I am super lucky to have a fantastic hydrotherapy barn open near me recently. They have a whole array of services, but I am particularly excited by the water treadmill and salt water spa.
You might have seen on my social media that I visited a few weeks ago with a friends horse and was really impressed by the treadmill. Unfortunately Scottie still isn’t quite right so the treadmill is still off limits for him. However, the lovely girls there advised that the spa would be perfect for him!
What is the spa?
The spa is a box where the horse stands in really cold salty water. It is 2 degrees and the salts have therapeutic properties. The water is also antibacterial and the jets create bubbles, a bit like a hot tub! It’s perfect for injuries and skin conditions.
Scottie’s Spa Day
When I heard that they had some space on Saturday and that my friend was thinking about heading down, I jumped at the chance to go too! Scottie is very good about life, but he is a wuss and can take a lot of convincing to do new, scary things. So while I thought he would go into the spa, I thought it might take a while and quite a bit of convincing.
However, he proved me wrong! After having his legs hosed off by the lovely ladies there, one of them took him round to have a look at the spa. She stood in it and let him have a look at everything. Scottie being Scottie, was more interested in everything else going on around him. So she asked him to take a few steps toward the spa and next thing you know, he was walking through the spa!
She repeated this with him several times until he was completely happy walking through the small space. Once he was happy, she started to ask him to stand and wait in the spa. She built this up a few times before shutting him in. We gave him a few minutes with plenty of attention and treats to get used to it before turning the water on.
He was super well behaved throughout the entire time. He was really quite worried about it all. But he stood perfectly still for the entire 15 minutes and all the girls there couldn’t believe how good he was, lot’s of them have to be sedated, especially for their first time. So I was a super proud mum!
I’m hoping to go again soon as the cold will be really good for his foot. If any of you have one near you I highly recommend giving it a visit. It has been a great experience.
Last Updated on 14/01/2022
