In the wild, horses travel around 30 miles daily, grazing and drinking (EquiMed, 2017). For horses that live in a facility, sun pens and mechanical walkers (such as a Eurowalker) can help achieve well-rounded daily exercise in addition to riding and lunging. The Shea Center has a new five-slot covered Eurowalker. Depending on the horse’s individualized exercise program, each horse walks in the Eurowalker 1-2 times daily for 30–45-minute sessions. Having access to a Eurowalker allows multiple horses at the same time to stretch their legs, warm up for a ride, cool down from exercise, and gain additional movement 365 days a year.

Our staff attached a pedometer (step-counting device) to count the number of steps a horse takes in the Eurowalker. We found that during a 30-minute Eurowalker session, our horses walk approximately 3,400 steps, equivalent to 1.5-2 miles.

Daily exercise helps improve horse bone strength, lung health, overall immune system health, and tendon and ligament strength, among other things (EquiMed, 2017). Daily movement also helps promote soundness and benefits the horse’s mental health.

EquiMed Staff. (2017). Daily exercise for your horse. EquiMed. https://www.equimed.com/health-centers/general-care/articles/daily-exercise-for-your-horse.