How dangerous is galloping?

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Dumbo

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Particularly an unfit horse...

A lady I ride with suggested I take my horse to the local all weather gallops to let off some steam.
He's been stabled for about 23 hours a day for the past 3/4 weeks and at the weekend I really noticed it's effect as he was very bolshy on the ground and attempted to drag me up to the field! He was fine to ride though and we had our first canter in open space which he benefited from (he was at an inner city yard for 9 years before coming to me, so hasn't seen much of the countryside!).

I would love to take him for a good gallop but have read that 'some horses gallop themselves to death' and now thinking that it's not such a good idea when my boy is still fairly unfit? :confused:

Am I being overly cautious, worrying about the unlikely or should I wait until next spring when he's in better condition?
 
I would like to know if you can gallop a horse to death too. My girl is quite fit but loves to gallop, I only do it for short bursts as I'm worried she would rather drop dead than slow up :eek:
 
If he is unfit galloping will put him at risk from pulling a tendon or straining himself generally, the adrenalin can make them overdo their capabilities, build up his fitness in general, plenty of controlled cantering before allowing him to really gallop, you can canter on the gallops or even a good trot for some variety.
More time out will be good for him, plenty of proper schooling should keep him interested if you are restricted to mainly school work there is a lot you can do to vary his work.
 
webble said:
why is he stabled for 23 hours? What work is he doing?
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The fields are still really wet. He was in 24/7 but I kicked up a bit of a fuss (10 other horses were out so I felt it was unfair) so now he gets about an hour to graze + an hour exercise on certain days.
He is doing hacking mainly, approximately an hour, walk mostly with a couple of short trots but will start cantering out more often. He is ridden mon,tues, wed and alternate weekends.
 
If you can I'd give turnout. That's more likely to release the excess energy
Galloping an unfit horse is risking tendons, ligaments and resp damage.
You could always go and just do trot and canter work though.
 
I certainly wouldnt gallop an unfit horse. Far too risky for tendons/muscles in my opinion. I love a good gallop on my girl in the summer but in summer I keep her fit and I always warm her up at walk,trot and canter b4 hand (and cool off obviously)
 
Id be reluctant to gallop under your circumstances... Perhaps someone else can post it because I can't remember the link but there's a fantastic program about horses, during which they show you the kind of strain your horses tendons are under during a gallop and what actually happens when the tendon snaps... Very graphic and very interesting, I'm not against galloping per say, but I wouldn't want to gallop an unfit horse in light work that's stabled 23 hrs a day.

As a side note op, did you have a chat with your yo and get the whole livery bill thing sorted out?
 
It depends on the horse's fitness and the duration of fast work, but as others have said, damage to tendons or muscles is a possibility, as is tying up, Thumps and Exercise Induced Pulmonary hemorrhage (nose bleed).

It's doubtful going for a gallop will kill your horse as he'll slow down before it got to that stage unless you kept him going or if he was in flight mode, but even then, it would be very rare.

If you horse is stabled for 23 hours a day and unfit, increase his fitness first and when you do gallop, warm him up before and after and have fun.
 
Ok, thanks for everyone's opinions.. I'll wait until he's in better condition next spring/summer :)

The_Snow_Queen said:
As a side note op, did you have a chat with your yo and get the whole livery bill thing sorted out?
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My Dad has very kindly agreed to cover this bill, we'll go halves for the next 3 months then as of March my horse is going out and won't come in until October at the earliest (and bad weather) so I will cover the bills onwards. I will hopefully have a job by then so it will all be more affordable. My Dad is a saint! :D
 
Echo the other posts. I would build up to galloping slowly over next few months. Introducing canter work slowly and building up to long fast canters will help take tickle out of her toes. Long term most TBs love to gallop but building up slowly reduces risks of injury.
 
Surely it would be safer and more of a benefit to the horse to use the gallops for a lengthy but steady canter if he's not fit or used to fast sprint type work, less chance of risking a leg injury, otherwise it could result in months of box rest..worse case scenario that is.
 
In your circumstances galloping would be dangerous for the legs. A long hack with plenty of trotting would be better to calm him down. Can't you get the horse exercised every day, even if its only ten minutes letting off steam on the lunge? It would help his mental state.
 
timiton said:
Ok, thanks for everyone's opinions.. I'll wait until he's in better condition next spring/summer :)



My Dad has very kindly agreed to cover this bill, we'll go halves for the next 3 months then as of March my horse is going out and won't come in until October at the earliest (and bad weather) so I will cover the bills onwards. I will hopefully have a job by then so it will all be more affordable. My Dad is a saint! :D
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Got to love dads :D that's good news op, and I'd urge you to have a look at cheap bedding alternatives... Wood pellets would save a fortune and are easy to muck out... Especially with the length of time he's in :)

If it were me, I'd keep doing what you are doing, walk, trot and some steady canters and if he needs some other outlet to take the edge off, try working his brain a bit more... Have a read up on clicker training, it's fun to do and really gets them thinking, plus sessions can be as little as a few minutes so you can fit it into your day... Then wait till after he starts turning out longer, by which time you will have been working him a bit more and then slowly start introducing the odd gallop :)

Most importantly of all... Enjoy your horse
 
The_Snow_Queen said:
Got to love dads :D that's good news op, and I'd urge you to have a look at cheap bedding alternatives... Wood pellets would save a fortune and are easy to muck out... Especially with the length of time he's in :)
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Have already looked into wood pellets. I got a sample from Five Star.. I was pretty impressed but the groom (who loves to criticize everything I do said 'That's horrible. Look how dusty it is, I wouldn't put my horse on that unless I wanted her to have a dust allergy!'. Would prefer to use straw too but everyone has to use shavings at my yard anyway :(

Again thanks for everyone's advice regarding the galloping query!
 
Well, according to a leading scientist, galloping is more dangerous than snorting cocaine and eating ecstasy.

I don't generally believe leading scientists, but I can't put it to the test as I have nothing to gallop on.

:D
 
You don't have to gallop at the gallops ;-) We go and have a steady canter up- tbh ive even trotted up in the past when my horse started taking the p*** a little at the bottom!
Its a decent safe surface for a nice winter canter.
 
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