Exercise in the water: should we incorporate it into training and rehabilitation programs for the sport horse?

Abstract

In recent years, many trainers have considered the exercise in water as a tool to be incorporated into training programs for sport horses. Additionally, exercise in water could be used for rehabilitation of musculoskeletal and neurological injuries. This use derives from the application of the physical properties of the water, such as viscosity (greater muscular work compared to terrestrial locomotion), buoyancy (reduced load on the axial skeleton) and hydrostatic pressure (circumferential compression that reduces edema and inflammation). There are several devices for water exercise, such as swimming pools (full flotation), water treadmill WT (semi-flotation) and aquatic walkers. The cardiovascular, metabolic, muscular and locomotor responses differ significantly during exercise in a swimming pool compared to a WT. Exercise on a WT is of submaximal intensity, as shown by the response of heart rate and lactate concentration. Cardiovascular and metabolic response to a terrestrial treadmill exercise tests does not change after a training program on a WT. Fiber muscle composition of the gluteus medius muscle does not appear to be affected by WT training. However, our research team has found that there are significant increases in total power and its distribution in the three body axes (dorsoventral, longitudinal, mediolateral), which could have a significant impact on dressage, jumping and three-day-event horses. Further, exercise on a WT might promote a normal locomotor pattern after an injury, increasing the range of movement, enhancing proprioception, and reducing inflammation, with a lower limb load. Its use can be recommended for chronic tendinitis and desmitis and particularly for chronic osteoarthritis.