It’s a rainy Sunday and we have to wait for WEG SJ so…
Let’s talk about xc fitness. I just read Hawley’s comment on using a water treadmill for Jollybo, calling it a “game changer” for her fitness.
I know virtually nothing about these treadmills. I’ve heard that treadmills aren’t all that great for people, but it seems like that isn’t the case for horses?
I used one with my older eventer about 3-4, and it really helped with his topline and fitness. He had ringbone, so the low impact was important. We also didn’t have any hills, so I was hoping that the water treadmill would help along those lines, too. We only went once a week/every other week for about three months, but it made a huge difference as we got ready for our T3DE.
The day of our T3DE, my horse tore his high rear suspensory ligament. Once we were cleared to ride again, after about 9 months, the water treadmill helped us get in shape again, and we competed another two years at Novice before he had to retire.
That’s really interesting. The resistance from the water is key, I take it? Wonder if this is something we should be incorporating more broadly into horse fitness. Particularly for younger horses perhaps? Allow them to build cardio without damaging still developing limbs? I read conditioning sport horses by Hilary Clayton sometime ago. IIRC, fitness work in young horses helps their peak fitness levels at adulthood. The tricky part is not overdoing to the point you get injuries. Maybe water work would help with walking that fine line. Do wonder what the horses are thinking when they are put into these tanks though lol. “Crazy human is trying to drown me again!”
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Might help with having to jump up a waterfall too 
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I’ve used a regular horse treadmill ( no water) which are more common. Almost just as good. I think most horses take to the water treadmills fairly well since they get loaded- walked on to the treadmill and then the water is turned on. Oppose to swimming where they walk into the “tank” of water and they have to start swimming.
P.
I did see Hawley’s FB posts on using the treadmill and I think it’s a wonderful idea. Fitness without concussion and everything that can bring.
Honest question - do you think the water treadmill had anything to do with the suspensory tear?
With everything, I think it is good in careful moderation. Horses can still get injured or tear ligaments/tendons from doing water-work. I don’t think it is as uncommon as people initially suspect. The horse is still working in a highly resistant surface; other highly resistant surfaces like mud, deep footing, and sand cause tendon + ligament stress or injury.
A comment I have heard many times about water treadmills is that it can increase the risk of a horse being backsore. It sounds like it is one of those things that requires judicial application and continual bodywork.
My own horses aren’t spoiled enough for a water treadmill, and my wallet isn’t deep enough. I used a lake (actual swimming, not wading) with good success on a stifle rehab, and later, for some extra conditioning work for a T/P eventer.
This summer I used one for my horse. I took him up there 6 times, once a week. I thought it was great conditioning without the concussion on the hard ground. My horse is larger boned and nearly 17H so anytime I can save his legs I’m all for it. I loved the results. Oddly, I noticed my horse went a lot straighter after it, which was a huge positive. I think being in the treadmill he was physically forced to keep his body straight and couldn’t contort himself like how he can undersaddle. If you have access to one, I highly recommend it!
Absolutely not. I know exactly when it happened. We lived in Lubbock, and we did our trot/canter sets on the edge of cotton fields…and one had been recently plowed, resulting in some deep footing in the corner. I felt it happen. 
My horse was in the best shape of his life. It was just bad footing at a turn.
They are becoming increasingly popular here in the UK and I have a friend who is a registered Vet Physio who is in the middle of opening up a big therapy referral centre.
Her view is that water therapy definitely has a place in both rehab and in general fittening for sport. But crucially it also has the potential to create or increase the potential for damage.
Water height is critical as it can change limb biomechanics too much if overdone.
too heavy a reliance also runs the risk of the horse being muscularly and cardiovascular fit but with the limb structures not adequately conditioned.
friend has chosen to install a large oval water horsewalker instead of a water treadmill as she feels that the forward movement that the horses generate themselves is more beneficial than the artificial pull/resistance of a treadmill.
overall - yes very beneficial when done as part of a wider programme and with an operator that really knows what they are doing
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I also went to the Aquatread (with @ndirish07) and loved the results. I was able to keep my horse fit while it was stupid hot outside and the aquatread really does require them to be straight in their bodies and step evenly underneath themselves. So it addresses any lopsidedness they might have.
My horse is a 17.3H draft cross and the aquatread is down at a local race training facility. It was so amusing to roll up on Saturdays with our giant horses - every single person that worked there came out to see “the big horses”. :lol:
That does sound awful. :no:
In general we know, from a physiology standpoint, there is no such thing as a freak-accident when it comes to a catastrophic failure of bone, or tendon/ligament structure (barring, of course, the obvious – outside physical or blunt trauma like something falling on you, etc). This is proven, by studies done on race-horses.
Meaning, it’s widely accepted and believed that the failure of a structure is usually the result of “microcracks” (in other words, micro-strains, stresses, micro-injury) already being present in the structure and something comes along and, simply tips the strain into a full rupture, or break, or fracture.
A good (yet tragic) example would be Boyd Martin’s Crackerjack, who had a catastrophic limb failure at what should have been a fairly simple and routine change of footing.
I don’t think at this point there is enough knowledge about how water treadmills impact a horse’s body overtime, to know for certain whether it is largely beneficial to a horse that is already in work and not just rehabbing from a soft tissue injury. As another poster stated, the water height, and even the current and resistance, is critical to whether or not the loading is appropriate or inappropriate for the horse. In any event most people are not trained or educated enough to be able to adequately prescribe an appropriate work-out needed – certainly it is something only a highly trained expert could weigh in on.
This is not me poking a hole in your fitness regime by any means - just me musing outloud, on some of the pitfalls I have observed with the practice of using a water-treadmill.
In general, soft tissues abhor repetition when it comes to resistance forces. To me, it seems something that should be studied more in-depth (especially 6-12months down the road after use) before it is casually prescribed to a horse in full, competitive work.
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http://gailwilliams.co.uk/equine-water-treadmills-banned/
I found this interesting when I was researching water treadmills last year. The full version of the article at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0737080616303719 was also worth reading.
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Interesting. So would pulling a tendon after stepping in a hole fall into this category? What about slipping down hill in mud?
I used a aquatred for my Arab-cross one winter. He got 6 sessions over the course of about 3 weeks. The individual that owns the tredmill is also his massage therapist and saddle fitter. He has a bit of an unfortunate conformation in that he has a low back almost sway backed. Therefore swimming would not be appropriate for him since horse raise their head to swim. We wanted to encourage him to stretch more down and forward. He was very differently muscled left versus right sides. The use of the aquatred was to help him become more symetrical in his muscling. It worked very well for him.
I had another horse that had a high hind suspensory tear. In his case part of the top had advulsed off of the bone. The vet recommended aquatred and specifically did not want him swimming. She stated horses with a hind suspensory tear can easily reinjure it when they are swimming as some of the horse kick out powerfully with the hind legs and can overstretch tendons and ligaments before they are fully healed. I was not able to afford to aquatred him so we rehabbed him a different way. He never did come back from that injury.
Any idea what one of them costs? I’ve been rehabbing my dogs torn ACL on the dog size, and it’s been fantastic. The person doing the rehab also has an equine version.
I believe the dog one is around $10,000 and the equine version &100,000.
FYI, for our dog who had a soft tissue injury, caused by an injury to a growth plate that she received as a pup, we bought a 15’ round pool, around 36" deep. We only filled it to the height she uses in the water treadmill and we walk her in it. It worked out really good for us, and the woman that owns the rehab center told me I should set it up for her every year and use it to keep her strong.
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I’ve heard nothing but good things about them for building up topline… my guy has a not-so-awesome back and I’d kill to have one available in N. Virginia!
