GET SET FOR SPRING WITH A HORSE WALKER

With Spring officially starting on March 20^th, 2025, and with the days getting brighter and longer, moods are now lifting – but what about your horse?

Over the past few months, your horse will have been wrapped up with a fluffy rug rather than feeling like an athlete, so now is the time to think about getting set for Spring and for the rest of 2025.

Cheval Liberté are proud to be the sole importers and distributors for Molenkoning horse walkers who have the official title of “the king of horse walkers”.

Molenkoning are a Dutch company who specialise in the design and manufacture of a stunning range of horse walkers and other equine health equipment – today MK have become the largest manufacturer of horse training walkers in Europe with thousands of references worldwide.

Introducing a horse walker into a current equestrian set-up might sound daunting but it is actually quite the opposite…it comes with so many benefits, and here we walk through just some of them.

Train with horse walkers – this is how to do it!

A horse walker is a commonly used and simple tool to provide your horses with sufficient exercise. When a horse stays in the stable all day or even in the pasture, it doesn’t naturally move enough.

When you make the horse exerciser part of your daily routine, the horse stays fit and healthy. In practice, we think that there are several reasons why you should use a horse walker:

• It provides a horse with enough exercise, even when it’s not possible to run freely due to diverse circumstances
• Horses can be trained extra with a horse walker
• Because a horse gets in better shape by using a horse walker, there is a significantly reduced chance of the horse getting injured
• When the horse is injured, the horse walker can be a controlled environment to let horses take the first steps

Why should you use a horse walker?

Now that we know more about the reasons for using a horse walker, let’s look at the benefits of horse walkers. In general, using a horse walker saves you time and gives your horse extra exercise, a true win-win situation. In addition, commonly mentioned benefits include:

• The horse walker serves as a tool for warming up and cooling down
• Efficiency: you can train multiple horses at the same time
• Improvement of the horses’ fitness and endurance
• It helps recovering injured horses

Benefits of the horse walker for the horse’s health (by body part):

Training with a horse walker has positive effects on the horse’s body parts. From organs to

• Bones: Strengthens bones, providing better defence against pathogenic and cancer cells
• Back: Better development of the muscles in the back
• Muscles: Keeps muscle cells healthier by improving blood flow and slowing down aging
• Lungs: Increases blood flow, improving oxygen supply and carbon dioxide removal
• Heart: strengthens heart muscles, improving efficiency, heart rate and blood pressure
• Brain: Increases blood flow, resulting in greater alertness and intellect
• Reflexes: Faster and better reflexes in the event of a misstep or impending fall
• Colic: Highly effective for prevention and healing

How to get a horse used to the horse walker

Our team of horse health experts at Cheval Liberté would like to offer you some advice on how to use the horse walker for the first time. Please note that these are only general recommendations and cannot be considered as the only way to use the horse walker. The trainer should monitor the horse’s reactions and adjust the training to the condition of each horse in the horse walker.

It is advisable to turn off the electric shock device during the first use of the horse walker. In the beginning, it is best to lead the horse with a rope. Walk alongside the horse for at least two rounds so that the horse becomes familiar with the machine, its dimensions, and the training method. When the horse feels comfortable with the walker, you can change the direction of rotation. This will help the horse learn what is happening. Take your time and continue walking with the horse for at least two more rounds. If possible, we recommend letting a horse that is already used to the horse walker serve as a role model for younger horses. The experienced horse can calm and lead the younger horses.

Results over time using a horse walker

After using the horse walker for some time, you will notice the following visible benefits of training.

Due to the extra movement the horse gets, you can see the following results over time:

• Character: Focused pace training, sometimes pushing horses to their limits
• Leg quality: Short and intense stimulation (interval training) improves bone tissue
• Coordination: Varied movements by applying different speeds
• Flexibility: Reduced stiffness
• Reflexes: Significant improvement in reflexes, reducing the risk of injury

Frequent exercise in a horse walker combined with optimal nutrition can achieve the following:

• Fewer health problems
• Significantly fewer leg and hoof problems
• Better muscle development, especially for the back muscles
• Improved flexibility and reflexes
• Considerably fewer injuries
• Less risk of ataxia (a disorder of the nervous system)
• 60% less chance of osteochondrosis dissecans
• Less risk of arthritis

Horse walker training programmess with a controlling panel

A horse walker can be manually operated, but also by a programmed computer box. This computer makes it possible to set pace and trot frequencies and lap times. This can create personalised training programmes that can improve the results of the training for your horse(s).

Horse Walkers – the ultimate addition to any livery and equine year

Today, horse walkers are an important part of all boarding stables, trading stables, stud farms, and also for private individuals at home.

Not only does Cheval Liberté offer world-class horse walkers from MK, Cheval Liberté  also offers world-class customer service, support and expertise .

Almost 90% of Cheval Liberté  customers build their walkers by themselves. The self-install walker includes an assembly kit with all the necessary “tools for success”! In about 2 to 3 hours your new MK walker will be ready!

So, don’t waste any more time, get Spring ready with an MK horse walker today.

To find out more or to even order your new MK horse walker from Cheval Liberté, call 01490 736323 today to speak with one of the Cheval Liberté horse health experts.