Trotting on the roads - Do you?

I try to do a fair bit but all uphill and try to make it steady and in an outline too, bust sometimes that doesn't work out so well
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Well I have no bridleways to hack on and no school so all my work in on roads and yes I trot. When I am getting him fit for the endurance season I will do many miles in steady trot with the occasional bit of walk on the flat or downhill. I believe firmly that no harm can come if you keep it steady, have built the trot work up progressively, have a well put together horse with good confirmation, good feet and strong sturdy legs...perhaps not for TB types but I have a stocky Welshie who is strong as an ox!
 
I have always done quite alot of trotting on the roads with mine.

When I did my work experience at one of the top sj-ing yards they did alot of trotting on the roads with their top horses, hour hacks all in trot.
 
None, I would only trot to get out of the way of something. My two are TB and TBx both with fine legs and plenty of history of lameness/hoof issues. Trotting on a road would not be benificial to mine.
 
With own/riding for others, but kept it steady and uphill and small amounts.

But! I went on a riding holiday to a place in wales where the lady did endurance, alot of the main tracks were hard concrete type material and roads, and we trotted very very fast over them, almost too fast to rise to (I think they do this in endurance) for fairly long periods - her horses were arabs, perfectly sound, fit and regularly did 20 miles a day and won many endurance competitions (including man v horse).
 
I do a fair bit of trotting but my horse is barefoot - if you could see the difference in his feet since I've been riding him compared to his previous owners who used to hammer the crap out of him driving him for 20 miles at a time full pelt trot!

There's nothing wrong with trotting on roads as long as its done with common sense and you build up the length of time trotting in accordance with getting your horse fitter.
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Yes, Its damn good fittening work! Obviously you have to use your head and be sensible about it, trotting too much on the road for an unfit horse would be as damaging as cantering through fields of soft or heavy going.
When well planned its good repetitive work for bone remodelling and encouraging development of muscle. I think it gets a bad reputation as its not attempted correctly so people end up having problems
 
I do occasional very short burts, always steady and always in an outline. I mainly do it as I need to keep him alert and forwards as he can nap at times. Also I believe it is good for them occasionally as it strengthens the legs.
 
yes - with both shod and unshod horses and have done for years with no soundness problems at all. good working trot in an outline and working thru from behind to lighten front end

not so good for a horse that is heavily on its forehand and taking all the load on it's front legs

anyway - half our bridlepaths have been 'surfaced' so that the walkers don't get their feet wet or muddy - so b'awl difference in a lot of cases between the road and the bridlepath anyway
 
If your horse is well prepared, ie in a fittening programme, or fit (by this I don't just mean muscle, I mean legs well prepared) then there is no problem whatsoever. Do plenty of walking on the roads, building to short bursts of trot (over time) and you should find you can move onto decent amounts of fittening trotting with no problems.
 
Only in an emergency to get out of the way of speeding traffic. Apart from that absolutely none. Have heavy horses, both are arthritic and trotting on the roads is an absolute no-no. I think you will find that most vets and farriers agree.
 
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If your horse is well prepared, ie in a fittening programme, or fit (by this I don't just mean muscle, I mean legs well prepared) then there is no problem whatsoever. Do plenty of walking on the roads, building to short bursts of trot (over time) and you should find you can move onto decent amounts of fittening trotting with no problems.

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hear hear! Well said!
 
Yes, always have done out hacking for fittening work. I too believe that as long as you trot steadily in an outline and build it up if horse not used to it then it's fine, and can actually help strengthen the legs. As an eventer I think it's good to work horses on all different sorts of going (not just perfect grass or an arena surface) - whilst I wouldn't run on horrendous ground conditions do change throughout the season and we can't always be running on perfect going.
I woudn't ever trot downhill on the road though.
 
Always trot on the roads and my pony is 16 now and has NEVER been lame or had any problems in his legs for the whole time ive had him
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I use trotting on the roads as part of my horses fitness regime (have a 5-15 minute controlled trot about 2-3 a week).

I think although it can sometimes cause horses problems, but I also think that by avoiding all work on harder ground we can create jelly legged horses! Which can then cause more problems than horses with strong legs from trotting on roads, or similar work on harder ground.
 
Yes, it is much easier for a driving horse to trot up hill than walk, so we tend to trot uphills. Never done any harm to any of ours (so far anyhow!) and two are now 16.
 
Yep, we've got rubbish off road riding so i always trot on the roads. Gem's being doing it for 12 years (she's 15 now) and has never had a problem and has relatively clean legs. Obviously she's kept fit and does it regularly. She's a pretty hardy horse though.
 
Yep - trot on the roads most times we hack out - only for short bursts and I do try to control the speed but that's easier said than done sometimes!!!!!!!
My horses feet are good and his legs are clean. I do always put boots on though.
 
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