To quote a popular TV show from a few years back, ‘winter is coming’ and we all know that will make life tougher for most horse owners. From the dark evenings and cold, wet weather to muddy fields and icy bridleways, we know that some of our readers will be counting down the days until spring. But there are some tools here at Thorpe Farm that can help make a horsey winter more bearable and help keep your horse in tip top shape. In this blog we’re looking at how to use the water treadmill, gallops and salt therapy chamber in winter.
Working out on the water treadmill
If you struggle to do much more than school or lunge your horse during the week in winter, you might be worried about them getting bored and doing too much work on circles. Luckily, we have a way that you can give them a cardiovascular workout, build core and topline strength and give their joints a break from circles. The water treadmill has so many benefits, and it’s a change from pottering around the school! Plus, you can visit us in the evening when it’s too dark to ride. Lots of our customers book their horse in for one water treadmill session a week from when the clocks go back in October all the way through to lighter evenings in March.
A change of scenery on the gallops
If you love to blow away the cobwebs with a good gallop or you’re undertaking a fitness plan with your horse, a gallop session is an essential activity in winter. You can use them to gallop (yes it sounds obvious!) or undertake interval training (switching between low and high intensity work) to get plenty of bang for your buck. They’re also a nice chance if scenery for horses who are mainly worked in the school in winter. For example, if you’re focusing on lateral work or changes in the pace for dressage then you might find the extra ‘oomph’ from being out on the gallops helps your horse be forward going and expressive. Our gallops boast an Andrews Bowen surface which ensures perfect ground even when the countryside is sinking in the mud, blanketed in snow or glittering after a heavy frost! The gallops are open every day from dawn to dusk, so just contact us to get booked in.
Skin and respiratory support in the salt therapy chamber
If your horse spends a lot more time in their stable in the winter months, they’ll be spending more time exposed to stable dust and spores and that can impact their respiratory system. Bedding and dried forage can irritate your horse’s respiratory tract and exacerbate existing allergies and respiratory illnesses. Salt therapy is a great way to support respiratory health, firstly because its anti-inflammatory properties soothe irritated airways, so can help lessen the symptoms of allergies or infections. Plus, the salt can also act as an expectorant, helping to accelerate mucus clearance and improving lung function. Finally, salt is antibacterial and antifungal, so can help neutralise bacterial and fungal spores that are irritating the airways.
The salt therapy chamber has other benefits that could help you out in winter. Some of the particles of salt in the air that aren’t breathed in will settle on the coat and work their way to the skin. There, those same anti-inflammatory, antifungal and antibacterial properties can soothe and heal skin problems. That means if you’re rehabbing a horse that’s suffered from rain scald, gets itchy from sweat in the winter or gets scurfy, dull coat under rugs, salt therapy can help ease their symptoms and heal the skin. You can read more about the salt therapy chamber on our facilities page here.