Trotting on roads - is it ok?

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Gorgeous George

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Is it ok to trot on roads or am I going to damage my horses legs? A number of people I've spoken to say it's really bad to trot on the roads. I am not talking about extended periods of time just 2-3 mins interspersed with longer periods of walking - help!
 
its ok for short periods ie trotting to move out of the way of a car for instanse or across road to briddle way ect
not advisable if not shod,but as long as your not trotting everywhere and mainly walk it wont harm to much but excessive trotting will cause damage as its hard ground
 
Depends on how old your horse is. For youngsters it is advisable not to do too much but at the same time it helps to harden tendons etc to do road work. Best thing I suppose is not to trot down hill and try keep off the forehand!

Personally I dont really trot too much on roads buts thats just my opinion.
 
ive trotted on roads since ive had hoses(anout 14yrs!) and never had problems becasue of it. ive even cantered on the road when out hunting(ok -so i didnt have much choice!!!!!) :-)
 
Right, I am probably going to be shot down, but I have had ponies and horses all my life of varying types and conformation, ranging from driving ponies to eventers and all of mine have been trotted on the road as part of their fitness work and I have never had any problems with splints or concussion injury. Obviously I do not trot flat out constantly but do 15 mins working trot at any one time on the road. I think that if your horse is`going to suffer lameness it will be a weakness/flaw regardless of trotting on the road that would come through sooner or later.
ETS all my life = very long time
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I was always told that trotting in shoes was WORSE as you remove the cuncussion abilities of the hoof as it cannot expand under teh stress and therefore the shocl is transmitted up the horses legs.

I do however trot mine on the road to strengthen his legs, he can do a full hack in trot - his choice some times
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- and has NEVER been lame in the past 5 years!
 
After decades of saying it was supposedly good to trott on roads to strengthen a horse's tendons
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, most vets now agree to say it's to be avoided: Too much stress on joints and bones, etc...
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Only ok for ponies, draft, cobs but not for warmbloods, thoroughbreds and sport horses in general.
If done only for a couple of minutes don't think it's any harm though.
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Personally don't like to.
But then again I usually have the choice not to.
Ie, fittening work, i can trot up grass hillsides.
 
BTW I have trotted 5 yo to 30yo with no ill effects, my old JA pony was broken to drive one summer holiday at the age of 26 and was then trotted in some trotting races against the local travelling lads (also raced them round the field pony v motorbike!)I really dont think it does any harm. I have come across horses that have never been off a surface that have thrown splints
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We (hubby and I) do it a fair amount, both shod and unshod neds, and have never encountered a problem from it. Our vet and farrier have never advised against it either.
 
There is proven scientific research that controlled trotting on the roads does improve bone/tendon density at young age. That is provding it is done properly (not hammering!)

One of my clients horses ruptured both SDFTs in a race at chepstow in May and had to be PTS
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. It was concluded that he had weak SDFTs and DDFTs because he was on box rest as a foal and wasnt able to strengthen them in the field frolicking like he should.

I have a feeling this is going to be another debate!!!!
 
I always do in order to get my horse fit for endurance rides. I will do most of my hack in trot on roads only walking for the down hills! But then I figure that the type of horse and it's legs and feet have a big impact on their ability to cope. I have a strong, solid Welsh D with good feet and confirmation and I ensure he does a nice controlled trot too.
 
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not advisable if not shod,but as long as your not trotting everywhere and mainly walk it wont harm to much but excessive trotting will cause damage as its hard ground

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Why not? It is better to trot an unshod horse on the roads than a shod one, as the foot contracts and expands to cope with the pressure. Also work on roads helps to stimulate foot growth on barefoot horses so is good for their feet.

Like most of the other posters on this thread, I don't think there is anything wrong with trotting shod horses on the roads either, as long as the horse isn't being hammered along.
 
I have always done a lot of trotting on the roads - however, I will be less inclined to do so with the new horse.

I'm sure that excessive trotting contributed to Amy's leg problems..............
 
i don't ride on the road at all, but if i had to i wouldn't trot on them. we have western horses and it's really important for us to have them moving softly, with long low leg action. Road work would be the worst thing we could do with them - we work them fairly hard but are really fussy about the surface. On the other hand if we had hunters and did a lot of cross country all terrain riding, controlled road work would probably be a useful part of training but the horse would need to be fit to do it.
I think the big problem for a lot of people is where they are unable to fitten and maintain a horse over a long period, maybe only getting to ride once or twice a week and then having to do a lot of work at the weekends including road work. Whilst a lot of horses cope with this regime, many do not, and consequently break down.
I actually think a lot of lameness is caused by this type of all or nothing regime, pounding an unfit soft horse on hard ground.
 
I only trot if I have to, for example overtaking parked cars. Its just my choice as I think it will do more harm than good to my horse. I suppose it depends on the horse, its age, level of fitness etc.
 
I trot on the road, not excessively but we do go for periods of say, 5 minutes in trot along roads, interspersed with walking and various different ground depending on where we go. Where possible I'll trot on verges or in fields but it's not always that easy!

Henry is a big heavy horse and I am careful about pushing him to work too hard in trot on roads, I save that for fields! My trainer tells me to work him up hills in trot, which I do occasionally. He's been sound for the past three years I've had him (*knocks on wood*) so I think so long as you're sensible about the speed and length of your trotting, it's fine.
 
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