Putting young horses on a walker. Would you?

Vickijay

Vickijay

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Hi,

Just a quick question. My almost 2 year old lives out 24/7 but if we have snow the horses will have to come in and say there until its gone.

Would you rather a young horse stayed in completely or went on the walker for a min or two just to stretch legs? Last year she stayed in as I thought she was too young (and she could still canter in her stable!) but now I'm wondering if it would be better. It gets to risky with the ice to walk her in hard but can get to the walker.

I think if it's just for literally a few minutes with it going slowly it would be better than just inside (stables are quite big though) If she would be in all winter so doing it every day I think it would be different but she will live out almost all the time just be in in real extreme conditions. Also it would only be if she was stuck in longer than a day or so.

What do you think? What would you do?

Walker is big 5 horse, with rubber bricks.....

Thanks

Vicki
 
TBH I'd prefer to turn out completely so they don't have the risk of not getting out of their boxes. I personally wouldn't dream of putting on a walker at that age unless it was a large oval one, certainly not on a circular one at all but that's just me. Let alone the damage they could do to their joints, a youngster can easily play the fool, especially if it hasn't been out for a while and cause damage not only to itself but to the walker too. I personally wouldn't risk it, I'd rather lug feed and water out to the field instead.
 
I seem to remember reading a report that found that walkers were really bad for a horses joints, as they were constantly swivelling their foot with every step. That was with adults so I would never put a youngster on a walker.
 
Definately NOT. WAlkers do have their place and can be a very valuable tool but there is no doubt that uneven pressure is placed on the joints by going round in circle all the time, even with older horses i am very careful, the big oval ones as mentioned above are better.

Plus a young horse who has been stuck in for ages will want to have a buck and a kick not a walk round on a walker, therefore if fresh and on the walker could still have a buck and a kick and injure themselves.

Our youngsters live out in the snow with plenty of hay and a field shelter and are much much happier than they would be being confined to a stable
 
No. Leave them out in the snow. Far safer than cooped up suddenly and risking icy yards. Give them hay and let them be horses.
 
Maesfen said:
TBH I'd prefer to turn out completely so they don't have the risk of not getting out of their boxes. I personally wouldn't dream of putting on a walker at that age unless it was a large oval one, certainly not on a circular one at all but that's just me. Let alone the damage they could do to their joints, a youngster can easily play the fool, especially if it hasn't been out for a while and cause damage not only to itself but to the walker too. I personally wouldn't risk it, I'd rather lug feed and water out to the field instead.
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^^this^^

Much safer IMO to leave them in the field with plenty of hay :)

And i would never ever put a horse of that age on a walker!!!!
 
I wouldn't use a walker with anything other than a moving surface (arena surface/peat/etc...) no matter the age of the horse. Agree re leaving out 24/7 in snow, if yard unsafe, however appreciate some of us have to do what the YO dictates
 
As Sportznight said I am on a yard where we have to do what the YO says. Also fields are all white electric tape which means turning out in the snow isn't safe as they just gallop through the fence as they can't see it.

It's not worth moving yards for the week or 2 of snow that we get most years as the yard is perfect apart from this, like I said they are all out 24/7 still. Will just cross fingers for no snow and leave her in if it's too bad.

Thanks :)

Ps that video is so so cute
 
Well I completly agree with all of what's been said, & I would never personally put one of mine on the walker, young or old, but just as an aside- I work on a TB stud & all the yearlings are horsewalkered every day before they leave to go into training in Dec.
One Hour in the morning & half hour or so in the PM. Otherwise they are in 24/7.
The majority seem to come back sound & well for their winter holidays as 2,3,4 year olds.
Of course you get about 10-20% of them who get injuries but that would be expected I think, considering the intensity of training they have to do to race.
 
seabsicuit2 said:
Well I completly agree with all of what's been said, & I would never personally put one of mine on the walker, young or old, but just as an aside- I work on a TB stud & all the yearlings are horsewalkered every day before they leave to go into training in Dec.
One Hour in the morning & half hour or so in the PM. Otherwise they are in 24/7.
The majority seem to come back sound & well for their winter holidays as 2,3,4 year olds.
Of course you get about 10-20% of them who get injuries but that would be expected I think, considering the intensity of training they have to do to race.
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I was waiting for someone to remind us of the racing industry & their usage of the horsewalker. It should be mentioned because so many people dont do it that it should be equal amount of time each way. Too many people see to forget that if you have put your horse 10 min one way then it should do 10 mins the other no different from lunging. I dont use the walker much except as warm up/down time & in the summer when they have been washed.
 
tigers_eye said:
Getting slightly off point here but Sportznight, how do they manage the droppings then, do they just let them get walked into the surface?
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Some do get kicked about, but rather than sweeping, we use shavings forks and clear up as much as possible. If I get time, I will go down to one of the yearling barns and take photographs of the surface - it has been down for nearly 2 years now and done 2 seasons of yearling prep, approx 60 yearlings a year.
 
Vickijay said:
As Sportznight said I am on a yard where we have to do what the YO says. Also fields are all white electric tape which means turning out in the snow isn't safe as they just gallop through the fence as they can't see it.
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If your YO allows it, it may help to attach strips cut from brightly coloured plastic bags to the fence to draw attention to it

Although you would not normally put a youngster in a walker I would not be concerned about joint damage if it was a one off and not a regular thing. I don't think a horse would get joint issues from a couple of laps if it only happened once or twice during snow, provided that the horse was safe in the walker and not likely to injure itself. But, I agree with the others that it may be better to simply turn out.
 
Do you have access to a school he/she could have a few minutes hooley around in? That would be my preference - then they can trot/canter/buck etc at free will. Much better for the brain in my opinion.
 
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