Riding in Snow, how safe is it?

[Kokopelli]

Sorry for two posts in one day but was just wondering about riding in the snow as we have some fore-casted for the weekend.

Last year when the worst of the snow hit my pony had a virus so couldn't ride anyway so it didn't bother me too much and the year before we had an indoor school.

1. How safe is it to ride in snow?
2. What precautions shall I take if I decide to ride in the snow?
3. Whats best to ride in; the jump field or menege?
4. I've been told that to prevent balling up in the hoof to put vaseline in it, does this work?
5. Anything else I need to know?

If I did ride in the snow we would keep it very slow and steady and I'd have someone on the ground just in case and will make sure I warm up and cool down well.

 

[Toffee44]

1. How safe is it to ride in snow? I ride in the snow but go no where near roads or a field I dont know (incase rabbit holes etc) If I need to cross a road I get off and lead.

2. What precautions shall I take if I decide to ride in the snow? Be warm, Boot up incase horse slips, mobile phone la la la

3. Whats best to ride in; the jump field or menege? I go round a set aside I know like the back of my hand which backs onto the farm beautiful.

4. I've been told that to prevent balling up in the hoof to put vaseline in it, does this work? Doesnt work amazingly well, a old boy round here said put woolen socks on over shoes, might give this a go. Other than that wd40 works well. Dont really need it if barefoot

5. Anything else I need to know? Have fun, and take photos

 

[grade.A.boogie]

Can;t really help you that much as i am no expert but yes, vaseline is said to be good (well i got told that in pony club anyway) and it may be best just to see your horses reaction to the snow first in-hand?

Dunno i wanna ride in it too - can someone experienced help us?!

 

[Kokopelli]

Thanks toffee, I wouldn't dream of riding on the road in the snow, seems to spell disaster with cars who can hardly stop But will try the wd40, I was considering putting socks on him as I heard this aswell but didn't want to sound a numpty But will definatly get piccies

gAb- I think he'll be fine in the snow hes a been there done it sort of pony but will check anyway.

 

[Toffee44]

I have to cross a road and then have access to a brilliant field and path which I might go up to if the snow is not too bad depends on the weather really. It goes up a steep hill, I just want to see the view from the top, if its too dodgy shall take the dogs instead.

As long as you have common sense you will be fine.

 

[Enfys]

1. How safe is it to ride in snow?Safe enough I canter, if I felt like it I would jump too. Dry powdery snow and wet slushy snow are completely different, the wet stuff balls, freezes and is pretty awful.
2. What precautions shall I take if I decide to ride in the snow?Know what's underneath you! I ride in the snow, a lot, but I know the ground, where the ruts are, where the ice is etc etc. Horses manage very well in the snow by themselves, trust your horse and give him his head
3. Whats best to ride in; the jump field or menege?Up to you, whichever you feel has the best surface
4. I've been told that to prevent balling up in the hoof to put vaseline in it, does this work?My horses are unshod, I don't use anything
5. Anything else I need to know? It doesn't hurt so much to fall off in?

Have fun.

 

[RuthnMeg]

A very good thread with handy tips.. thankyou.

 

[Happy Hunter]

i rode loads last yr - Everyone else thought i was bonkers (its only cause their horses would have had a fit!)

Stick to flat fields or tracks you know 100% wont have holes or subsidence ect.
I wouldnt go faster than trot really.
Boots all over. - i would stick off the roads mostly because the cars make a horrible noise! and its slippy!

IMPORTANT = quick experimental large circle Lunge them in it first (not a 5m canter please!) - Many find it VERY VERY exciting if you know what i mean

Vaseline works well - think about a half cm (quarter inch) layer, not thin! - I tried socks, but they came off fairly quick.
And take a hoof pick incase you start 'balling up'

and enjoy!!!

 

[Kokopelli]

Thanks everyone, I'm really excited now

Enfys nice pictures, I think it may be best to ride in the field as thinking about it the surface of the menege freezes so it will be really slippery underneath the snow.

Happy hunter- good idea I'll lunge him first and see how he goes, but like enfys said it will hurt less to fall off!

 

[riding_high]

agree with everyone else but the other thing to try to prevent the snow balling up in their hooves is the blocks of lard, they cost about 50p and you can put loads on each hoof. i used to use it years ago and from what i recall it worked a treat.

have lots of fun as well.

 

[Doormouse]

I rode all last year in the snow but only in the field and up in the wood. It is important that you know and trust your horse, flightly silly horses are not a sucess! I tried vaseline and grease etc but to be honest if it did ball it seemed to flick out fairly quickly anyway. I did ride and lead canter in the snow and had no trouble at all. It is great fun really and the scenery is fantastic. Def take a camera, I have no artistic ability whatsoever and even I managed to get some amazing photos.

 

[MontyMonster]

I tried it last year with my horse, not even riding, just leading him originally, and the snow balled up immediately. We tried EVERYTHING but sadly nothing worked for us would be interested to see how other people have done it!
He was shod, and we tried vaseline, which didn't work, we tried play-doh in his hooves to stop the snow balling and socks but they wore through too quickly. Tbh, the play-doh worked best but it eventually came off with the snow.

