Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jan 26;11(2):305.
doi: 10.3390/ani11020305.

Consensus for the General Use of Equine Water Treadmills for Healthy Horses

Kathryn Nankervis  1 , Carolyne Tranquille  1 , Persephone McCrae  2 , Jessica York  3 , Morgan Lashley  4 , Matthias Baumann  5 , Melissa King  6 , Erin Sykes  7 , Jessica Lambourn  1 , Kerry-Anne Miskimmin  1 , Donna Allen  8 , Evelyne van Mol  9 , Shelley Brooks  10 , Tonya Willingham  11 , Sam Lacey  3 , Vanessa Hardy  12 , Julie Ellis  13 , Rachel Murray  14
Affiliations

Consensus for the General Use of Equine Water Treadmills for Healthy Horses

Kathryn Nankervis et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

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.

Keywords: equine; hydrotherapy; water treadmill.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Tranquille C., Tacey J.B., Walker V.A., Nankervis K., Murray R.C. International Survey of Equine Water Treadmills—Why, When, and How? J. Equine Vet. Sci. 2018;69:34–42. doi: 10.1016/j.jevs.2018.05.220. - DOI
    1. Greco-Otto P., Bond S., Sides R., Bayly W., Leguillette R. Conditioning equine athletes on water treadmills significantly improves peak oxygen consumption. Vet. Rec. 2020;186:250. doi: 10.1136/vr.104684. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mendez-Angulo J.L., Firshman A.M., Groschen D.M., Kieffer P.J., Trumble T.N. Effect of water depth on amount of flexion and extension of joints of the distal aspects of the limbs in healthy horses walking on an underwater treadmill. Am. J. Vet. Res. 2013;74:557–566. doi: 10.2460/ajvr.74.4.557. - DOI - PubMed
    1. McCrae P., Bradley M., Rolian C., Léguillette R. Water height modifies forelimb kinematics of horses during water treadmill exercise. Comp. Exerc. Physiol. 2021;17:91–98. doi: 10.3920/CEP200013. - DOI
    1. Mooij M., Jans W., Heijer G.D., De Pater M., Back W. Biomechanical responses of the back of riding horses to water treadmill exercise. Vet. J. 2013;198:e120–e123. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2013.09.045. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources