Do you trot your horses on the road??

I do....always have.....I would rather trot on a flat road than a rutted hard bridleway....

Admittedly I have cobby horses, but I have never had troubles with splints, windgalls, tendons, ligaments or anything similar.....
 
It depends if your horse wears shoes i feel. A shod hoof will be getting a lot more concusion on the roads, so trotting a lot might cause damage to the hoof and legs. A barehoof wont have the same concusion effect of the shoes and will be far better at dissipating the impact. So i do trot my barefoot horses on the roads, but not a lot. If i needed to do a lot of trotting on the roads they would wear hoof boots to help absorb impact and so the foot doesnt wear excessively.
 
Yes but none of the high level dressage riders on my yard do, dont want to risk damage to their legs! Not sure how much trotting, etc is the right amount or whether all trotting on roads cause problems but I nearly always trot up hills, part of keeping him in trim.
 
Very very rarely. The only time i did was teaching my youngster to trot as i was told trotting uphill was best for getting them balanced and where they were when i was breaking her had no decent bridlepaths, but i did very short trots with her. Im lucky that where i am now i am spoilt for choice with bridlepaths, so i only walk on the roads (unless i have to get out of the way of a large vehicle quickly) and trot on the bridle paths.

Im just really OTT with worrying about my horses legs lol. I wont even trot them on bridlepaths while the ground is hard, i only hack them so i see no need for it, im happier just having a nice, relaxing walk.
 
Never - my horse can't trot! Ha ha!

But he can tölt so yes I do that or pace sometimes! He wears shoes and is absolutely fine. We don't do it for miles and miles but the occasional short burst is fine for us. :)
 
I try not to. I very rarely do it when we're on our own, as I really hate the concussive feel, and believe it's bad for their legs. I do sometimes when riding in company though, but I don't enjoy it.
 
Nope very rarely. I used to until my horse chipped his navicular bone (not caused by road though) so now i would only ever trot to move out of the way of a car or sometimes up a hill or two. But i would happly trot any other horse on the road as long as it didnt have a foot/leg problem
 
Well I don't much now, but as another said would rather trot on a level road than a rutted bridlepath at the moment.

In the old days I used to trot my horse on the road, building up gradually, to get him fit for hunting. He was the soundest horse ever, and was still being ridden at 32 and hunted till he was 29.
 
Yes, both shod and unshod. But always a balanced trot, never allowing them to hammer along. We have never had any damage to legs from roadwork and have kept horses working well into their 20s and 30s.
 
I do, IMO the ground round here off road is no better than the roads at the moment and the road offers a more level consistent surface. Interestingly when T did his suspensory the vet recommended roadwork to stretch his liagments properly after his rehab and he told me to hand walk him too on tarmac before I got back on him. I have not cantered out on a ride for around 3 months now and can't believe there are some people round here that are cantering on the verges - they are rock hard.
 
For people who don't trot on the roads, how on earth do you get your horses fit? Genuinely curious, do you just walk everywhere or are you in the school more than out hacking?
 
Yes - only on the flat or uphill, only slowly and only for brief periods. Nothing worse than watching people hammering their horses along the roads.
 
Laafet said:
I do, IMO the ground round here off road is no better than the roads at the moment and the road offers a more level consistent surface. Interestingly when T did his suspensory the vet recommended roadwork to stretch his liagments properly after his rehab and he told me to hand walk him too on tarmac before I got back on him. I have not cantered out on a ride for around 3 months now and can't believe there are some people round here that are cantering on the verges - they are rock hard.
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Ditto this completely.

Someone said to me the other day that they have stopped trotting their horse on the road because it 'gives them navicular disease'.

My vet has always recommended sensibley controlled roadwork to strengthen legs etc
 
Yes i do but generally only in short bursts and in a nice balanced trot. I have always trotted on the roads and see no harm in it if done in monderation.

I have also cantered on the roads out hunting....rather a nice canter than a horrible unblanced trot imo
 
i do a bit but try to not do too much and keep a steady pace - i generally trot on tracks - which are often hardcore and mud! so a little softer
 
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