Cantering on the road?

i personally would never canter on the road, unless i couldn't help it, but i would try & stop them. i see where you're coming from about trotting tho. i don't trot for long periods of time when on the road anyway, so no experience of concussion.
i think no matter what pace you do on roads, your horse will get concussion eventually. just the faster the gait, the shorter amount of time it takes for the horse to get concussion, & likewise, the slower the gait, the longer it takes for the horse to get concussion.
 
I was always told not to. For me if the horse is unshod i feel the concussion is reduced. It probably isn't. It's probably all psychological!
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I don't think it is. Someone somewhere did a study on the difference and came up with a figure of something like a 70% reduction in concussion unshod compared to shod. That would only apply with a good healthy bare foot though I would have thought, a poor weak one won't work nearly as well at absorbing energy, whether shod or not.

I have to admit to being a lot lessy fussy about hard ground when riding a horse in hoof boots and pads, but I don't intentionally look to canter on roads.
 
Wally said:
Having done a lot of endurance and hunting, there are times when the horse will just take over and you will canter on the road. IN straight lines I see no problem, turning and slipping is what worries me.

Common sense (if I have any) would say that a steady canter, on a non slippery road would do less damage than a stonking trot.
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That's pretty much what I think about it :)
 
I have to say I disagree very strongly with a lot of the people on this thread in that I would never intentionally canter on roads. I value my horses legs and whats more I value my horse and the idea of cantering on metal shoes on tarmac seems horrendous to me. I have seen animals slip and fall on tarmac and its really not pretty. i say save speed for appropriate places - I guess I am lucky to have miels of off road riding in the Quantocks but if the riding isnt good enough where you are that you need to canter on the roads (or even on the roadside verges) then I woulds say find a yard with decent riding and dont put you or your horse at risk.

May sound a bit harsh but I would be devastated if something happened to my horse, let alone because I was allowing her to canter on a hard, slippery unsafe surface. She has fallen on a bridleway before and thankfully was ok but I doubt that would have been the case if we had been on a road. Also there are so many maniacs that if a car appears from nowhere and you are going too fast the chances of slipping and being involved in a serious RTA are so much greater.

My horse often breaks into an extended trot on the roads as she loves her work and is a real speed merchant, but we slow down and wait til the excitement is gone before trotting on. Bridleways, commons, gallops and schools are places for cantering. If we go on a ride and the going is too wet or boggy we wait til we get back and have a canter in the school. Much safer.

As for not having shoes, my horse lost a shoe out hunting once and by the tiem I realised she had worn her foot right down to the sole and was hopping lame. Shoes were invented for a very good reason and thats to save the horses feet.

Sorry if that seems like a rant but our horses are our prized possessions and we shouldnt take unnecessary risks...

x
 
I have to say I woudlnt jump or canter my horse on hard ground let alone on a road so in turn I would not canter on the road, nor do excessive trot work, for my horses health mainly but also what if I came off on the road!
 
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The hard road surface has no 'give' at all - so, wouldn't canter mine on them. The faster you go, the less control you have so what would happen if your horse saw a scary object and shied out into the road. You would have no time whatsoever to correct it, or pull the horse up before an accident occurred. You could kill another road user by your selfishness, or kill your horse. What you do to yourself, is up to you!!!
 
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i was also brought up with 'never canter on the roads' i dont think id like to try it, when i used to hack out on the roads, which was very rare (we had loads of fields our farmer let the liverys use) we didnt go at a full pelt trot either, most of the time we just had a steady walk and a calm trot now and again. i think id be too scared to canter on a road, worring about the horses legs, other road users etc... xxx
 
Interesting thread.... and for once that we are pretty unanimous... there's a rarity!!! :)

I have a barefoot heavyweight cob who I have never intentionally cantered on tarmac "because it's wrong".... however, we HAVE trotted fast (particularly when heading home :rolleyes: ) and I have worred about the concussive effect this may have on her elderly joints.... but I still couldn't bring myself to allow her to canter (and I'm talking quiet, straight roads where you can see there is no danger) I'm quite tempted to give it a go now, for a very short distance, just to listen to the footfalls to see if it sounds less damaging for her.

Taking the risk of slipping in shoes out of the equation, compare tarmac to hot dry summers and think of all the shows that people attend, jumping, showing classes, etc all generally include cantering. People on "the weekend show circuit" would be regularly pounding a hard surface.... sometimes intermittently all day whereas out on a hack it's for a much shorter time and sporadic at that.
 
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