How do you keep your horses fit? Trotting on roads.

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scewal

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Am trying to keep my mare fit, but it seems many people won't trot on the roads due to too much concussion.
So how do you keep your horses fit?
 
I trot on the road - Never had a lame horse through it and all ours have very good tendons. I have no arena and rubbish hacking so do what needs to be done really!
 
Always used to trot on the roads with ponies and I was always under the impression people got hunters fit and their legs hardened by trotting on the roads. Has opinion changed?
 
I went to a talk run by a very good vet, on horses legs - conformation, lameness, etc. He actually recommended trot & even bits of canter on the road, to aid the bone density. What he said made total sense, and that was basically if you don't 'push' the limbs, ie. put more stress on them, then they wont get stronger. So if you only ever walk on roads, they'll be strong enough to walk. If you trot, they'll be strong enough to trot, but if you do bits of canter too, then you begin to strengthen them further again... It was a BD thing though and you did see a lot of :eek: faces, but it makes sense - you build up the horses fitness by pushing him/her, gradually, and increasing what exercise they can take. If you do the same in regards to the amount of concussive forces the horse is dealing with, then in theory (kept within limits & done steadily), the legs should develop to cope somewhat... so I wouldn't worry too much...

A very rubbish explanation but it makes sense in my head :o Some parts of the talk did go way over my head though :o
 
I trot on the roads, and on our regular hacking route which is a Sustrans track that's tarmac. In fact, horse is happy to do short canters on the track, and if with another horse who's cantering on the grass verge, mine will choose to canter on the harder surface.

But then, he's not shod, so upwards concussion will be a lot less, and because the barefoot conditioning involved a gradual build up of duration and on different surfaces, I would be less concerned about detrimental effects on legs. It certainly has a very positive effect on hooves :)
 
i trot on roads too 1) because its the only place i have decent enough hills to work on the ones in the woods are too wet now or too stony and as we only have fronts on she doesn't find it very comfortable and 2) i was also told it strengthened legs. started with lots of walking and tiny trots and working up to trotting all the way - her fitness has also improved loads!

also a showjumper i work for didn't do much road work and one of the horses kept pulling shoes off so farrier suggested doing more road work to bed the nails tighter into the shoe - nails are worn down and flush with the shoe and no more pulled shoes :)
 
When I worked in racing a cardinal sin was to trot on the hard tracks, the legs are so valuable.
I don't mind a little steady trot uphill but walking on roads and cantering on hills is the way to go.
Yes hunters get fittened with road work including trotting, but traditionally they spend six to eight weeks of walking before they start this. Hunt servant exercise hounds on bikes to get them fit.
I recall [1970's], when one of the oldest horses still fit for hunting was fourteen [Oscar was 14 and his owner was 60!] Things have changed , and this would seem to be pretty much within the normal range nowadays, in Ye Olden Days horses were worked harder and not many were put out in a field after their working life.
I don't mind trotting with my boy now he is barefoot as there is less concussion and less chance of falling or slipping.
I would not risk legs with a lot of trotting on roads, fittening is also about wind and muscles, so they still need hillwork.
 
LeannePip said:
i trot on roads too 1) because its the only place i have decent enough hills to work on the ones in the woods are too wet now or too stony and as we only have fronts on she doesn't find it very comfortable and 2) i was also told it strengthened legs. started with lots of walking and tiny trots and working up to trotting all the way - her fitness has also improved loads!

also a showjumper i work for didn't do much road work and one of the horses kept pulling shoes off so farrier suggested doing more road work to bed the nails tighter into the shoe - nails are worn down and flush with the shoe and no more pulled shoes :)
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Trotting up hill will use the hind quarters, thus keeping weight off the front legs.
 
I trot on the road regularly, I've built him up gradually from walking to decent length trots. I don't canter on the tarseal, probably more because I'm worried about him slipping with shoes on, but will canter for short bursts on the gravel road/track.
I have a happy sound horse, who is rising 17, and always been ridden in this way :)
 
I trot on roads (up hills only), have done with all my horses several times a week and *touches wood frantically* I've never had a lame horse. I do however have fit horses who have the fitness and strong legs to hunt/event regularly with no problems.
 
