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| Hampton swimming. Unsure if he likes this new activity. |
In an effort to increase Hampton's fitness over the winter, I jumped on the chance to tag along to a little place called Bluegrass Aquatic Rehabilitation just south of town.
It's not fancy, but the people were nice and knew what they were doing. Because of their excellent horsemanship, there were no problems and no theatrics getting first-time swimmer Porkchop into the pool. At first they took him around for just one lap to give him the idea of the activity. Then they took him back in for another 5 laps.
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| Pool overview |
Hamp did great, although his eyes were bugging out of his head and I kept getting some major side-eye. It was also interesting noting the difference in how the horses would breathe while swimming. Hampton almost seemed to hold his breath at times, while his barn mate took a very rhythmic 13 breaths per lap.
After the horses swim, they spend about 30-40 on the hot walker to dry off and keep their muscles moving. It's really a great workout and low-impact on Hampton's feet. He had never been swimming before (although has done the aquatread) so I wasn't sure if he would 1) cannonball in 2) drown or 3) run someone over.
Definitely adding this to our list of winter fitness activities!
