# The dangers of swimming your horses.



## Phantomcolt18 (Sep 25, 2007)

That is terribly sad =( I can only imagine what the owner is going through at this time. 

I've taken my horses swimming in creeks where their feel can't touch in maybe one or two spots but for the most part their feet can touch. I've also taken my one horse to the ocean but only went in knee deep (I kept having visions of a wave coming and swamping us.) 

A girl around my way took her horse swimming in a pond-thing with a small group of riders. She had left his tie down on and accidently drowned her horse. She took him to where his feet couldn't touch and he couldn't get his head out of the water. I wasn't there but hearing about it was horrible. 

It's terrible when things like this happen. =( It really is.


----------



## SnowCowgirl (Jun 3, 2010)

There are dangers in everything and you always need to take precautions but don't completely avoid fun things. We've swam our horses a minimum of 2x yearly out of necessity (sometimes more) for 30+ years across a deep, quick river with undertow. Out of the hundreds of crossings we've only had one horse drown (his name was Bubbles, ironically... Heh). We NEVER use tie downs, loosen cinches when practical, and tell all inexperienced riders to keep their hands OUT of the horses mouth and let the horse have his head.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## GamingGrrl (Jan 16, 2013)

How sad. I've always found swimming with your horse to be unnecessary and dangerous....it's a little too Disney and Black Stallion for me.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Country Woman (Dec 14, 2011)

Awe how sad indeed 
my heart goes out to the family 

My cousins horses swam in the river with us
but an ocean is way different


----------



## rideverystride (Jul 19, 2013)

I'm with gaminggrll. I do not like swimming horses as that is my exact fear. That story made me feel sick, and I can only imagine how terrible it was when the horse drowned with the tie-down on. No thanks, not for me.


----------



## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

I used to swim horses when I was a kid. They steer easily, even in water. I'm too old & too cautious to do it now, plus riding in wet underwear isn't fun. 

Another caution, if you slide off your horse get away from it. Those legs are essentially making kicking motions & if you get in front of the horse it may try to climb you. You can get back on if you approach from the side & near the withers.


----------



## Country Woman (Dec 14, 2011)

At my age now I would not try it


----------



## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

I'm a big chicken with water. I have swam in our very calm lake, and not very far out, but it makes me so nervous especially on a horse who hasn't swam before.

The funny thing is, my Mom LOVESS taking the horses into water. Yet, she jumps in every single water crossing possible, and is always the one getting into trouble or falling in the water. My previous older gelding Rebel, bless his soul, was actually coming out of the water with her after swimming and fell sideways in the mud on her and landed deep in the water. THAT was not pretty. Then before that, when we had Ruger as a three year old, she took him into the lake and he went right in but he tripped, face planted, got high centered on a big rock we were avoiding and sliced his legs up. 

It's not even the drowning that worries me the most anymore. It's me going out into the water, having my horse lose her footing and fall on me/break a leg or something. I don't know. I have nightmares about it. I still go in the water sometimes but it makes me nervous.


----------



## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Oh and it doesn't help that Selena think it's nice to roll in the water. Without fail, she will try every time...Even if I'm on her. I ALWAYS have a crop for that situation....


----------



## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Swimming in the ocean is not like swimming in a lake, however unless your horse is very well trained and you are an excellent rider, don't try it. Yes, I swim with my horse in the lake but I can ride circles around most peops.


----------



## Britt (Apr 15, 2008)

How sad. 

Yes, it is dangerous to take your horses swimming. However, I also take my horses swimming every summer, several times a year, actually... usually in creeks and ponds where they can touch bottom, but sometimes we hit spots where the horses actually have to swim. My horses love it.

However, things can go wrong just as easily. Just a few years ago, I took my gelding swimming in what we'd been told was a very safe lake... we got tangled up in boating cord and both went under, but we both came out of it unharmed and more scared than anything. I'm more cautious now, but I still take my horses swimming. It's a risk, yes, but it's one I choose to take and am very careful of where I take my horses swimming nowadays.


----------



## NaeNae87 (Feb 26, 2013)

I take both my horses to the beach. They love it. Bo was trained on the beach when he raced in Broome. He is almost as comfortable in the ocean as he is in the paddock. If his water trough was big enough, I am sure he would take himself for a swim in it. 

It's quite normal over here for the race horse trainers to take their horses down for some beach work followed by a swim to cool off. There are designated horse beaches that we go to, they are very sheltered and don't have undercurrents. 
I swam competively for 10 years and can definatley hold my own in the water. Having been a surf life saver for 8 years, I can also read the ocean and I know how to minimise the risks to both myself and my boys. 

I would never take a new horse to the beach by myself, I would never swim a horse before first assessing how comfortable and confident the horse was in the water, even on a stinking hot day. 

There is a risk involved in everything, waking up in the morning, driving a car, putting your horse in a float to go to a competition, popping over a few jumps etc. I am not going to wrap my boys up in cotton wool over fear of what might happen and things I can't change, especially not when it is something they enjoy so much. 
I take calculated risks and it is my job as a rider/owner to do as much as I humanly can to avoid putting myself and my horses in a bad situation... In saying that, tragedies do happen but provided I have done all I can to prevet one from happening I am fine with swimming horses.


----------



## FaydesMom (Mar 25, 2012)

As long as you know your horse and the water you are going into, swimming with your horse is one of the most enjoyable ways to cool both of you off on a hot summer day!

I've been horseback in the Pacific Ocean, many inland lakes and rivers and the Gulf of Mexico. One of my bucket list items is take a ride in the Atlantic Ocean before I go. 

Years ago, we had a huge appy/draft X that would stand shoulder deep in the river with his butt towards the middle so we could climb up on his butt and jump off. He would stand there all day sticking his nose in the water blowing bubbles!


----------



## Sharpie (May 24, 2009)

I took my horse swimming for the first time ever (both mine and his) last weekend- took it very slow because of that, but my guy took to it like a pro. It is good to know that he can/will swim without getting panicky. I wasn't a huge fan of the wet boots and breeches after myself though. Everything is dangerous and I can only imagine how much heartache that owner is going though over losing her horse like that, but that doesn't mean we can live in a padded cell.


----------



## dznyntnh (Jul 21, 2013)

We swim the horses in the lakes around here, but only the horses that we know are comfortable in the water. If it's a first timer, we don't 'make' them go out any further than they are comfortable with. On Memorial Day three of us were out for a ride, one friend was riding a horse that had not been on a trail in about six months. This friend decided that he wanted to go swimming...which we were not prepared for. So we dismounted, dropped the saddles, pulled off our boots and led the horses in (fully dressed) and when we were sure they were ok with being in the water, we climbed on and swam around for over an hour...the horses loved it...the humans had a great time, but ended up riding back soaking wet and barefoot...one of those fun, memorable days.


----------



## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

I saw this one on the BBC website this morning and thought how tragic it was
Apparently horses don't have a concept of 'steering' themselves if they become separated from the rider - as happened here - and they will just keep swimming in a straight line until they become exhausted and drown


----------

