The Equine Water treadmill
and It's Uses

We all know what it is like to pick up bad postural habits, maybe you sit at a desk all day and find yourself slouching?!

Your horse is exactly the same, they can get into poor postural habits such as not lifting through their rib cage, being stiffer on one side or over-engaging their prime mover muscles (large muscles used for movement) over the deep core muscles.

The water treadmill helps to encourage the use of core muscles and improve posture. The moment the horse starts walking on the moving belt they have to re-program brain to hoof patterns. The moving belt acts as a tactile cue and the horse has to think about lifting and placing their limbs. It is extremely difficult for them to be one sided and once working in the correct water depth their core stabilisers become engaged. Regularly working on the water treadmill in this correct manner will help ingrain the desired movement patterns which in turn will improve the movement of the horses on land.

It is extremely important for a horse to have good core stabilisers which are engaged when working. Working in low water (generally around fetlock height) really tests a horse’s stabilisers. The horse will flex his limbs and lift his hoof higher than when walking on dry land. At the point the hoof is at its highest the horse must engage his stabilisers to be able to return the hoof to the floor without losing balance. The reason why low water is important here is that higher water can actually work to support and help balance the horse, low (fetlock height water) generally provides the best test of the horse’s ability to engage its stabiliser and keep balanced. Higher water is sometimes used to provide more support and/or resistance.

If a horse has strong stabilisers which are engaged when moving he will become straighter. Straightness on the treadmill (without rider aids) is a great indicator of core strength and stability.

An increased range of motion of a joint is linked to a decrease in injury, a reduction in pain, enhanced performance, increased blood supply to the joint, increased neuromuscular co-ordination, increased quantity of synovial joint fluid.

It is now well researched that placing a horse on a water treadmill increases the range of motion of multiple joints, mainly those of the limb, with varying degree dependent on water height but the water must be low enough for the horse to lift his limbs out of the water rather than dragging the limb through it.

Axial rotation refers to movement of the pelvis from side to side, one hip lowers as the other raises. Axial rotation is necessary for a horse to be able to laterally bend. Flexion of the spine refers to when a horse lifts through its rib cage and the spine curves upwards. Both flexion of the spine and axial rotation are desirable in the horse, in a controlled manner. The two things increase the range of motion of the joints of the spine and sacroiliac joint both of which have limited movement.

One of things we monitor most when starting a horse on the treadmill is axial rotation as whilst a good thing, too much rotation of a horse who does not show strong core stability could lead to further instability and wear and tear of the facet joints and SI joint.

Reasons to use in rehabilitation cases:

• to improve a horses stability and strengthen the horse
• ability to work on a flat even surface in a controlled safe manner
• give the horse the best chance of not re-injuring
• different water heights can be used depending on the horses rehabilitation needs.
• most injuries will have required box rest leading to muscle degeneration
• the water treadmill will help re-engage the muscles the horse hasn’t been using whilst on box rest and establish good movement patterns to prevent re-injury
• allows the horse to return to fitness in a safe manner/environment
• To read about rehabilitation of specific injuries such as tendons, kissing spine and splints click here

It has been demonstrated in multiple studies that using a water treadmill increases the stride length of the horse. This is desirable because a long stride length is associated with increased range of movement, increased stabiliser muscle activity and improved co-ordination of prime mover muscles.

Hydrotherapy has been used by humans for many years. Whilst the water on an equine treadmill would have to be unrealistically deep to reduce the weight of the horse when a joint is submerged in water the water provides some support to that joint (most often the fetlock) whilst it is moving. The resistance of the water also increases the workload of the muscle(s) controlling the joint. Thus, meaning the muscles can be strengthened more via slower movements with less strain on the joint.

Further study is need to quantify but it is believed that the concussive forces are lower when walking on the water treadmill compared to a hard surface over ground. The water height can be adjusted, when necessary, in rehabilitation cases to assist with the rehabilitation of different limb joints.

Most horse owners can relate to a time when they have been told by the vet their horse is ready for hand walking and/or being ridden at walk for a long period of time.

This normally leads to the fear of: 1) Will my horse do something stupid and re-injure himself, followed by 2) Will I be visiting hospital again when I get deposited on the floor!

It is much safer and often hugely desirable in rehabilitation cases to have a horse in a controlled environment and if you’re horse isn’t ready for water we can walk them on a dry belt (flat or inclined!).

Over the years of treadmilling horses, we have had many clients remark, how much calmer and happier their horses are, during periods of rehabilitation if visiting the treadmill because they still get to go off their yard.

There have also been comments on, how much calmer they were about their first ridden trip away from their yard, post rehab. Regularly visiting us meant it wasn’t such an excitement to be loaded up and go off the yard.

It isn’t just rehabilitation cases that benefit from the variation in work. The vast majority of horses really do enjoy their work and for those who aren’t keen on the arena or those who have limited hacking it can be a great alternative (especially when it isn’t raining!). 

The treadmill water is cooled to approximately 5C. Therefore, as well as a great exercise session, each session cools the limbs, which is well known to reduce any inflammation.

We generally promote fetlock to mid cannon height water, however there are some occasions when a one off deeper cooling session maybe ideal:

1- If your horse has competed or galloped in the last few days and you feel it would benefit their limbs.

2- If your horse has some new heat or swelling in the limb AND the vet has OK’d the use of the water treadmill.