Horsewalkers: good or bad? Pros and cons?

[PortuguesePony]

As title really! For some reason, that to be honest I’m not sure of (!) I have never really seen the point of, or felt comfortable with the idea of horsewalkers … just seemed wrong (?) to me somehow. But now, with more horses (and less time!) I find myself wondering if one might actually be a useful addition in the future..

I’m a dressage rider but do believe that walking out inhand/hacking is a great way to condition a horse and get him fitter, perhaps a horse walker could help with this? Some of our horses are barefoot and therefore need to be handwalked/hacked out on tarmac to stimulate/condition the feet … but could a concrete floor horsewalker be a more time efficient option… Would this even be practical(concrete floor)?

And how hard are they to “install”, anyone know?

I have never used a horse walker and have no experience of them whatsoever and so any input gratefully received, ta!

 

[**Vanner**]

We have one at the yard and I think it is fantastic. On days when I'm not riding I put both my boys on it for about 40 minutes. They seem to really enjoy it and don't have any issues going on it - they would soon tell me.

I do couple this with free time in a turnout paddock but they often just stand waiting to come in so a least the walker has had them moving. Both my boys are doing well weight wise this year and I think it is down to the walker. I do ride 5 or 6 times a week.

Ours seemed to go up fairly rapidly and has a non slip rubber covering on the concrete base. I wouldn't want a walker without a soft base just in case something slipped.

 

[Tern]

i would say good as when it is just too wet to ride/hack/ walk in hand then you can just put them in there for a walk/jog. BUT there are some pros and cons

PROS:
1)Get them with / without roof
2)Good exercise for any type of horse
And i cant think of any more lol but there are more

CONS:
1)Wont stop if the horse panics
2)Some of the bigger horses - if they manage to turn then they may not be able re-turn back to the right way.
3) Horses can still get kicked as it is only ruber at the bottom

Myself i dont know how hard to install they are but i know they are rather expensive, I have only ever used one at a DIY yard but dont actually own one myself.

 

[MerrySherryRider]

Like everything, they can be abused but used correctly, they are a godsend.
I have seen concrete floors but they can be slippery in the wet or when the horse's poo.
Quite liked a bark surface we had once, it was giving on legs for rehab horses and footy, laminitis-susceptable horses.
Horsewalkers can help in the fitness and improve metabolic efficency for good doers, give steady exercise for horses in training which puts less strain on joints than lunging may do.

Downside, is the lazy owner syndrome who enjoys having a fit looking horse without putting the work in. Over use could be mind numbingly boring to a horse without other stimulation and that;s when they tend to mess about by stopping the walker or turning around in it.

Horses do need watching, esp at first, but CVTV monitoring is the next best thing to prevent accidents.

The bigger the walker, the better and if money were not an object, I'd go for an oval shaped one.

 

[Chestnutmare]

I use one luckily my mare is good using it happily plods round I only put her on it for instance they've been in last couple weeks due to fields being v wet so whilst mucking out I pop her on it to keep her moving its located right next to my stable so I can keep eye and ear out whilst in her stable
I have seen couple of nasty accidents with horses rearing and getting shoes caught in the bars so horse is just hanging or laid down stuck upside down both awful to witness but thankfully keeping calm with others those horses were uninjured
I'd recommend if using one to keep very close to it

 

[ecrozier]

In our situation they are a necessary 'evil'. In an ideal world my boys would be out 24/7 must of the year and at least 12 hours the rest of the time. However round us it's hard to find a yard to offer that PLUS safe turnout, decent hacking and a good surface on the school. So this winter we have sacrificed the amount of turnout for everything else, as roo has been rehabbing after 12 weeks box rest over summer. They do get out most days for 7-8 hours but if it's very wet they are in, eg last 5 days until today the fields have been closed. So on stabled days, they do 30 mins in walker am and pm while I do stables etc. I don't ideally like the constant turn motion but I have them at a steady walk, and it's a rubber surface. I would prefer a bigger/oval walker but it's not my yard, and for a couple of days a week over winter it's better than being cooped up for 24 hours, as I can't always hack during week due to work and prefer not to school every day.
Pros are that they get some exercise and a change of scene, mine are pretty trustworthy in there and I always stay in earshot and check every couple of mins. Roo certainly comes off more settled than he go on in the morning.
Cons - must be a bit dull. Constant turn motion not ideal. Have heard of a few walker based accidents - but the same could be said for haynets/lorries/electric fence/even post and rail fence!

