Abstract
Simple SummaryWater treadmill exercise has become popular in recent years for the training and rehabilitation of equine athletes. Water treadmill exercise sessions can be tailored to the individual horse and the training/rehabilitation goals by altering the frequency, duration of exercise, water depth and belt speed. Recent work suggests that there are large variations in current modes of use between users, despite shared training or rehabilitation goals. In 2019, a group of researchers and experienced water treadmill users met in the UK to establish what was commonly considered to be best practice in the use of the modality. The result of these discussions was the production of ‘Water treadmill guidelines—a guide for users’, released in 2020 via various equestrian websites. The purpose of this article is to describe the development of these guidelines and propose them as a starting point for further collaboration between researchers and practitioners in the pursuit of ‘best practice’ in water treadmill exercise for horses.Water treadmill exercise has become popular in recent years for the training and rehabilitation of equine athletes. In 2019, an equine hydrotherapy working group was formed to establish what was commonly considered to be best practice in the use of the modality. This article describes the process by which general guidelines for the application of water treadmill exercise in training and rehabilitation programmes were produced by the working group. The guidelines describe the consensus reached to date on (1) the potential benefits of water treadmill exercise, (2) general good practice in water treadmill exercise, (3) introduction of horses to the exercise, (4) factors influencing selection of belt speed, water depth and duration of exercise, and (5) monitoring movement on the water treadmill. The long-term goal is to reach a consensus on the optimal use of the modality within a training or rehabilitation programme. Collaboration between clinicians, researchers and experienced users is needed to develop research programmes and further guidelines regarding the most appropriate application of the modality for specific veterinary conditions.
Highlights
Water treadmill exercise is increasingly being used as a routine part of the training of sport horses and racehorses, and more commonly proposed as a component of rehabilitation programmes [1]
Equine water treadmill exercise is firmly established as a popular form of cross training for competition horses and a useful form of exercise within equine rehabilitation programmes [10,11,12] due to beneficial effects of immersion, decreased impact shock [9]
All working group members described the tendency to experiment with the full range of speeds, water depths and, more recently, inclines offered by their particular water treadmill in their early experiences of the modality, but favouring ‘lower’ and ‘slower’ as experience was gained
Summary
Water treadmill exercise is increasingly being used as a routine part of the training of sport horses and racehorses, and more commonly proposed as a component of rehabilitation programmes [1]. In 2019, a group of water treadmill users began to discuss the imminent development of accredited qualifications in equine hydrotherapy in the United Kingdom which would incorporate the use of water treadmill exercise. This posed immediate questions about what constitutes best practice in water treadmill exercise and an ‘equine hydrotherapy working group’ was formed with input from invited international colleagues in an attempt to reach consensus on generic guidelines for water treadmill provision for horses. The working group members included researchers, academics, veterinary clinicians and practitioners, and combine those involved in generating the evidence relating to water treadmill exercise, those who are responsible for disseminating the research, and those who utilize it. Ensure skin and feet are allowed to fully dry between sessions especially if shod with pads or packing
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
