by Sheryl Hilton
Little S Ranch sits atop some light rolling hills five km northeast of Carstairs, AB. While the facility is visible from Highway 2, it isn’t obvious to the eye what actually goes on inside the 90 x 110 ft building.
Through the doors of this huge establishment are two rows of box stalls on either side of a long, narrow pool – yes, a pool as in an “equine treadmill pool.” Behind the box stalls is a sand ring with a hot walker and the area is further edged with larger, more open stalls.
Stacie Chisholm, owner and operator of Little S Ranch, is the only entrepreneur to offer a public equine treadmill pool in Canada. Chisholm learned of the system while she was attending school in Texas on a rodeo scholarship.
The equine treadmill was recommended to her when one of her best barrel racing horses went lame. After her horse swam for two weeks at the U.S. facility, Chisholm was amazed at the results and she also realized that there was no such method available to the public in her home country of Canada. With this in mind, her vision to build such a place began.
After searching for the best location, land was purchased in May 2006 and her vision became a reality. Little S Ranch was modelled exactly to the design of the facility where Chisholm had rehabilitated her own horse in Texas.
Her equine treadmill pool was purchased from Hydro Horse out of Oregon and installation was completed by November 2006. Along with supplying the full system and installation, Chishom and her assistant, Sarah Annett, spent a week of intense training learning how to run it successfully.
After the training, the pair then spent a few months experimenting with the system on their own horses before taking in customers. By January 2007 Little S Ranch opened its doors for business, with its official grand opening held at the end of February.
The equine treadmill pool is a system that allows horses to exercise on a treadmill submerged in 75 to 80 degree Fahrenheit water while being massaged by four whirlpool jets strategically placed on either side of the horses’ legs.
The water provides 40 to 45 per cent more buoyancy to the horses, which reduces joint stress, while the treadmill keeps control of where their legs are landing, eliminating the chance of injury in the water.
The treadmill pool is designed specifically for rehabilitation and conditioning. The majority of Chisholm’s current customer base is the conditioning of horses from all sorts of disciplines ranging from reining, barrel racing, rodeo to dressage and jumping.
The system allows horses to build up their strength and stamina while the reduction in weight in combination with more resistance from the water builds up their bone density while at the same time relaxing and rejuvenating them.
For rehabilitation, the system is designed for injuries such as pulled tendons and ligaments, fractures, foot problems, as well as neck, wither, and back trauma.
In the first two months of operation, Chisholm had the opportunity to work with a racehorse whose career was all but over. After the horse swam for one month in the treadmill pool, it is now preparing to race again this May.
Chisholm also tested her new business on her own mare that had been lame for over a year. Three different veterinarians had examined the mare and she was in so much pain that Chisholm was considering putting her down. However, after a full month rehabilitating in the pool, the mare now has her shoes back on and is ready to start being ridden again.
The typical day at Little S Ranch begins for the horses on a hot walker, while their stalls are cleaned. Then each horse takes their turn in the pool, then back to more walking, and finally back to their stalls for some rest.
Chisholm finds that owners are very surprised by how relaxed their horses are to the environment and the treadmill pool in particular. “They go in once and they love it from there,” she says.
The treadmill experience starts out for horses at four minutes of walking and slowly builds up to no more than 15 minutes of trotting per day.
With all of the hard work that has gone into Little S Ranch, Chisholm is very excited to see her barn three-quarters full. She plans to expand her customer base further and add a few more staff to the payroll in the months to come.
At the end of the day, Chisholm knows that some horses have problems that can never be fixed, but her treadmill pool aids in 98 per cent of all cases. Of course, there will always be skeptics when it comes to the introduction of new techniques, but Chisholm is inspired by the horses that leave her ranch changed for the better in body, mind, and spirit.
Little S Ranch charges $250 per week with a minimum stay of two weeks. For more information on the equine treadmill pool, you can contact Stacie Chisholm at (403) 990-0537.