 

[paulineh]

Useful for rehabing a horse that only needs a short walk out. I use it when I'm mucking out as part of a fittening program.

They will also go on it for half an hour in the morning or afternoon and I will either hack out or school the other part of the day.

 

[Clippy]

A very useful addition to most yards. You can empty several stables at a time whilst you muck out and get your horses exercised at the same time. Great for keeping horses ticking over when time is short, also takes the edge of yougsters or those which don't like to be stood in. Our horses seem to enjoy going on the walker and it's a change of scenery when they're spending a lot of time stabled during this wet weather. We have heavy duty rubber matting on ours. They're pretty safe, they stop easily if the horse isn't moving. The hardest part of the installation is the groundwork. If you have a concrete area or even better, space inside a building then you're more than half way there and could probably get one up in a couple of days. I've seen second-hand ones on Ebay going for £1000-£1500 so well worth the outlay I think.

The downsides are that a nervy horse needs watching until they get used. The paddle touching them from behind can cause them to panic and i've had a couple of minor accidents. I also hate cleaning mine!

 

[Pinkvboots]

Was at a yard where some horses came out there stable put on the horse walker for at least an hour then put back in the stable until the next day, which is not what they are for but i find many people abuse them, whereas i used one for my mare when she got too attached to my gelding it was the only thing that stopped her freaking out when i took him out of his stable.

 

[Tickles]

I'd add to this list...

PROS:
1) Get them with / without roof
2) Good exercise for any type of horse
3) Can usually be used in all weathers (e.g. even cleared of ice if fields too dangerous to walk to)
4) more interest for horse than tying up on yard without haynet (if that is only alternative when mucking out)

CONS:
1) Wont stop if the horse panics
2) or falls
3) or gets something caught (shoe / rug / leg...)
4) wouldn't like to leave unattended (even e.g. for trip to muck heap) so not necessarily as labour saving as you might think for one person (obviously different with a few staff/many horses)
5) Some of the bigger horses - if they manage to turn then they may not be able re-turn back to the right way.
6) Horses can still get kicked as it is only ruber at the bottom
7) the circles on the 4/5 horse type sizes are pretty small, definitely not equivalent to hacking

 

[Clippy]

I'd add to this list...

CONS:
1) Wont stop if the horse panics
2) or falls
3) or gets something caught (shoe / rug / leg...)
6) Horses can still get kicked as it is only ruber at the bottom

Mine stops! It has an hydraulic motor, I can stop it by hand if I have to. I've had the occasional horse stop it deliberately. You can add an electric "pusher" to keep the lazy ones moving. Mine has full-size mesh panels and the horses cannot kick each other. I think maybe shopping around is the way forward - get a good one with a hydraulic motor and strong paddles which can't be kicked through

 

[mtj]

Bit surprised that no one has mentioned joint stress as a con.

 

[Tnavas]

Many of the racing stables locally have them and they can take 10 horses at a time.

The walkway is rubber non slip matting. One place I worked would do some pre-training in trot on the walker - I could do with one for my Clydesdale - would help a great deal with keeping her weight under control.

In walk I would imagine there would be minimal stress on the horses joints.

 

[PortuguesePony]

Thanks everyone for your helpful feedback and advice!

