Help Please, Horse Walkers!

[LeannePip]

HELP PLEASE! having only been on small privatley owned yards or riding schools i have NEVER used a horsewalker or even seen one in the flesh untill i went to look round my new job/yard! due to the clay-ey ground of dorset turnout in the winter is limited so how can i take best advantage of this new facility? is it simply just put the horse on the walker or is there anything you can do to maximise the effectivness? compleetly naive on these hightech spiral washing lines x

 

[Snowysadude]

Make sure you change the direction (clockwise/anticlockwise) every day, give them a day off normally per week and make sure the speed is high enough to have some sort of effect but not so high that they are trotting round! Normally where I have worked horses have been on the walker for 30 mins to 1 hour although the last crazy person I worked for (lasted a month but quit after 2 weeks :O) put hers on for up to 2 hours. Not sure how good that is for their backs though walking constantly on the same bend for up to 2 hours - you wouldnt do that much circling whilst riding afterall and they honestly came off dizzy!