Do you trot your horses on the road??

I have to trot on roads if I want to trot around here really! Our hacking is very road based. I only trot slowly and only uphill and never for ages. Essential fittening work with our limited off road hacking! Would rather not but no choice really. Won't trot youngster on roads for a couple of years yet tho! Let his legs harden up
a bit first from lots of walking.
 
I trot mine on roads and uphill. Never had any problems and I was under the impression (from knowlegeable sources) that it strengthens the legs and joints (in moderation of course). I think problems would arise if your horse was not accustomed to it and you started trotting lengthy distances on tarmac.
 
Yes but at a steady gentle trot. If a horse can't cope with gentle trotting on hard roads, then I do wonder at how sound they truely are and what happens if they go into the show ring and have to trot and then canter on the hard ground we are having?

I am keeping Stinky's showing to one or two classes and only take him out once or twice a month at the moment due to the ground and on the go round I am taking the trot and canter steadily, and he is coping fine.

I have done this with all my horses over the years and they have gone into their mid and late 20s, and even their 30s with the ponies still working and sound, apart from Cairo who made it to 19 before starting to get OAP problems, but 19 for a heavy horse is getting on compared to other breeds.

However, I do avoid trotting etc on rutted ground and take things very carefully on heavy soft going as I feel this is more of a problem than hard ground as soft wet ground is very hard work on the tendons.
 
I do trot on the roads, I had a mare with Navicular that I wouldn't let trot on the roads and it was so boring hacking her out and impossible to 'push' her to get her fitter.

I trot at a steady pace and usually uphill, I only have two places to canter my (porky) horse and lots of uneven stoney tracks so I think in my case if I didn't trot on the road every hack would take hours and be very boring and I'd have a very unfit horse
 
Yes I do, particularly i crossing at a busy junction. Cars around here are not always driven by people with a great deal of horse sense so I tend to want to get across roads as quickly as possible. I've never had any problems with lameness, splints, windgalls etc.
 
Yes always have done, lane is narrow and we have to get a wiggle on with traffic etc, always do a steady trot and always uphill of which there are a few in said lane, paths are not too bad not rutted at all. All things in moderation though.
 
cobface said:
I try not too, but if am going round a bend or need to pull into a passing place then i will :)
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Ditto this, nothing worse than on a long road with no passing place or grass verge and a car is waiting behind you; you have no choice but to trot!

I know this is a bit off topic, but my farrier said trotting on the road for a bit will tighten a slightly loose shoe :confused:
 
Yes, on the flat or uphill. At a controlled, balanced trot. I see some people hairing along downhill, horses legs flying everywhere, and that makes me cringe. I don't do a lot, but I think a certain amount must be quite good for legs.
 
Wow I am suprised at how many of you don't trot on the roads. Its very good for strengthening bones. I would be working my horses on the roads to get them competition fit. Concussion isn't all bad, a small amount of stress to the bones is needed to cause remodelling and therefore strengthening. The problems come when people over do it. But honestly, road work is good, and in my opinion work some work on a hard surface goes a long way to keeping a horse sound.
 
yup no school so if I worried too much about ground we would only be walking at the moment, not great for keeping weight of welshies. I have conceded to no proper fast work, only bouncy canters allowed but its all swings and roundabouts isn't it.

eta I know more horses with problems who only do drsg and rarely leave the school than those who work on a variety of surfaces.
 
Yes I do. I think you might get more injuries trotting in a field where the ground is rutted than on a road.

In Warwickshire I had to mainly do roadwork anyway but now i'm up in Aberdeenshire there is far more offroad hacking so i'm looking forward to doing lots when my new horse arrives.
 
Yes I do - as advised by my vet and trainer!! My mare had a tear to her DDFT approx 1 year. Trot work uphill and on a good surface was part of her rehab and the advice was that it will strengthen her legs, that being tendons, ligaments and bones. Shes never been fitter and is doing so well. A lot of leg problems are apparently due to horses not doing enough roadwork and too much work in the schools. My mare is shod in eggbars for support, she wouldnt be able to cope without shoes atall. Im very proud of how shes got over her injury and all the box rest she endured. Shes now turned out 24/7 and is a very happy horse.
 
I have always trotted on the roads, on the flat or uphill at a steady pace. I have always done so and the horses have never had any problems. So long as it is steady and trot work is built up gradually then I see no problem.

I have also been told by some vets that more injuries occur in horses that do too much school work and not enough roadwork, than those that are the opposite. I do not have a school and trotting on roads to me is an important part of fittening work, especially for hunting.
 
I used to own a very slow cob gelding when I was younger, he had a very slow walk and being the speed freak i was, i would hammer trott him for minutes on end along flat/hilly whatever roads just to get home quicker!. I cringe at this now, he was only 5.

Now, I tend to go for very short bursts of trotting half way through the hack, not necessrily for fittening purposes, more for getting my pony to listen to me and schooling her.

My old 'bible' of a book 'Getting Horses Fit' by Sarah Pilliner states that trott work should always be carried out up a hill, preferably to minimise wear on the fore legs and to exercise the cardiovascular system.
 
never,unless unavoidable.
mine are not shod so no risk of slipping but i cringe at what it must do to their legs.
steady walking only for mine, and no, iv never had a tendon or ligament issue (save one horse that had a field accident).
 
jessicabeau1 said:
No I dont due to the fact Ted has collateral ligament damage!
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my horse had collateral ligament damage and small periods of trot starting at a minute building up to 5 minutes over 8 weeks which took place after 8 weeks walking. ( this took place later in his re-hab program) was a planned and necessary treatment as ligaments need the steady regular - stress/impact - can't think of the correct work !!? in order for the ligaments to strengthen. it had to be on nice even tarmac. 3 years on my horse is still sound.
 
Yes in moderation. Had my old boy 14 years and never a day's trouble. Current horse has had foot problems but that was conformational rather than a concussion issue. He's sound now with remedial shoeing, still gets trotted on roads and hasn't been lame again since he came sound last October.

A friend of mine is extremely cautious, hardly ever hacks and when she does, never trots on roads or any ground that isn't perfect.She spends a lot of time goign round in circles in the school instead. Her 7 yr old has just been diagnosed with ringbone, sidebone and changes to the navicular bone. 7 years ago her 9 year old had to be retired with very similar problems and was put to sleep 3 years later as she couldn't get herself out of trouble in the field and was being bullied really badly. It could just be a coincidence, but I think that going round in circles too often even on a good surface is just as bad, if not worse than trotting on roads.
 
Yes I do, don’t get much choice out hunting. We have always trotted on the roads and never had any problems. But then we don’t have delicate types.
 
I have a horse with DJD in one of his hind legs. I don't feel happy at all about the possibility of trotting on the roads with him, hence I avoid it unless I need to get to a place where a car can safely pass.
I'd have to think about trotting any other horse on the road - I don't think I'd feel happy doing it. I understand how people would trot on the roads for horse fitness purposes though.
 
Yes, but never too fast.

I heard of some research that kept foals till a year old, treating some with being utterly pampered and never worked on roads etc, and others that were trotted in hand on the road, and treated much more roughly.

They then put the foals down, and when they inspected the ligaments and tendons, the 'pampered' ones ligaments and tendons were far weaker and more susceptible to damage than the ones who hadn't been treated so carefully. They had grown stronger, tougher, and showed far less beginning signs of damage.

I'm afraid I don't know any more about that research, it's just what an instructor told me she had read, but it makes sense to me. However, I would always do it in moderation.
 
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