Dilemma, treadmill or horsewalker

irish_only

irish_only

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I've been trying to buy a second hand horsewalker, and thought I had done the deal and was let down. Anyway after lots of googling trying to find another one, I've found various reports of treadmills being better, so am now wondering whether this would be a better move.
We have stallions, broodmares (yes I know the wide loads won't fit on a treadmill ;), youngsters, and horses in work.
All views / opinions, pro's / cons welcome.
 
I've never used a treadmill before, but my understanding is that you can only do 1 horse at a time, and must have someone stood beside the horse as well?

Whereas, with our horse walker we can chuck 4 on, and then carry on around the yard finishing jobs. You obviously have an ear out to the walker, in case of any issues, and we're constantly walking past it anyway. But, we have that time to use, rather than just stand monitoring the horses.
That to me is a massive plus.
It means I can ride, let the horse cool down on the walker, and whilst he is going that I can muck him out, mix feeds, sweep, clean tack etc. Then he's ready to come off, have tea and go out. Whereas I'd have to stand with him on a treadmill, and still need to finish jobs after?

I might be wrong with my knowledge of treadmills, in which case, the above is all useless :p
 
It depends what you are using it for. Horse walkers are good for getting rid of a bit of stiffness or warming the horse up a bit. Our yard puts the horses on the walker while they muck out, before they go out in case of high jinks.

But if you're looking for fitness/theraputic benefits, the treadmills are definitely the way to go. I have a friend who's horse had a number of foot balance and tendon issues and did most of her rehabilitation with the treadmill - by the end of it her horse was seriously buff! Of course, the aquatreadmills are even better ... :D
 
Echo really what you want it for. Yard I am at has both, the walker is useful when it is too icy to ride. Used the treadmill a few times this year for my horse who had had his joints injected but as others have said you have to stay with the horse so just as well long rein or ride. There was another horse at the yard who was on the treadmill a lot and they say that helped him muscle up well.

Realistically I wasn't after a yard with either, they just happened to be there!
 
I've no idea as I've used neither.

However, I had a little TB mare when I was in NZ and she had very odd feet. Her farrier said it was down to the treadmill and they certainly improved in the year I had her. Although of course that could be down to a lot of factors. she also would have gone in the water horsewalker, so maybe that had a bearing on her feet as well, as presumably they would have had long periods being wet.

So not much help really but thought I would throw my pennies worth in.
 
Thanks, keep them coming............

JGC said:
It depends what you are using it for. Horse walkers are good for getting rid of a bit of stiffness or warming the horse up a bit. Our yard puts the horses on the walker while they muck out, before they go out in case of high jinks.

But if you're looking for fitness/theraputic benefits, the treadmills are definitely the way to go. I have a friend who's horse had a number of foot balance and tendon issues and did most of her rehabilitation with the treadmill - by the end of it her horse was seriously buff! Of course, the aquatreadmills are even better ... :D
Click to expand...

My older stallion is 22 and can be bit stiff, so I'm thinking a treadmill or walker would be good for him. I have a 2yo who completely severed his extensor tendon and has been on in hand walking, up to 1/2 an hour twice a day. I'm thinking that the horsewalker would be negative for his movement and the treadmill positive. Two others that should be in work but aren't could start getting fit on either piece of kit.

I've never used a treadmill before, but my understanding is that you can only do 1 horse at a time, and must have someone stood beside the horse as well?

Surely once they are settled and happy on a treadmill they can be left whilst doing jobs and keeping one eye on them. (I've seen images where they are tied up on a treadmill)
 
If you have the time then I would highly recommend a treadmill. They are fabulous and you can work the horses on an incline to they are using themselves a lot more than on a horsewalker. In the ideal world both would be my recommendation but for performance horses I would go for a treadmill.
 
irish_only said:
My older stallion is 22 and can be bit stiff, so I'm thinking a treadmill or walker would be good for him. I have a 2yo who completely severed his extensor tendon and has been on in hand walking, up to 1/2 an hour twice a day. I'm thinking that the horsewalker would be negative for his movement and the treadmill positive. Two others that should be in work but aren't could start getting fit on either piece of kit.
Click to expand...

I would definitely go for a treadmill in your shoes (as I would for myself if ever I had my own yard).
 
Another vote for treadmill! The yard I was on never had people standing watching them either, though you could always hear them!
 
Well I will go against the grain, I detest treadmills. When we got them at the place I used to work in the horses became more dangerous for us by the time we got to sit on them as they were so fit! But aside from that, the injuries that I have seen etc from it going wrong, I also have my deep doubts on just how unnatural it is for a horse to move on one, the hind limb will not be worked as effectively as due to the mechanics of the hindlimb, the horse only uses effort to push it back not pull it forwards (in very simply terms). I have studied the mechanics of equine movement so it just does not sit with me and certainly riding those horses that had been cantered/trotted a lot on one, they had more shoulder development and weak hindquarters. If I had my own place I would prefer a large or oval horsewalker to a treadmill any day.
 
Used both, both are great and both not so great for all reasons already given. If I won the lottery I would have a water treadmill and a large oval horse walker so depending on horses requirements! Horse walkers are so useful for warming up and walking off though as a large yard you can save a lot of time- but never to be used to replace exercise. Obviously the large and less circular the better but beggars can't be choosers and moderation is key. Treadmills are fantastic for rehabilitation and for top level competiton horses in full fitness but for a lot of horses they do get them to fit for their requirements and perhaps always not promoting correct muscle development like Laafet has already pointed out however a treadmill with a slight gradient can help hind end. I think a horse walker is probably more vesitle for all sorts of horses then if you had to choose
 
Update:

We bought the treadmill, and it is brilliant. The two year old has taken to it like a duck to water and I'm starting to wonder if i opened his stable door he would just walk on it by himself. After 2 weeks of holding his hand we now tie him on and let him do his re-hab while we do the stable jobs, so we are never more than 20 or so feet away from him. He's so confident on it that if you stand with him he tries to play with you so less distracting if not there. Considering the awful weather we've had recently, he would hardly have been able to be walked as we have to go on the road as he has to walk on a level surface at all times.

The older fella will use it, but has worked out that if he slides to the back he can stall it, so for the moment I'm holding his hand.

(And all the time we are indoors and out of the ***** weather we've been having)

:) :) :)
 
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