Horse walker?!

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honeybee123

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I'm thinking about taking the plunge and investing in a horse walker. What are people's experiences? How much is it likely to cost? Good things and bad things to consider?

Thank you in advance!
 
Sorry, no help to you OP, but I wouldn't be given one! IMHO, between horse walkers and poor arena surfaces, I think its no wonder there are so many broken horses in the country! But like I said this is just my thoughts, I have no hard evidence to back it up lol! I'm sure there are those that swear by them and wouldn't be without them.
 
Im just not sure about them. I have always avoided them, but recently did put my horse in one to see how she got on. Honestly if you could have seen her face - she looked like she was in prison. Every time whe walked past me she looked at me as if to say get me out of here. Just plodding around in a circle didnt look like a barrel of laughs. I can see that they have a place in some situations, but just personally, im not sure im a fan.
 
Bigger is better IMO if they are small then the circles get quite tight. I used to use the one at my old yard for warm up / cooling down regularly.
 
They don't replace exercise, but they are good for warming up/cooling down, especially if you have a lot of horses to ride and not so much time. They can also help them to maintain a baseline level of fitness, along with proper regular work. However, I'd want to make sure that they had a good surface to reduce strain and concussion on legs, and as others have said, bigger the better. We have one at our yard and mine goes on it regularly, especially in the winter. I'd also suggest not putting horses on it for long periods, we usually try and keep it to 15mins ish. I've also seen it used on other yards for rehabbing horses for whom hand walking is a struggle and dangerous for horse and owner (eg. horses who rear up, pull away etc.)
 
I love that my yard has one - with limited turn out they go out in morning and on walker afternoon (or vice versa). It doesn't replace exercise for me it is an addition to keep him mobile. We also have people that come to the yard for rehab to use it (thoughthis is a busy life/winter too dark/can't be bothered to handwalk/horse to 'jazzy' to safely walk in hand.
 
I'm a fan, but as a supplement to work under saddle not as a replacement for it.
They are great for warm up and/or cool down especially if you are working on tight time margins.
 
honeybee123 said:
I'm thinking about taking the plunge and investing in a horse walker. What are people's experiences? How much is it likely to cost? Good things and bad things to consider?

Thank you in advance!
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Personally I would be sure you would get your money's worth out of the expense before investing.
 
- Dangerous (both long term damage and also accidents do happen)
- At least mildly unpleasant for horse

I've used one at a yard with no winter turn out at all during a snowy period as it seemed better than having horse in stable 24/7 apart from exercise (popped him in whilst mucking out) but imo it wasn't really safe unless you were stood there with your finger on the emergency stop button (ie not mucking out, so, why not just ride?!?) - there are some horrible stories of horses getting stuck and then walked over by the following animals...

If you had a large (4/6?) number of your own animals you wanted to put on at once and then have a person supervise continuously during a flood/snow/other extreme no-turn-out situation I can sort of see the point. But really not otherwise.

ETA: And I only ever used at walk speed as the circle was, imo, too small for much else - it was really just to get them mobile at all
 
I have owned and used horsewalkers for over 40 years and have never had any joint problems. Invaluable in a big yard - 6 horses onto walker in am, muck out, than back in their stables until they are ridden. Turned out in pm weather permitting.
As for 'stories of horses getting stuck and then walked over by the following animals' I have never seen or owned a walker that is not stopped by holding it with one hand. ie if a horse got stuck the walker would cease moving so the following horses would not be walking over the one in front.
I have had one or two accidents - however I have had more and more serious accidents with horses out hacking and definitely with horses in fields! Sadly horses seem to like accidents.
I am lucky in that I have a roof on the walker and in frosty and snowy conditions it is often the only safe place to exercise.
Of course we only 'walk' them on the walker. The hint is in the name - horse WALKER! Yes people may trot and canter but those people would probably do that on the roads too!
We probably walk about 12 horses per day - I have never had one that was unhappy about loading or worried about using it once they had been trained carefully ie put them on with an old horse and start slowly, keeping a careful eye on proceedings.
In a large professional yard a horsewalker is one of many pieces of equipment that are useful and make the staff's life easier.
If you are only doing one or two horses maybe it would not be such a good investment but if you are doing your own horses around a job it could certainly be very useful.
 
I would have thought 20k+ for a nice shiny new one. Personally i'd never splash out on one. I can see they'd be useful for warm/up cool down if you have a lot of horses to ride. As for using them for rehab if something is too dangerous to walk in hand sticking it in a walker is a potential disaster. And as for baseline fitness I would rather just turn out for minimum of 10-12 hour a day in a good sized field with company but then I don't agree with horses being stabled constantly (unless for medical reasons).
 
Go for a fully enclosed one if you do! My work got one second had for £3500 bit the middle wasn't enclosed fully and we did have a few occasions where a horse got under into the next compartment que major panic and quite dangerous trying to get them back out!
 
