Water Treadmill

Our equine water treadmill offers your horse a whole range of benefits, from providing a great full-body workout to helping with rehab cases. At Howe Brook we take a safe, considered approach to aqua therapy to ensure each horse is calm, happy and gets the absolute most from their session. A minimum of two handlers are always present.

Talk to us to see how aqua therapy can be integrated into a training or rehabilitation programme for best results. You can expect to see increased range of movement, increased lumbar flexion, enhanced suppleness and muscle tone, better cardio-vascular fitness and an improvement in overall well-being.

Hydrotherapy is also fantastic for reducing swelling, stimulating circulation, and reducing any pain present. With some injuries, recovery time can be brought down by as much as 50-60%.

We do recommend that ‘new’ horses have a structured introductory period to get them used to the treadmill. Three short (up to 15 minute) sessions over three consecutive days is ideal, but we can of course adjust depending on your schedule. For the first session in particular, we always like to allow plenty of time.

In some cases, we habituate a nervous horse or rehab case with short dry sessions, progressing slowly to longer sessions, with increased water height. Our experienced therapists adapt the height of the water to the individual, tailoring sessions appropriately.

What Your Horse Gains from Aqua Therapy

Better performance, fitness, stamina

More muscle strength and tone

Increased flexibility and stride length

Reduced swelling and pain relief

Improved core strength

Targeted training of the back, resulting in enhanced lateral flexion

A boost to overall health and wellbeing

Part of the way aqua therapy works is by reducing weight bearing on the limbs to decrease impact and concussion, and promote greater range of motion. Working against the resistance of the water challenges the muscles for a highly-effective exercise session.

By adding salt, our equine therapists can also treat injuries such as tendon issues, promoting healing and reducing inflammation the natural way.

And when your horse is ready for more challenge, inclining the treadmill allows hill work to be incorporated into the session for optimum fitness.

Book a session online, or call us to discuss your needs.