Stunning images taken of swimming horses

Beautiful underwater photos have been taken of horses swimming off the coast of Malta by photographer, Kurt Arrigo.

The photographer couldn’t believe his luck when he initially saw the racehorses and their trainers out in the sea for a spot of exercise. Great for toning muscle, the herds of horses swim in threes with trainers on hand, without even a bridle to guide them and swapped their riding boots for swimming shorts.

The half an hour sessions gave the photographer enough time to capture the beautiful photos, using scuba gear to get down underneath the horses in the water, which at first gave the horses a bit of a fright.

'When they settled down they just swam above me allowing me to work at different angles using the seascape, fish and different light to get the best shots.'

'It was one of the most thrilling shoots I have ever done watching them gracefully move through the water.'

Although a shoot with the horses was a dangerous task, Kurt Arrigo is an experienced underwater photographer. He has shot scenes such as schools of hammerhead sharks off the coast of the Galapagos Islands and the Great Barrier Reef and his photographs of the horses were just as impressive, creating magnificent light and an underwater feel.

He commented 'I had to calculate my depth and make sure that I wouldn't get hit by one of the hooves.
'It's quite amazing as you can really hear the horse work out - apparently it's quite hard work for them so they only do this for around half an hour.

'I've not seen anything like it before, and not all horses can swim as some just don't get it.'