Champion racehorses rejuvenate in Van Lake

VAN

Türkiye's champion racehorses, running in major events in the country, receive regular training sessions, as well as special care and treatments in Van Lake.

Özkan Bayraktar – a racehorse breeder in Van’s Erciş district, located on the shores of Van Lake – tends to horses who have been hurt or worn-out during races organized throughout numerous regions.

Bayraktar keeps the racehorses fit by running them on the beach and having them swim in the lake’s salty and alkaline water, preparing them for challenging races in hippodromes.

He noted that the horses' training on the lake had given them more strength in his remarks to state-run Anadolu Agency.

“We particularly bring the horses with fiber and tendon stretch here. The alkaline and salty water of Van Lake is therapeutic to them. They recover, swim and rest here and then compete in races,” he said.

Noting that the lake’s water had a healing effect for the horse’s injuries, he stressed that they obtained great outcomes in the competitions as a result of their treatment sessions around the lake.

He further added that they execute all the actions in the guidance of the horse’s grooms.

One of these grooms, Emrah Şeker, echoed Bayraktar’s remarks, stating, “We have seen positive outcomes for the horses which have foot issues, particularly tendon feet. A large number of the recuperated horses went back to compete.”

“We recently sent two horses, and they were successful in the competitions. We have clearly seen the advantages of the lake’s water,” Şeker further said. “We will send the horses that are still being trained at the moment to [the southeastern province of] Diyarbakır and [the eastern province of] Elazığ.”