Now that my husband has been to his first horse show/fair and has seen the difference the extra exercise can make he has decided I can get a walker.  (I've only been wanting one for the past 5 yrs or so)  After talking to the judge he said that the only reason our filly took 3rd instead of 2nd was she wasn't as well muscled as the other filly. 

So now that I have "permission" to get a walker, where is the best place as far as quality and price for a simple 2 or 4 horse walker? 

If you are looking to add muscle volume you won't want a walker.  The top halter trainers use four wheelers to very quickly trot their horses in straight lines.  Walking does not add muscle, troting does.  But the best way to get muscle volume is with genetics.

The reason troting is best done in straight lines is so that both sides (muscles and bones) are worked equally.  (We all know working young horses in small circles for long periods of time day in and day out is a huge no-no!)

I wouldn't get a walker for the reason you posted above, but that is my two cents...

A 4 wheeler is out of the quiestion and I've been ponying but since I've started working I haven't had the time during daylight hours. Riding here after dark isn't safe.

 That is why we are looking at walkers.

I do not agree that walking can't help build muscle.  But I do agree that a walker will not build it correctly because (at least on the hot walkers I have seen), the horses walk too slow and without a rider, tend to drag their hind ends.  But a correct walk will absolutely build good muscle.  Hire a kid with a dressage background to walk your horse (preferably up and down hill)!  If not that, the best thing for building muscle safely is an exercise pool.  Think you can talk your husband into one of those?

   A pool for the horse?!  No chance! I can't even get one for the family much less a 4-H horse. And out here in no mans land your lucky to get a kid to go outside.  No dressage riders here.   

   The breeder I got my first mare from does a lot of halter showing and has a variable speed walker with reverse and uses it for her halter horses.

You do understand that halter horses don't have just "regular" muscle volume?  Think body builder, not ballerina.

I suggest you take some time to go visit some big trainers (the kind that show that horses you dream you horse looked like) and learn some techniques that you might find applicable in your situation.

Taking advice from so-so trainers leads to so-so halter horses, that's why when you go for advice you straight to the top!

I understand the difference.  I don't want a tank, just a way to get the horses more exercise than they are getting. 

When I was looking for someone to teach my daughter and horse I found that the only trainers around here are at the race track. 

Terri, I feel for you...NM is not know for having lots of "show" trainers.  Maybe there could be some help in Arizona?

When it comes right down to it you have to do what you have to do given the cards you are dealt.  Good luck with your walker.

I'll have to check into AZ.  Its takes almost as long to drive to the next city in NM as it does to get the the AZ border. 

A walker I've seen pictures of is in Tucson.  Its an older 4 horse and he wants $1,200 for it.  Any idea how heavy the base of those things are?