Riding out in icy conditions do you?

no both of my horses are very excitable hacking and its just an accident waiting to happen and even if they were good as gold on the road which they are most of the time i wouldnt want to risk a car sliding into me as where we are stabled the roads are not gritted and the water sits on the road so its like an icerink for both cars and horses - no thank you!! i will ride off the road though down tracks as they dont tend to have much traffic and gravel doesnt get very slippy :)
 
Anyone who does ride in icy conditions in a public place wants their head looking at. They'll be the first to cry woe is me when either horse has slipped and broken something or a car goes out of control and crashes in to them. It's the height of stupidity and selfishness to put someone else in a position they can't avoid let alone have no feelings for their horse if the worst should happen.
 
No way. My boy doesn't even go out in the snow, after my mum's horse broke his hock going for a trot in the field in it. He'll get plenty of hay, a snack ball, and if it's just fresh snow goes out on the grass outside his stable for 5 minutes to have a roll but that's it. Could not risk it. I hate riding on the roads anyway. When I'd only had him a year a car slammed on its brakes as was right over and speeding round the corner and skidded into Budley. Luckily, (if that's the right word) he took off and put himself in a gateway. It doesn't matter what time of the year it is, roads around us are dangerous so no way would I ride out in snow/ice.
 
Up here, we get a good inch or so of ice, then several inches of snow on top.... not really suitable riding conditions...
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I never ride in the ice. I've always thought an accident could happen far too easily. Plus I am a lot more paranoid about the ice now after my old mare died as she fell on the ice coming in from the field and broke her neck, which was completely devestating.
 
Kamakazegirl said:
I never ride in the ice. I've always thought an accident could happen far too easily. Plus I am a lot more paranoid about the ice now after my old mare died as she fell on the ice coming in from the field and broke her neck, which was completely devestating.
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Ah how terrible for you, no wonder you are paranoid. I am anyway after my vet told me the worst injuries he has ever seen in his 20+ years practising have been those caused by horses slipping on icy roads.....whereas I used to sometimes consider it, that was enough to put me off for good. I just don't think its worth it especially with shod horses who have such limited grip on ice. The spring mornings come round soon enough...
 
in the school, in the field, off road, yes i tend to ride. I don't go out on the roads unless I know they are not icy though.
 
How do horses get around when it is icy, and how have they done so for the past few thousand years?

I ride in the ice, never once had a slip and everyone round here does too.
 
Years ago we were riding out on the lanes after a thaw had really set in and as we trotting through a huge pool of water flowing across the road our welsh cob mare slipped badly and nearly came down on the road. What we hadn't realised is that even a couple of days after the weather had warmed up that there was still a lethal patch of ice lurking under large area of what seemed to be just thawed out snow. So it just goes to show that it never pays to be too trusting of the weather in winter!
 
If the ice is only in patches and I can get around it then yes I might. If icy all over like today then no way. Unfortunately it often means I have at least 2 months when I can't ride as have no access to a school. Don't think the horses mind though.
 
Having been on my horse and had him almost do the bambi splits on some ice, not keen to do it again so I tend not to ride in icy conditions.
 
I did today but I had to do a rapid dismount to rescue my mare when we hit a patch of black ice (even when I knew it was there I still couldn't see it!). I'm very lucky that I have good balance and didn't pull her over! So no, I think we'll be sticking to the drive (it's almost a mile long, so makes a good hack if I'm short of time or it's not safe to be on the road) or the bridleway out the back.
 
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