). She came back with extremely sore stifles both times. At the time, I thought it was an injury- took her to the good lameness vets and did x-rays, etc then injected her stifles. Happened both times she swam, but I didn't put it together until we brought her back this spring, started legging her up the old fashioned way and took her to the vet for what I thought would be "required maintenance" on her stifles. She was solid and sound! No injections needed. We didn't swim her at all in 2016 and she stayed rock solid all year.
Have any of you seen this in your horses? This is the only one of ours that seems to have gotten sore from the aquatread, but it seems like too much of a co-winky-dink.
Yes. My rocket mare swam for 6 weeks before her futurity opener. Between that and her kicking stall walls during feed I KNOW that's what aggravated her stifles. However, nothing enough happend to diagnose and treat, other than nsaids and physical therapy. She still kicks while she eats so the issue is never going to go away 100%.
Problems swimming horses?