Very useful in bad weather or for warming up and cooling down but not as an exercise substitute. The cost varies from make to make - some sell without fencing, fencing can be rubber lined, different sizes, auto reverse feature, electric pushers, surface etc all make a difference. About 5 years ago we got a Monarch 4 horse walker with metal fencing, rubber pavers, auto reverse and electric pushers but no roof and it was about 12k excluding the concrete underneath.
 
Very useful if you have a number of horses, to supplement work and aid warm up and cool down.

There is so much talk on these forums about how awful they are for limbs and how dangerous but in the real world they are used daily on professional yards the world over without incident.
 
Faracat said:
http://www.wageningenacademic.com/doi/abs/10.3920/CEP11015

http://www.kraft-horsewalker.com/me...-de_Kraft_Review-Ovale-Runde-Fuehranlagen.pdf
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Thanks for that. I've just been reading through that and some of the other stuff on there. Very interesting reading!

millitiger said:
Very useful if you have a number of horses, to supplement work and aid warm up and cool down.

There is so much talk on these forums about how awful they are for limbs and how dangerous but in the real world they are used daily on professional yards the world over without incident.
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Did you read the links Faracat posted?
 
respectedpony said:
well,I think they are just like the live pony roundabouts that are now banned.
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Very much so - hadn't thought of that before but you're right. It seems crazy to me that 'electric pushers' (yes, we're talking about electrocuting our horses to make them walk in small circles here, this would be (rightly) banned as an interrogation technique/I don't see it catching on in gyms!) are being discussed calmly as a potential 'feature'.
 
We have a large five horse one, fully enclosed and rubber matted. It's a monarch one and does go very fast. We use it a lot to cool down and warm up horses, to put them on whilst we muck out if weather is naff and on their days off as we are trying to keep them fit. We do turn the electric panels on as it prevents them stopping it with there quarters, it's no different to electric fencing. They touch it once and learn not too! The gaps are enormous so they don't get zapped all the time. They are no where near the panels.
 
I think the difference is that to avoid electric fencing all they have to do is experience it once and not go near again. In a walker they have no choice and it could (not at all suggesting this applies to you) easily mask that a horse didn't want to go forward due to discomfort/lameness/even just a need to pee, which a rider or lunger would, hopefully, stand a better chance of noticing. There is also the obvious potential issue of a horse going down in one...
 
GirlFriday said:
Very much so - hadn't thought of that before but you're right. It seems crazy to me that 'electric pushers' (yes, we're talking about electrocuting our horses to make them walk in small circles here, this would be (rightly) banned as an interrogation technique/I don't see it catching on in gyms!) are being discussed calmly as a potential 'feature'.
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I don't think it compares at all to the pony carousels. I think the point about the carousels is that they are cruel because of how long the ponies are on them for, with no rest or food, and sometimes in the blazing sunshine with no shade. Horse walkers, ime, are rarely used for more than 30 minutes. The electric pushers aren't that strong and once the horses have been zapped once they won't touch the back/ front again. I see it as more like electric fencing than an "interrogation technique"! Also, bear in mind that the pushers generally aren't used. I've worked on two yards and we only used to use the pushers on the first yard if we had the stallions on the walker (our three stallions were all huge, young, and quite high-spirited!) and we never used them on the second yard. Every horse that I've worked with has gone on the walker calm and happy, and come off in the same way. Young horses soon settle to it if they go on with older, more experienced horses.

That said, I wouldn't exactly choose to use a walker if I had options. If you have decent turnout, personally I think they are pointless and horses are far better served by going in the field.
 
Wouldn’t have one as a gift. Constant circling is terrible for long term soundness. Spend the money on an all weather turnout and let them self exercise.
 
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Could have one have chosen not to.
I understand why big yards have them it saves labour but if our horses need walking we ride them or lead them much better for the horses mind and it's body .
They are too often used to replace turnout and slow exercise
 
If you have to have one, them make it as large as possible and oval. Rubber matting on the base is especially bad as the horse's feet can't swivel on the turns so it gives a much greater strain on the limbs. Ditto anti slip nails in shoes if it's a concrete base.

Of course they're popular, anything that saves time and labour always is.
 
GirlFriday said:
Very much so - hadn't thought of that before but you're right. It seems crazy to me that 'electric pushers' (yes, we're talking about electrocuting our horses to make them walk in small circles here, this would be (rightly) banned as an interrogation technique/I don't see it catching on in gyms!) are being discussed calmly as a potential 'feature'.
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What a drama queen! We are not talking about 'electrocuting' our horses! The pushers can be turned on/off. They give a zap of the same level as electric fencing, which is so beloved of so many horse people. It only zaps if the horse rests his backside on the pushers. I have not needed to turn on my electric pushers in over one year as the horses actually seem to enjoy walking.

The speed of the walker can be turned up/down from very slow to quite fast. The direction of the walker can be altered too.

I really wonder if some of these critics have actually used a modern walker on a regular basis and been taught how to manage it by someone who actually knows? I am more than surprised at the lack of knowledge.
 
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