Water treadmill and spa therapy for horses is increasingly evidence-based — rehabilitation applications improve welfare outcomes for injured and post-surgical equine patients.
Equine hydrotherapy welfare value lies primarily in rehabilitation applications where it enables exercise during injury recovery that would otherwise require complete stall rest. Prolonged stall rest imposes significant welfare costs on horses — stereotypy development, muscle atrophy, and psychological stress from confinement. Aquatic treadmill rehabilitation that maintains appropriate loading and cardiovascular exercise while protecting healing structures addresses the rehabilitation welfare dilemma: enabling recovery without the welfare costs of complete immobility. The welfare case for aquatic rehabilitation investment is strongest when horses face prolonged recovery periods for tendon, ligament, or post-surgical conditions where maintaining fitness improves both welfare and long-term prognosis.