Trotting on roads

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Dumbo

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What is your opinion?

I've heard some people say it's excellent for strengthing the legs and other people say it shouldn't be done and could cause soundness issues.

Does wearing boots/bandages actually have a difference? Or being barefoot/shod effect the liklihood of going lame?
 
Dumbo said:
What is your opinion?

I've heard some people say it's excellent for strengthing the legs and other people say it shouldn't be done and could cause soundness issues.

Does wearing boots/bandages actually have a difference? Or being barefoot/shod effect the liklihood of going lame?
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I think trotting on roads should be avoided as much as possible, especially with a shod horse. A barefoot horse has natural shock absorption through the hoof and so trotting on hard ground would be less detrimental, if at all. A friend was saying today how she trotted the majority of a two hour hack on roads, trotting shod horses on the road makes me cringe, when I think how bad my knees can get and other peoples I know from running on hard ground even with shock absorbing foot wear, it makes me wonder what damage could be done to the joints of a much heavier animal such as a horse with no way of absorbing the shock.
 
We vary the amount we trot on roads, but never do so for long periods where possible. BUT we do do some, as have always believed it to help strengthen the legs.

I've never had issue with lameness after lots of hacking, only ever after schooling on a surface....
 
I do but my horse is barefoot so his foot is capable of absorbing the shock. I used to trot my shod horses too but after watching some slo motion videos of shod horses on hard surfaces I'd never do it again.
 
Yes I do it , as a ex runner you do get shin splints running on road at first but if you build slowly you don't , I can't see how it's any difference for a horse.
 
Prior to my horse having her shoes off we trotted on roads but would always have a certain amount of puffiness in her limbs. Shoes off, no puffiness, trotting effortlessly!!
I take a certain amount of care due to foot wear and being a finer breed I do not want to mess up her feet and her have to have time out/ shoes back on
 
We've always trotted for ages - just beware if they are barefoot, as they will wear their feet down much faster. My two - one has full shoes and one just front, and they are fine. Even tried doing our whole hack in trot once, although they have to be fit enough and it can't be too long! :D
 
I always have trotted on roads and never had a horse with a problem with lameness as a result. The quality of the trot is important IMO, balanced and never pounding. I have known more horses with damage from working on school surfaces than from working on roads.
 
One of mine sadly just doesn't have the legs or feet for it :( it's a shame as its a lot of road work here to get anywhere but we are biting the bullet and putting shoes on next week, but definitely no trotting on the road then either :( the other is fine trotting on the road so as long as they are unshod with good feet and legs I say go for it just be vigilant.
 
I had a horse that I never trotted on the road because I was paranoid about her legs and going lame....she was plagued with lameness :( my next horse I trotted on the roads as part of her fittening campaign and touch wood she has never had a days lameness! Both were shod too!
 
I do trot on the roads but I introduce the amount we do very gradually, and always maintain a sensible even trot - I don't let her hammer down the roads as she'd like to, because she is shod and I do worry about concussion as I can imagine it would be quite jarring to the joints. I would be happier to trot an unshod horse on roads for long periods, and have done with one of our horses who has never had a soundness issue.
 
Yes, we trot on roads. I prefer not to if there is a lot of traffic as I found that drivers don't slow down if you're trotting. On quiet single track roads we trot along quite merrily then my horse makes it more fun by doing an enormous shy at something of nothing.
 
Have always trotted on roads. So long as it is built up gradually, and in spurts. Although I have trotted for long stretches before. Great fun trotting up hills as said previously! I would never get anywhere if I didn't trot on roads. Never had a horse lame because of it. Did some work experience with a large equine practice who said they see more soundness issues with horses that are always worked on a surface than those that are worked on hard ground.
 
It is important when considering "accepted wisdom " handed down over the years ,to realise that horses now do barely a fraction of the work their great great grandfathers did.It may well have shortend the working life of victorian cab horses but the modern riding horse is under nowhere near the pressure. In fact we seem to be creating a population of lame horses by not working them hard enough .
 
My friend and I had one youngster and one elderly, unfit ex-hunter ; we built up gradually but one day my friend was having trouble with his youngster acting the goat and set off at a good working trot up a long uphill stretch, my old lad went with him and they shot up the hill, they enjoyed it immensely and got to the top (about a mile and a half) without breaking sweat or blowing (which is more than could be said for us!). From then on they insisted on doing that route at that speed, with no ill effects of any sort. They got fitter, we got older!
 
Mike007 said:
It is important when considering "accepted wisdom " handed down over the years ,to realise that horses now do barely a fraction of the work their great great grandfathers did.It may well have shortend the working life of victorian cab horses but the modern riding horse is under nowhere near the pressure. In fact we seem to be creating a population of lame horses by not working them hard enough .
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Totally agree :)

I trot all of mine on roads on all the uphill bits I can - big girl now puts herself into trot when we get to an uphill stretch. I've had her 7 years now and never a sick or sorry day.
 
I try to avoid too much trotting on roads, sticking to walk on road as much as possible, and any fast work (ie. anything faster then walk) done on grass/a surface. i will however trot to prevent a back up of traffic on narrow roads etc.
 
I had a pony and used to live in the Yorkshire countryside with huge hills that were roads. I used to trot him up them 3 times a week with no boots on or anything and only shoes on his front feet. That pony is now 27 and still doing pony club with a little girl twice a month but is as fit as anything and never been lame in his life :) *touches wood*
 
Regularly trot on roads both in carriage and riding. Have an ancient heavy cobs and others who have shown no sign of harm from it (yet!¬)
 
I've always trotted on the road where safe to do so. Never had any problems.
The kids have the Welsh sec A's and I have a welsh d, none of them are ever shod just trimmed every six weeks. I'm lucky that they seem to have very hard hooves, especially the Sec D, his are like iron! No lameness issues either.
 
I trot on the roads and do quite a bit of roadwork in the winter. Asked my vet about it and she said she sees more lameness issues with horses worked mainly on surfaces than those that do roadwork. She also said that trotting on the roads hardens up the tendons and makes the legs nice and strong. Said if you were trotting on roads for 8 hours a day, every day then you would have issues. 4 times a week for a few hours is no problem at all. I will go with her advice and keep trotting on the roads - keeps my lad lovely and fit in the winter.
 
I trot on the roads, usually only short bursts due to traffic, but now moved yards and have a little quiet block i can hack around so that will be good for his feet :)
 
yes I trot all the time on roads. Especially uphill, not much downhill. Itd be a very boring hack if I walked everywhere, and my horse would never get fit.
 
I am happy to trot on roads too - I do a lot of it to keep our horses fit for hunting, and even have the occasional gentle canter if there is no traffic around.

Out hunting we often canter on roads, so would rather they were hardened to it.
 
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