I didn’t even know that you could get oval horse walkers and had not considered the horse’s turning/getting stuck I was looking at the smaller 4 horse ones (mainly due to cost tbh), just for conditioning work in walk … horses are already out pretty much 24/7 (we just bring them in for a few hours during the day to be fed and worked) but they don’t keep moving all the time out in the field of course and we can’t implement a track system where we are, which would of course be the ideal. I don’t think I would want to use it for trot work and agree that small circles particularly in trot would not be good for joints etc but hopefully gentle walking and on a larger circle or indeed oval would be OK in this respect...

You’ve all given me a lot of food for thought, thank you

 

[Snowysadude]

Saddler, vet and physio all said the usual small horse walkers are bad for horses backs and joints so not to use unless no turnout and horse needs to get out of the stable! The yard I am on now though has a 12 horse surfaced walker which is massive (lunge pen in the middle, so its like doing a 40m circle) and I think its a godsend as it turns around automatically every 10 minutes and is big enough with the surface to walk trot and canter on so its great for fittening work!

I would use a smaller horse walker but only for 20 mins a day, 10 minutes each way . I think they are great if you cant turn your horse out much to give them a controlled leg stretch - I find with the horses that I work with often if you let them loose in the school or lunge them they often go mental due to the freedom and could easily injure themselves!

 

[Tnavas]

Several stables I've worked at have them and they are brilliant.

All have been the type that are high sided, with rubber matting, have a mesh grill in between each horse, below the mesh is heavy rubber. Each unit can be electrified should you have a horse that stops - they get a spark up the bum and get moving again.

All the racehorses get 20 mins walking prior to starting work - at 4am - 10 horses are put on the walker, while their boxes are mucked out. After 20 mins they are taken off the walker and worked, another 10 go on - when they have been worked and washed off they go back on for 10 mins to walk themselves dry before being put away.

The walker has increased there work load by 30mins of quality walking - which strengthens and hardens tendons and ligament.

Horses with back injuries or colds/coughs can still be kept ticking over.

On wet days when they aren't turned out they then get 20 mins walking while afternoon stables are done.

To date - nothing has been injured in them
occasionally a smarty pants works out that you can duck under the rubber mats - we had one who would work his way around to his friend and then walk with him - in the end we just put the two together.
They are fine turning around - the walker would have to be very narrow to prevent a horse turning easily.

Never had to worry about someone constantly watching them - only the first couple of times the horse goes on.

I HATE CLEANING THEM TOO! the dung gets picked up and at the end of the day the whole thing is hosed out.

The funniest thing was when the contractors put the new roof on - they were experimenting with a lightweight roof - it was fine until we had a cyclone come through and the next day found the roof ripped to shreds and lying everywhere. Wind was so bad it even took the roof out of one of the stable blocks - fortunately the yards were very large and the horses found safe spots until they were rescued.

 

[PortuguesePony]

occasionally a smarty pants works out that you can duck under the rubber mats - we had one who would work his way around to his friend and then walk with him - in the end we just put the two together.

ROFL!! Love this!

Naiive question, again I've never actually used one myself ... the horses are just loose within the "pens" then? They walk around all in one direction and then what, the machine automatically switches to the other direction i.e changes the rein, and the horses turn themselves around inside the pens to face the other direction?? Is that right or have I completely missinterpreted what is being said here (quite possibly!).

 

[Tnavas]

ROFL!! Love this!

Naiive question, again I've never actually used one myself ... the horses are just loose within the "pens" then? They walk around all in one direction and then what, the machine automatically switches to the other direction i.e changes the rein, and the horses turn themselves around inside the pens to face the other direction?? Is that right or have I completely missinterpreted what is being said here (quite possibly!).

Thats just what they do - you reverse the machine - it stops moving and then starts again the other way - the horses soon cotton on and turn around.

One walker that I've used had an electric shock switch for those that either hung back and wouldn't walk on properly - only takes a couple of zaps and they get the idea - also worked for those that would try to barge through the front of their compartment, they'd get a zap on the noze and so stay off the grill.