Released September 22, 2009
LA CYGNE, Kan. -- Let’s go down to the old swimming hole. If this calls to mind a rope swing over a muddy creek, think again. This is not your grandfather’s swimming hole. In fact, The Swimming Hole is the name of an innovative business in rural Kansas which is using hydrotherapy for treatment of horses.
This week we meet Amy Lund. Last week, we learned that the 2007 Superhorse at the American Quarter Horse Association World Show was trained by Brad Lund. His wife Amy is also involved in horse training. Now she has her own business known as The Swimming Hole.
Amy is originally from southern California. As a kid, she loved horses. She went to work with horses in Oklahoma where she met and married Brad Lund. He took a job in the horse business at Scott City, Kansas, and then he and Amy got their own place where they now live near La Cygne in eastern Kansas.
Brad is a professional horse trainer who specializes in breeding, training and showing horses. Amy is especially interested in the soundness of the horses.
Amy says, “I had trained horses and traveled around, but I have always been interested in keeping horses sound and rehabbing them effectively.” On one dark day, that interest came to a head.
One of Amy’s horses had a bad accident and tore a suspensory ligament, which is a key leg muscle. The muscle was 80 percent torn through. Amy sent the horse down to Texas where they had a facility to rehabilitate the horse through aquatic therapy. Essentially, the horse was placed in a piece of equipment where he was allowed to walk in water in a carefully controlled environment. The horse recovered so well that he eventually won the AQHA youth world show in heeling.
Amy was intrigued by the benefits of equine aqua therapy. She researched the various types of equipment, found there was no such facility in Kansas, and decided to pursue such a business herself. In December, 2006, she opened a horse aquatic therapy facility called The Swimming Hole.
Amy says with a smile, “I was going to call it the Kansas Equine Rehabilitation Center or something like that, but Brad said that was too boring. He said, `Call it something fun like The Swimming Hole,’ and so I did.”
The Swimming Hole features an underwater treadmill in heated water complete with whirlpool jets. There are three sand filters to sanitize the water. The apparatus is 45 feet long. The horse walks down a ramp into the water which is five feet deep at its deepest point. The treadmill itself is about 15 feet long, consisting of a continuous belt and stainless steel hardware attached to a hydraulic pump. The operator controls the speed of the treadmill, from a walk up to a trot.
The horse walks at a controlled pace on the treadmill in water heated to 83 degrees and circulating like a whirlpool. There are four water jets per leg. The result is soothing warmth and pressure. Aquatred therapy has been shown to be a highly effective means of reconditioning injured legs, tendons, ligaments, and muscles. It is also an excellent way to exercise or condition a healthy horse.
Amy says, “Aquatred takes about 60 percent of the weight off the joints of the horse.” This enables the horse to get healthy exercise without putting undue pressure on the joints. For example, one customer brought a German warmblood horse from Germany, took it to surgery at the K-State veterinary school, and then to Amy’s for rehabilitation. Wow. It’s exciting to find this resource in rural Kansas, near the community of La Cygne, population 1,128 people. Now, that’s rural.
For more information about The Swimming Hole, call 913-757-2444.
No, this isn’t your grandfather’s muddy swimming spot. This is a modern, sanitary system for helping rehabilitate and condition horses using water and motion. We commend Amy Lund for making a difference by offering this innovative system to help horses work their way back to health.
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http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/ksrenews/story/KSProfileLund092309.aspx
Writer: Ron Wilson, rwilson@oznet.ksu.edu