 

[minime]

I agree with what Enfys said. I ride in the snow every winter and absolutely love it. We go quite mad as my mare loves it too. We gallop up and down hills and jump all the fallen trees so I guess I am not the best person to ask if you are a bit nervous. I trust 100% my horse as she seems to know what she is comfy with.
We had about 2 meters last winter so it gets tough when it is too deep.
As for feet I have her back feet bare foot ( You have no idea how much a snow bomb from the rider in front can hurt) and on her front feet I have rubber mats put under her shoes and she has small studs on her shoes for the ice.
Roll on the snow yiipppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee


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[Bojangles]

I love riding in the snow!!! Not many people at the yard did last year!!! Everyone thought I was bonkers too. Beau loved it. Luckly theres another land to ride on so no need to go off the farm. When it first lays its nice. I keep it short for the first couple of times as its much harder work had a odd canter which was ever so exictle for him as he threw in some bucks!!

 

[Kokopelli]

minime stop showing your horse off, i might have to come steal her She is so pretty!

Maybe its not the best idea to ride in the snow this year seeing as I've only had Andy since sunday eve

 

[gnubee]

We jump in it, as long as it is thick enough so you arent hitting ice underneath. Watch out for them trying to get down to roll in it when you first get on though!

 

[nicelittle]

Hi
I rode in the snow a bit last year, went out in the woods on tracks we know. Horse decided that the best way to stop snow balling up in his feet was to have an occasional bucking fit! (he never bucks at any other time)
I tried riding on the sandschool too, but it was often frozen and unsafe, despite harrowing. The problem we had was that there was just so much ice that we could not get to the woods or the sandschool or even the fields for weeks.
Have to say that snow only spells non riding and no turnout + inconvenience for me - must be getting old! Still, have 4x4 this year!!!

 

[HollyWoozle]

I am tempted to plod around our field this year if there is snow, just for the experience! It won't get deep though so I guess we would have to be wary of frozen ground underneath, just plodding should be fine though. We have to go on the roads to get anywhere so we were really stuffed last year... maybe we could amuse ourselves just in the field somehow.

 

[lucyc]

my friend decided to ride her horse in the field after shed seen her horse cantering around like normal so thought why not and they had a great time hahaha i really want to try it

 

[Toffee44]

We jump in it, as long as it is thick enough so you arent hitting ice underneath. Watch out for them trying to get down to roll in it when you first get on though!

Ditto this, take a horse rug off in the snow bound to get down in it even with you on their back

 

[babymare]

lol riding_high i still use lard when needed its best grease going - riding in snow when you get it is amazing just do it - horse will love it to - hence why regardless my 2 go out in snow they play in it puff out and spook when it blows back i love seeing them in snow wooo hooo bring snow on lol

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Used to love riding in the snow. It was fine on all the 'unwalked' places - a virgin field was great. In fact it was safer to hop onto the field ponies to bring them in, than to lead them

 

[somethingorother]

Hrm this is an interesting thread, i didn't ride for over a month last year due to snow and ice, so am determined to ride in it this year. I tried vaseline loose schooling last year and it didn't work at all. I'm loath to put wd40 on his hooves, i think it's too full of chemicals. Might try play dough but i think it will go hard... So i guess that leaves lard, which as a veggie i'm a bit unhappy about using but if there's no other options....

Someone mentioned vet wrap on another thread, or duct tape? But i thought snow might stick to vet wrap like it does to wool gloves and thought duct tape might be too slippy?

Am desperate to find something that works really well!

 

[Gucci_b]

I rode in the snow last year, I never had a problem, I used vaseline.. but my friend who was also riding out with me use play dough, and had a problem. Her horse lost his footing and fell to the ground, friend was o.k.

 

[horsecrazy25]

to be honest i have never ridden in the snow as i have always thought it is to dangerous. but this year i am so tempted to try it as long as you safe and not stupid i bet it is brilliant fun

lovely pics x

 

[Enfys]

Then of course there is skijoring!

http://www.discover-horse-carriage-driving.com/ski-joring.html

 

[JenHunt]

We rode out most days in the snow last year, with a bit of common sense -
we steered clear of hills on the road (difficult round us) and arranged to go up them using our neighbours fields (in return for delivering the papers/milk/groceries etc)
we used the bridleways that didn't see the sun during the day (meaning they wouldn't have melted and refrozen)
we put stockholm tar in the horses feet to stop the snow from balling up. you have to keep it in the house though so that you can use it!
we kept to a walk anywhere the snow was deeper than fetlocks.

worked well enough for us, and we had no problems, but most of our bridleways are good hard tracks in forestry and not too many open fields.

 

[JoyD]

First ride in the snow today ......... loved it!
Every time I said careful to the horse she took tiny steps like she knew lol!

 

[Walrus]

We went for a little hack today in the snow. Our driveway is a mile long so I just went up an down that. Was the baby-pony's first hack in 2 weeks after a week off with with a bruised sole. Well the vet said to keep him on the soft!! He was a bit spooky - everything looks different in the snow! But overall he was a little star.

 

[Umbongo]

With all the snow earlier this year, we still exercised the point to pointers out in the field. They are reasonably sensible and the riders know the ground very well.

We used hoof oil to stop snow balling up, this doesn't work great. Also had small studs. The best thing is to canter about!!! Honestly the snow just flicks out of the feet

I wasn't actually riding, I was just the ground staff, however none of the horses ever had an accident or slipped. I must say though I would be very cautious of cantering around on snow! But looking at enfy link....they can obviously manage!