Do you trot your shod horse...

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Megibo

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on the road?

Just wondering as I have a mare who's been barefoot for years but never quite comfortable in front and am debating putting front shoes back on, just worried about concussion etc as she's 14 now.
 
Yes I do and have no problems, though I only do say 10-15 strides at a time wiht pretty long breaks in between at walk on the roads as I also think the concussion would be pretty bad if they were trotted on the road quite hard and for a while.
 
Yes I do. I like hacking for fittening work and its impossible where i live to not trot on the roads. I am just careful to keep him balanced and trot in a steady rhythm.
I have also always trotted previous horses on the roads, whilst trying to get them hunting fit etc. never had a problem with soundness.

I have heard vets say thats its not great for their legs however, so go with caution.
 
I used to - before barefoot, but never for very long periods. The owner of the big chap that I ride at the moment blames his hoof and leg problems on too much trotting on the road and hard ground when he was younger. Fortunately the damage isn't so bad that he can't be ridden, but he is confined to hacking, gentle schooling and the occasional pop over a very low pole.
 
I used to do, for miles, both under saddle and in harness. He is now in boots and we still do the same. He's in his mid 20s now and has never had any lameness problems except occasional injuries caused by fighting.
 
Yes, but had to be careful of speed as pony used to slip ever so slightly occasionally if he sped up. But successfully did 15mile rides with roadwork, hacking etc when both shod and barefoot.
 
Yes and occasionally canter on road out hunting, I let him choose if he wants to extended trot or canter if going at pace on roads as long as safe to do so.
 
my horse refuses to walk, so even if I didn't want her trotting on the road, I wouldn't have a choice! but she's always been fine, made it to the grand old age of 28 and has been lame once in 13yrs, from charging around in the mud! she also chucked me on the floor once and tried to gallop home down country lanes for about 5 miles and still was fine

but would judge each horse on there own!
 
I've done the whole lot with mine! He did have a full set as a 5 year old and was fine trotting in them, as Spot_On said though, he used to slip if he went too quickly, got road nails put in and he was fine, had backs taken off as an 11 year old and he was fine trotting on roads as well. Now he's been unshod for 9 months as a 14 year old and is quite happy along the very limited roadwork we do and happy along stony tracks. Your farier should be able to tell you I'd imagine? I've had the same one the whole time through and he's brutally honest about feet and definitely knows his stuff! I guess it depends on how much hacking and trotting on roads you do which would make the decision - no harm in trying hoof boots though!
 
Used to a lot but after a break from shoes for 18 months (she has fronts in again now due to cracking and slipping) I can't stand the thought of that metal slamming the Tarmac - makes me wince so we only trot on roads when need to. Hate the slipping aspect too.
 
Yes. Both of mine trot regularly on the road without problems. I tend to keep them in a steady trot when possible, although my Hunter has a cracking trot on him and often has other ideas!
 
Yes I trot my shod horse on roads but ONLY EVER uphill. I like to think this way I get all the benefits, that is, of hardening the tendons and ligaments, but with less concussion? Probs not scientifically right, but it just makes sense to me!
 
Yes I do, always have with no issues. Also like other posters have said my horse will canter on road out hunting. I think these days there's so much people think you shouldn't be doing that they'll soon be saying you shouldn't ride at all!! Not meaning you OP just in general! :-)
 
I had an interesting chat with my farrier one day, and he said that actually walking on the roads wore down shoes and feet quicker than trotting. When trotting, you have a moment of suspension, an then both impacting feet land at once with the joints bending to absorb concussion. In walk, each foot lands alone, with no joint bending shock absorption. Plus you have more strides of walk for the same distance. So a horse striding out in walk on the way home wears his feet much quicker than one at a steady trot. When I thought about it, the physics makes sense - and the proof came when I stopped always walking my horse on the road, and built up the trotting to the point where he mostly trots on the roads now, his shoes haven't worn nearly so much!! It still applies that hammering them along the road isn't good for joints, and you have to harden tendons to road work, but purely the foot wearing actually trotting is better.
 
khalswitz said:
I had an interesting chat with my farrier one day, and he said that actually walking on the roads wore down shoes and feet quicker than trotting. When trotting, you have a moment of suspension, an then both impacting feet land at once with the joints bending to absorb concussion. In walk, each foot lands alone, with no joint bending shock absorption. Plus you have more strides of walk for the same distance. So a horse striding out in walk on the way home wears his feet much quicker than one at a steady trot. When I thought about it, the physics makes sense - and the proof came when I stopped always walking my horse on the road, and built up the trotting to the point where he mostly trots on the roads now, his shoes haven't worn nearly so much!! It still applies that hammering them along the road isn't good for joints, and you have to harden tendons to road work, but purely the foot wearing actually trotting is better.
Click to expand...

In trot the shoe is taking twice the load so it will even out the difference .
 
Goldenstar said:
In trot the shoe is taking twice the load so it will even out the difference .
Click to expand...

BUT, the force applied by the foot hitting the road is reduced in trot by the bending of the joints, acting as an opposing upwards force prior to impact, reducing impact force, therefore despite extra weight i.e. force, the impact in trot is significantly less than twice the force of a step in walk. Average that out over lots of steps and trot is significantly less wearing on the shoes. More wearing on the joints, as they work harder to reduce impact force, but much less so on feet.

I did try to prove my farrier wrong, because he's one of those annoying people who always has to be right, and I didn't believe him for a minute - went and asked my biomechanics supervisor while I was still at vet school about the problem, and he said that actually, he was right... but he stressed that you couldn't necessarily quantify the additional pressure on the joints, you could only quantify the wear on the feet. And then of course we tried it out in practice and it made a huge difference in the wear on my horse's feet - however we do miles of roadwork every week so if you were going to notice it it would be his feet!
 
I'd never trot on the road, and cant believe some people canter on it - having had a pony bolt with me when I was a kid and sliding over and skidding down the road, its surprising how slippy tarmac is. Trotting with shoes on IMO is very concussive. I'd trot on grass verges but not on the road itself.
 
Of course I do and always have. I ensure that the mare is balanced, but I do that where ever we are. I have always done this and had horses working into their thirties with no lameness issues.
 
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