Trotting on roads?

[angelfben]

Now that Alpi 'will' (albeit reluctantly) go out on his own I need to seriously look at getting him fit, he's not done a lot in the last 6 months before I had him and at the moment is just doing lots of hacking in walk with the odd trot and some schooling when I can free up the field.

The problem is that what off-road hacking around me there is, is pretty rubbish. We have 2 bridleways in hacking distance and I haven't even attempted either of them yet as they are full of dodgy gates, loose horses, electric fences, cows etc. :( So most of what we do is on the lanes around us at the moment and doesn't allow for much more than walking. I do trot on the grass verges where they are wide enough and the roads are quiet enough and I trot him up any hills as this takes the weight off his forehand, but I worry about trotting him much more on the roads because of the pounding on his legs and feet.

Which leaves me a bit stuck really, unless I concentrate more on riding him in the field and fittening him up that way but what would you say would be a reasonable amount to trot on roads without causing any harm? I see the trotters/driving pony's being trotted around the lanes all the time and think maybe I'm being paranoid but I can't get over worrying about the strain on his legs and feet...

[eventerbabe]

ideally, you should only walk for the first 4-6 weeks of a fitness plan, then introduce short bursts of 1-2 minutes trot. i personally don't like trotting on the roads and don't do it. but it does kinda depend on the horses action. Bonnie used to do loads of trotting when my mum hacked her years back and it caused no probs as she doesn't slam her feet down, but my mates TB who throws his feet and slams them down heavily has awful legs, covered in lumps coz he was trotted on the roads. it also started affecting his feet.

[Jessey]

I have always trotted on roads, steadily not flat out mind, and have not had any problems BUT my current horse does have a small splint, but I cannot, nor can vet, say that it was caused by trotting on roads, in mid summer our fields were just as hard as tarmac and he would flat out gallop round them so it is just as likely to have been caused there :rolleyes: :(

Personally I think it is a matter of conditioning (some horses don't ever seem to be able to cope with it though) I tend to start walking alot, then build to short trots and very slowly increase the ammount of trot work. I have found that by giving the legs/feet time to get used to the impact of road work they seem to hold up well. Just as a point of interest I have found that my horse seems far happier to trot on roads since having his shoes removed, I just thought that was quite interesting :p

J x

[angelfben]

Hmmm well he has been doing lots of walking now for the past couple of months so he is definitely capable of building up his trot sessions but I am concerned about those roads! Not sure what my options are though really... :rolleyes:

I think he does slam his feet down on the roads quite a bit though because he's got a fair bit of knee action (that's the welsh in him!) it's not so obvious when he walks but when he trots he really picks his feet up high, throws them forwards and slams them back down, it looks impressive but it can't be doing his feet or legs any good..!

I can't take his shoes off as he gets very foot sore on hard ground without his shoes (I did try it for a few weeks when I first got him but he really wasn't happy on tarmac etc.) otherwise that might help the jarring on his legs.

Hmmm looks like I'll have to stick to walking and short trots (about 15 seconds) until I can think of somewhere to school him, I'm having to use the whole field as grazing at the moment :(

[helenc]

I'm afraid that the only way you will find out if your horse can cope with trotting on the roads is to try it.

He may be fine but he may get injured so that decision has to be yours.

Most horses can cope with some trotting on the roads - I used to work with racehorses & all trotting was done on roads to try & help strengthen their tendons (although I am not convinced that works, it was the way they were trained), none of them ever had problems with splints or concussion injuries & they were very finely built. I think that if you very steadily build up to trotting on roads then he will probably be ok, just keep a close eye on his legs.

[wildponies]

Shey slams his feet down on the roads when we trot, it makes me cringe so i have limited his trotting to grass verges or soft tracks down bridleways when out on hacks. Sally - being more of a lady, delicately puts her toes down on the roads so i have no problems trotting her on the roads. Just listen when your horse trots as to the noise level compared with a walk. With Shey it was easy to tell.

[ponylover88]

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[Yann]

Trotting on hard surfaces does cause additional wear and tear to the legs and feet, and although horses are / were traditionally fittened up by doing lots of roadwork I don't think there is any firm scientific basis for this being beneficial, if anything the opposite is true. We trot on the road in moderation, my horse seems to enjoy it (ex driver), but I wouldn't personally like to carry out a fittening programme that way.

[angelfben]

Thanks :)

Looks like I'll be trusting my insticts and limiting his trotting on the roads then, it makes me cringe the way he slams his feet down on the tarmac and I'd be devestated if I ever let him hurt himself.

I'll just have to wait until it rains and the ground isn't so hard in the field to do much more than walk him at the moment :rolleyes:

[jovi_y2k2]

working on harder ground is essential to strengthen the bones and tendons, there is a scientific explaination to it that ive done at uni but rather complex, basically the bone needs to be destroyed partly and then newer denser (therefore stronger) bone grows in its place, its the same with tendons but the work has to be built up gradually