A blooper shot from a day with the Marsh Tackies on Daufuskie. The plan for this photo was for all the horses to run out of the ocean toward the photographer. Instead, the horses got amped up, causing total mayhem; Bama and Postel ran off into the interior of the island and ended up on a golf course. Left to right: Leighton Bell with Bama, Erica Veit with Simpson, David Grant with Spirit, Ashley Jones with Postel, and Wylie with Gambler.
Hanging on the wall in my living room is a very large, framed photo of me diving off my horse into the ocean. It captures a magical moment with my horse Breeze on Daufuskie Island, a bridgeless island off the coast of South Carolina. I was among a group of horse owners who shipped our horses over on an open barge for a weekend of riding on the island and, of course, swimming with them in the ocean. To keep things interesting, I even brought along some water skis and a rope and was pulled behind a horse galloping along the edge of the surf.
I grew up around horses and always looked forward to the summers when we would ride to the local lake and take them swimming. We would dive off their backs and hang onto their tails as they jogged through the water. The horses enjoyed the water as much as we did. They would paw the cool water fiercely, splashing it up against their bellies. Occasionally, a horse would get knee deep and lay down in the water.
Horses have a natural instinct to swim when in deep water. However, horses can be wary of the water at first and may need time to build up their confidence to step in. They swim similarly to dogs, using a paddlelike motion with their legs. In deep water, the horse’s body will be completely submerged with the horse’s head the only thing visible, again like a dog. They have large lungs — a horse’s lung can hold 14.5 gallons of air — so that helps them stay afloat.
Swimming is strenuous exercise for a horse, and it can quickly tire them out. A three-minute swim can be the equivalent of a 3-mile gallop on land. Hydrotherapy has long been used in the horse racing industry as both a fitness regimen and for rehabilitative purposes.
While we did not know these facts when we were splashing around bareback on our horses in the lake, we were always careful not to take our horses out into the deep water for very long. For one, you are not really riding the horse once it is fully swimming. You are just floating along the top of the water above its submerged back and holding on to mane, reins, or both. The horses also snorted and huffed through flared nostrils as they dug with powerful strokes through the water, so we knew they were working hard when they were swimming.
People do cross rivers on horseback with saddle horses and pack horses, but they try to cross where the water isn’t too deep and the currents are not as strong. Horse and rider can get into trouble in water with a current quickly, which we discovered several years ago during a ride along the Great Pee Dee River in Darlington County, South Carolina.
The river varies in depth and width along its 232-mile stretch through the Carolinas, but this spot where we were riding had a long sandy beach with a wide shallow area before dropping off to a depth unknown to me. It is a hot spot in the summer for people on the river to pull up their boats for a picnic or just to hang out. I had never ridden horses out there, so I was excited to get to ride in the river. We even had a professional photographer with us to take some photos as we swam the horses across the river, something my friends had done a few years ago at the same place.
It was a different river on this day, however. The current was stronger, and the river had widened and deepened. Two of my friends entered the river on their horses fully tacked up and headed across. The river bottom dropped off quickly, and the horses had to swim hard against the current. These two horses were strong and athletic, so their riders were not concerned. Plus, they had done this river crossing before.
But once in the middle of the river, one of the horses got panicked and started flailing its front feet as if it was trying to rear straight up. The horse started shaking its head side to side to keep it above the water. My friend was still hanging on, trying to get the horse calmed. In all the chaos, the horse’s head hit my friend in the head. He was dazed by the blow and knocked loose from the horse. The current was quickly sweeping him down river, and his heavy cowboy boots felt like two anchors pulling him under the water. He knew he was in trouble. He called for help, and we were able to swim out to him and bring him to shore. The horse also got itself back into a natural swimming position and was able to make it back to the beach.
We barely avoided a tragedy that day on the river, for both horse and rider. The photographer captured those harrowing moments, and the photos stand in stark contrast to the one of me happily diving off my horse into the ocean.
I tell this story not to deter people from swimming with their horses. I never miss an opportunity to do it myself. But always know your horse’s capabilities, both physically and mentally, before entering the water.
Cautionary tips:
-Be sure the bottom of the pond, ocean, or river is solid. Boggy bottoms can cause horses to become stuck and then panic.
-Don’t ride your horse while swimming if he is a novice swimmer. This can make it hard for a beginner to learn.
-Watch your bare feet from getting stepped on while on land.
-For your safety, don’t hold onto the horse’s tail while swimming, unless you are sure this will not frighten or upset your horse.
-If your horse has a short tail or you are uncomfortable holding onto it, you can also hold onto the lead line and get pulled through the water that way.
-Be aware of the physical strain of swimming; thus know the fitness level of your horse.
