Do ride and drive horses 'wear out' quicker?

[Miss_Millie]

I might be viewing a native pony that is currently both ridden and driven. I'm just wondering if pulling carriages and carts causes more wear/strain to the legs than riding, and if therefore the horse is more likely to wear out quicker if it is both ridden and driven? I will only be riding myself, just wondering as the horse is already 13 years old so not super young by any means. I am looking for a horse that is established but don't want one that has been overworked. I don't know much about driving, I wonder if it is harder on the joints than riding though?

 

[Mule]

I think driving is physically easier on them than riding. Although if it's the type that would have been hammered on the roads then I'd be doubtful.

 

[Sossigpoker]

I'd be concerned about all that trotting on the roads.

 

[chaps89]

I think I’d come at it from the other angle - if the horse has reached 13 being ridden and driven and is still sound, I’d be pretty happy and fairly comfortable about soundness longevity.
Drivers also tend to be more bombproof in my (admittedly limited) experience which is another plus

 

[stangs]

It’s like any other discipline, it depends how they’ve been driven.

The ones I’m most wary of are standies/trotter types as I’ve rarely seen one being driven at a gentle pace.

 

[Miss_Millie]

Thanks for the advice everyone. The horse is a Section D. I would have any horse I bought vetted anyway but I've never viewed one which has been driven before so just wondering how/if that might impact their joints compared to being ridden.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

The last R&D we had pts lived to be 31

 

[I'm Dun]

I went to a talk once and they said that hocks are the thing most affected by driving, and its something I've always remembered. 13 is about the right sort of age for arthritis to start to be an issue, so I'd want the vet to pay close attention to the hind limbs.

 

[Miss_Millie]

I went to a talk once and they said that hocks are the thing most affected by driving, and its something I've always remembered. 13 is about the right sort of age for arthritis to start to be an issue, so I'd want the vet to pay close attention to the hind limbs.

That is great advice, thanks. I will definitely be getting any horse I buy 5 stage vetted. I will keep that in mind, should I like the look of this one upon viewing.

 

[Gloi]

I went to a talk once and they said that hocks are the thing most affected by driving, and its something I've always remembered. 13 is about the right sort of age for arthritis to start to be an issue, so I'd want the vet to pay close attention to the hind limbs.

My last ride and drive pony was still going until his teeth gave out at 30. He's 27 or so here and no, that's not me with the stick.

 

[SEL]

Have a good check around the fronts for any lumps that may indicate ringbone. The vet reckons being hammered on the roads in his early life might have caused it in one of mine.

 

[Equi]

I would say less. Driving uses their hind ends which is what most people riding wish to achieve...more horses should drive before they ride probably. But obviously the road work impacts will depend on how kind the drivers were to them.

 

[rabatsa]

I have had several driving ponies that have been happily working into their mid 20's. Like with riding horses a lot depends on what they have done and how early they have done it.

 

[Miss_Millie]

Have a good check around the fronts for any lumps that may indicate ringbone. The vet reckons being hammered on the roads in his early life might have caused it in one of mine.

I have just looked up ringbone, thank you, I hadn't heard of it before. No evidence of lumps in the photos but I will see in person if the viewing happens.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I'd be concerned about all that trotting on the roads.

Yes but just because we drive doesn't mean there is a lot of trotting, my welshy is barefoot

 

[Mule]

Yes but just because we drive doesn't mean there is a lot of trotting, my welshy is barefoot

Trotting barefoot is better if the horse can manage it. There isn't the same concussive forces that there is with shoes. Again though, I think a lot of it is whether it has been hammered at a trot or taken it handy.

 

[ester]

Like ridden it rather depends what type of driving as to how much strain we are talking.

As an aside you can do lots of trotting with a barefoot welshie , much rather do it bare

 

[Sossigpoker]

Trotting barefoot is better if the horse can manage it. There isn't the same concussive forces that there is with shoes. Again though, I think a lot of it is whether it has been hammered at a trot or taken it handy.

Actually the concussion forces are no less in the barefoot horse.
Trotting on the roads is bad for the joints.

 

[Sossigpoker]

And whether you "hammer" or trot gently makes no difference really as any trotting damages the joints through the concussive forces.

 

[Glitterandrainbows]

Find out if it’s always been driven in blinkers as once you take the blinkers of there a different horse obviously only applies if your counting on it been bombproof

 

[blitznbobs]

My ride and drive shetland lived til 44… nothing like driving to make a pony bomb proof…

 

[pistolpete]

I rode a carriage horse briefly in the summer. He does funerals etc. 24 and sound as a pound. Lipizzaner. Lovely horse. Also rode a Friesian same place he was 20 odd too! He was driven regularly for weddings funerals and proms. Lovely horses.

 

[ycbm]

Actually the concussion forces are no less in the barefoot horse.

If you attach a pound of steel to a long lever you will increase the force with which it hits the floor, surely?
.

 

[ycbm]

I think since they aren't ridden and driven at the same time (unless they're pulling a carriage with the queen in it), and it's less strain not to carry the weight of a rider, then unless they were broken at 2 and race down the roads, there will be less wear and tear on a ride and drive than a ridden that has done the same number of hours work.
.

 

[Sossigpoker]

If you attach a pound of steel to a long lever you will increase the force with which it hits the floor, surely?
.

There have been studies and being unshod makes no difference to the damage caused.

 

[pistolpete]

If you attach a pound of steel to a long lever you will increase the force with which it hits the floor, surely?
.

2016 Paper by David Marlin explaining quite a lot about this. Sorry too technophobic to attach.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

I would have thought that a barefoot horse would be better off as the foot and frog is free to do the job it was designed for whereas the shod hoof can't.

 

[ycbm]

2016 Paper by David Marlin explaining quite a lot about this. Sorry too technophobic to attach.

I'll try and find it, but if he managed to get a pressure monitor between the shoe and the foot or inside a horses joint while it's trotting I'd be very surprised. It wouldn't be the first bit of science he's got wrong.

Is a basic law of physics that if you attach a weight to the end of a long stick it will hit the ground harder, it's why we use hammers and mallets.
.

 

[ycbm]

There have been studies and being unshod makes no difference to the damage caused.

Damage to what? You can't see inside a foot or a joint.

Can anyone point me to the evidence?
.

 

[ycbm]

I found this on Facebook from 2016 from David Marlin.



The first sentence is correct but it omits the fact that if you shoe there is an additional pound of steel added to the mass of the leg, and leaves out the disproportionate effect of that at the end of a long lever.

Half way down he states that concussion is higher in a shod horse.