All the Queen’s horses get giant equine treadmill
... and she’ll be saddled with £130k bill
SHE’S one of Britain’s most successful racehorse owners and, even at 90, the Queen delights in cheering on her stable of thoroughbreds.
And Her Majesty is so determined to keep them in tip-top condition that she is spending £130,000 on the UK’s largest automatic horse-walker at her stud farm in Sandringham.
The device – a treadmill for horses – will allow just one member of staff to exercise up to 18 horses at the same time on a 330ft-long ovalshaped enclosed track. The yard’s existing walker can accommodate only six horses.
The treadmill is divided into compartments that individual horses can be put into. Barriers hang from an overhead rail and move at a selected speed, forcing horses to walk or trot to keep pace so that they exercise themselves without carrying riders.
Horse-lovers on the Horse And Hound website forum have described walkers as an ‘invaluable’ aid to help animals warm up and cool down before and after rides. They also allow injured horses to be exercised safely. But others criticise the structures for being ‘tedious’ and ‘boring’ for horses.
Dene Stansall, Animal Aid horse consultant and equine business lecturer, said: ‘The use of these automatic horse-trainers is not in the interests of the horse. It’s like being put on a human treadmill in a gym, but we can control that and stop when we want. The horse has no control.’
Jessica Stark, spokeswoman for the World Horse Welfare charity based at Snetterton, Norfolk, whose president is Princess Anne, said: ‘We use walkers at all four of our centres. We do not consider them cruel. They help control a horse’s weight and build its condition.’
The world’s biggest oval horsewalker is at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. It has a circumference of 430ft and can accommodate 20 horses.
As an owner, the Queen has won more than 1,700 races, including every UK classic with the exception of the Derby. She is still seen riding at Sandringham and Windsor, shunning a hard safety hat and instead wearing one of her trademark headscarves to keep her hair in shape.
The details of the new unit are contained in a planning application lodged with King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Council.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: ‘The Queen is aware of the proposal for a new horse-walker at the Royal Studs in Norfolk.’