Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
So when a horse is ready to run
on the treadmill we bring them into the
treadmill room and we wrap their legs
with protective bandages or
we put protective boots on them.
They're led onto the treadmill by a handler
who is responsible for watching the horse
and holding the leader up the entire time
the horse is running.
I'm at the controls. I have a
lunge whip laid on the bar behind the horse.
We don't need to use the whip.
It's just there as a means of protecting them
if they decide to suddenly stop.
And then once we turn the treadmill on
the horses will progress at a walk
and we warm them up at a walk. And then
we'll get into some gentle trotting for several minutes.
And then once they're comfortable and warmed up
then we'll ask them to proceed at a higher speed,
or sometimes we'll incline the treadmill
and ask them to work up a slope.
But at all times it's really important
to make sure the operator has their hand over the emergency stop,
so that we can stop the treadmill immediately if we need to.
And that the handler is watching the horse,
making sure that they're running straight on
the treadmill. That they're not biting at
the sides, paying attention to things that
they shouldn't be paying attention to while they're running.