I trot on the roads too, up hills, on level road and slight downhill as long as the road surface isn't slippy. Excellent for developing horse's balance and lift through shoulders. I practice lots of school work out hacking and around the fields
 
I too trot on roads. I am a firm beleiver of working horses on a variety of surfaces at different paces. I try not to canter on the roads but sometimes out hunting I have no choice as madam decides on a slow canter despite what i try and do to keep trotting.
 
Thank you for your replies. Interesting, it seems a few have different views regarding trotting on roads. my girl is shod in front and bare behind. I trot on the level and uphill. Occasionally trot downhill to help her learn to balance.

I do have the open moor to work on but with the ever decreasing light in the evenings i shall have to stick to the roads for evening rides.
 
LEC said:
I trot on the road - Never had a lame horse through it and all ours have very good tendons. I have no arena and rubbish hacking so do what needs to be done really!
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This ^^ plus the odd bit of canter. I partake in 'verging' ie cantering on verges where suitable, and occasionally cross the road to the other side if that verge is better. Easier to keep cantering than pull up and start again.
 
Another barefooter here: we get actively encouraged to do roadwork. Like everything, build it up gradually...by now, I'm happy to go at all gaits on tarmac, and some rides include miles of roadwork. If we had to walk all that, we'd never make the time! I now positively look forward to road bits, for nice even smooth ground where we're less likely to have a trip or a slip! I think if he had shoes on, I probably would worry about both concussion and slipping.
 
It's how i keep mine fit during winter, they are barefoot which helps, we have several lane hacks and canter up all the hills slowly, ponies never seem to mind, my mare in particular will choose smooth tarmac to work on as opposed to possibly bumpy verges, just this weekend we went out for a wander and ended up trotting the lanes for over an hour, once she gets into her rhythm she is off into her own little trit trot world......
 
I trot all mine on the roads, and, touch wood, have never had a problem! Long uphill trots are brilliant for fittening and getting them to use their backs/ bums. All my youngsters start out with slow short ones and build up. I don't canter on roads on purpose because of the slipping issue, but my old mare is now stiff in her hocks and choses to canter rather than trot.

There is a school of thought that says you get less concussion from canter than trot anyway...
 
Yup - I trot on the roads too!

A slow, controlled trot though. There is a big difference between trotting slowly and properly, making them use themself, and just pounding them along the road
 
Where I trained and worked for many, many years we worked all the liveries and hunters on the roads, 1hr minimum of steady trotting - hound jog - I think was the correct term. Our horses were always wonderfully fit and well. In later years when I worked with hunters my boss remarked that the horses had never been so fit.
 
Have always done it and have never any had issues. Now have a happy and healthy 19 year old who loves his hacking immensely. I always make sure that I have road nails fitted when he is shod as well, just in case as some roads can be very slippery.
 
Another who trots on roads- in the Chiltern hills. We trot up and down slopes on established horses. I do use boots and knee boots though.
I genuinely wouldn't know how to fitten a horse without.
 
I do a fair amount of trotting on roads, mostly uphil but also on long stretches of flat road cos its boring and have on occasion cantered (a slow canter is less jarring than a fast trot I was told...) but I am far happier doing it on a barefoot horse than a shod one as the concussion can't be good with an iron contact or the slipping.
 
Yup we trot everything on the roads. We also build up the rehab horses up with it aswell and have never had any issues with reinjury even on horses that had done tendons.
 
I don't trot on road unless to get out of the way of cars etc.

I'm a bit obsessed with the ground conditions since one of my horses managed to damage 3 out of 4 legs - and since being very picky with ground that is firm, but with a little bouncy squidge and not slippy- the horse has been sound up until now (2 years later)
 
i trot on the roads when hacking because I know we'll need to out hunting and I want him to be used to doing it. I will let him canter on the road out hunting rather than keep pulling him back having been advised there is less concussion in canter anyway - my main worry would be slipping rather than concussion. my old horse was barefoot and would happily let him canter along for ages on the roads out hunting as he was happier like this and no slipping worries. I will happily trot up gradual inclines although was advised against trotting up steel hills by several different physios - walk for bum muscles, canter for aerobic fitness but trot puts too much strain on the sacro-iliac area.
 
I used to trot my first pony as a kid along the road, he ended up with concussive laminitis which I firmly believe was due to this. Have never trotted a horse on roads since. I might if they weren't shod, but IMO metal shoes are horrific for sending shock waves up the legs. If you have wide grass verges though then obviously you could do that. Or ask your local farmers if they'd let you ride round the edges of their fields?
 
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