trotting down hills

[mole]

is it good for a horse to trot down hills?

i have road studs on all 4 shoes now and feel like a 4x4

and was merrily trotting downhill this morning when i thought is it bad for your horse?

what are your views?

 

[scotsmare]

Suppose it depends on your horse and how often you do it!

 

[Horseyscot]

trotting up and down hills is good for building muscles and fittening up. some on the roads is fine just dont overdo it as far as concussion on legs. best to do it in fields if you can, although due to lack of rain at mo they are prob just about as hard. would also say watch you dont slip trotting down hills, but with studs in you should be ok.

 

[AmyMay]

I will trot down shallow hills, but only once the horse is reasonably fit.

 

[madiz123]

I dont trot down hill on roads as the horse has no grip but certainly off roads if the horse is reasonably fit and supple, no probs with studs! sometimes canter down hill too...i think it is good as it helps teach balance for you and the horse.

 

[Tinker_Belle]

i don't mind trotting down hills that aren't that steep but wouldn't consider trotting down anything that was quite sloped. Always had a bit of a phobia about it & the horse going down on it's knees.

As long as you don't do it too often I don't think there's a problem. I'd hack out with knee boots though, just in case.

Maybe I'm just over cautious!

 

[dreamcometrue]

I trot down hills, my horse is very sure of himself when doing it, I'm not forcing it. He does wear knee boots though.

 

[henryhorn]

Our hunting everyone trots/canters downhill, but hacking I really wouldn't trot downhill on the road.
Tracks/bridleways fine, but today's road surfaces are sometimes lethal and look at what happened to one of our horses, she slid on some loose gravel on top of the road surface and fell on her knees. It's devalued her and she had a year off whilst they healed.
I always used to trot up hills, the steeper the better and it was never a problem, but it stands to sense, if the horse trips going downhill on a tarmac surface its going to hurt itself...

 

[kerilli]

it is a lot more concussive than trotting uphill, so i won't trot downhills, especially on roads... in fact, i won't trot on roads on the flat either.
i'll trot and canter downhill on good ground though, it's good for improving their balance and surefootedness.

 

[SOB]

I will trot down hill and canter down hill on soft ground but not on the roads. As mentioned already on good ground it improves balance and muscle.