19/03/2025
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🌊𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐛 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲🌊
⚡️Rehab/Fitness facilities are becoming more popular to help with injuries and to give your horse a competitive edge. I frequently get asked how long a horse should stay in treatment, what to expect when you pick your horse up, and what all you're getting for the price. So I'm going to give you a general breakdown of what to expect from your therapy stay.
Things to remember: Water is 790x more dense than air. Going 1 mile in the AquaPacer = 3 miles on land. How prepared is your horse before coming in?
⚡️𝐇𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧 - People gravitate to the this option naturally because its the cheapest. Here's the deal on hauling in... If the only time you are working your horse is when you haul them in, they will NEVER get fit and you are wasting your money. You have to be dedicated and be riding at home and using the AquaPacer to get that extra bit of fitness. I love when my previous clients haul in because I know those horses are getting worked daily and they really see a difference hauling in.
I also do not allow one single haul in for new horses, it takes a couple of times to acclimate a horse to working on the AquaPacer and if you can't commit to 2 to 3 consecutive sessions to train your horse to the equipment then you need to re-evaluate your goals. After your horse is trained to the equipment, you can space out your sessions.
⁉️I’ve seen posts on Facebook that made me really question.. Some people had been asking about the benefits of hauling in once a month and several facilities commented a list of benefits, which having said equipment, the benefits are great! BUT hauling in once a month when the horse has never been to your facility… it doesn’t work like that, if you as a rehab facility thinks it’s okay, re-evaluate. This is my opinion... the therapist in me cannot validate that doing a completely different type of exercise once every 30 days does anything positive for the horse, besides just wanting to give the horse a “spa day”. Now I have owners that are doing the work at home and they haul in to check their progress. If you walk a mile every day and then go lift weights once a month, did you gain anything? I bet you gained some soreness from working muscles you never use but you did not further your fitness by doing that. To the facilities trying to convince that person, it's fine to do that, do better, educate yourself to become better. You either don't understand fitness or you're looking to make a buck. Be honest. The health of an innocent horse is involved.
⚡️𝟕 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐬 - I find that these week long stays really benefit a horse that's been hauled hard and needs some relaxing therapy and a wind down period. Or they're great for people going on vacation that don't want to lose the fitness they have. Or a horse that is completely fit and needs a bit extra boost in their performance. On the rehab side, we find that this is a common length of time of an abscess to surface. Again, if your horse is new to the AquaPacer don't expect me to work them 15 or 20 minutes the first few times because it's too much. If your horse has been off for months at a time, you aren't really gaining anything with just a week long stay, you'd be better off to save your money up for a longer stay. I get people messaging a week before a big race wanting to send in a new horse and I have to tell them that it's not the correct timing for best benefits because their horse might be sore from the change of exercise.
⚡️𝟏𝟒 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 - Now I can start talking about muscle building and fitness. This is the sweet spot for horses that are competing and need to build up wind, prepare for a show, and strengthen existing muscle. Remember that is takes nearly 20 days to make a change in the body or begin to correct issues, so you will have to continue the exercise process when you get home or you'll lose everything you paid for during your stay. We are just beginning the fitness process here and it's your job to maintain it. Remember that changing fitness can cause some soreness, so your horse may be feeling the "boot camp" feeling about the time they're ready to go home. We can also do wound care, swelling maintenance, muscle assessment in this time frame.
⚡️ 𝟑𝟎 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 -
This is where the magic happens. We can see the horse through a complete change of fitness. The before/after pictures are going to show the most results. In most cases your horse is going to be ready for a few rides and then the competition of your choice. If your horse has been off for an extended amount of time, he should be ready to ride. Your horse is going to have the best level of fitness possible. Plus we have had time to finish up any EPM or ulcer treatments and have seen that process through. We've done all the hard work for you and created a solid foundation of fitness that will be easy to maintain.
On rehab cases, this is a good amount of time to get solid healing for soft tissue injuries, post-surgery, joint pain. With that base level of consistent therapy, we can make a plan for what to do next. We also get a tremendous amount of hoof growth with helps with horses needing to work on hoof balance and angles.
💥 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 💥
🔥Working in water is low impact, but it is still really hard work.
🔥You can heal ugly wounds at home, but do you have the time it takes to be consistent with it? How closely are you monitoring it? Do you have time to doctor multiple times a day?
🔥You've entered a big race, but do you have time to get your horse where he needs to be to not risk an injury?
🔥Lack of fitness increases chance of bleeding during competition.
🔥Talk with your rehab professional and make a plan that best benefits your horse. They should be able to help you set realistic goals and should plan a fitness protocol to help you get the best results within your budget. Sometimes the best answer is to wait until you can save up enough money to get the benefits of a longer stay.
🔥We want what's best for your horse. We want you to be a SUCCESS STORY.
