I keep my horse at home with no indoor, all weather outdoor, or trail access- which usually means that horsey gets a 4 month vacation every winter. He’s 17 and I’m trying to keep him going, at least a little, this winter. There is a quiet neighborhood across the street that I’ve taken him theough the past few weekends, just walking. I’m curious what others think- is it ok to trot on the road (paved)? Horse is barefoot and sound without maintenance. I don’t intend to go trot the whole thing, but would it hurt him to do a few minutes of a slow trot once or twice a week with our walk?? If not, I’m fine just walking him- was just curious what others thought. My plan with walking has been working on bending and suppleness and lifting his back to try to keep his back/abs strong. Is that more useful than worrying about trotting?
I have trotted on the road while foxhunting. Horse had shoes with borium. I would not do it barefoot. I think that you would really wear down your horse’s feet.
I’ve trotted on the roads quite a bit. You have to be careful on very black asphalt as it is more slippery than the grey. Barefoot horses have better traction than those with plain shoes. You do have to watch to make sure they aren’t wearing their hooves down faster than they grow, but if you’re out walking on the roads anyway, a bit of trot most likely isn’t gong to hurt anything
For God’s sake, think of all the carriage horses in London and NYC before automobiles who spent their working lives trotting on pavement. Horses have trotted on pavement as long as there has been pavement, going back at least as far as Roman times. Do you really think that the Roman cavalry walked from Rome to the Roman colonies?
Modern horses are not made of porcelain, and horses wouldn’t have been used the way they used to be used if a little trotting on pavement is going to break them.
Trotting on roads is fine, better barefoot than with shoes since it allows for the hoof to expand to absorb the concussion. If your horse has shoes, just be wary of wet pavement. Your horse will either love it or hate it. Mine actually prefers the road to the grass strip next to it. I think he gets a kick out of hearing the sound of his shoes.
Trotting on pavement is fine. When I had my horse in CT, it was the only way to get from point A to point B (the roads so narrow, there were no shoulders). The only thing I was always careful of was going downhill after a rain shower, the oily spots on the pavement could be slick.
Thanks for the feedback! I’ll keep an eye on his feet and see how it goes 
The roads are good, no potholes etc but not new pavement, so should be ok when dry.
The OP has a 17 year old eventer and would like to keep him sound. She should not be taking carriage horses or Roman cavalry as parallel examples. Navicular, ringbone, founder, arthritis… things to consider.
I wonder about concussion and its effects on bones. I’ve heard it actually strengthens the bone (an old instructor told me that), but my big Irish boy had pretty severe arthritis and ringbone, and he had to be put down at 17. I did a lot of walking/trotting on roads (these were dirt/caliche roads) because that’s what I had access to, and I can’t help but wonder if I did him a disservice.
Being born and brought up in the UK, riding in roads is simply part and parcel of riding, I spent my life riding on roads from one bridle way to another. The thing we knew was not to ask for anything more than a good working trot. An old fashioned saying:
It ain’t hunting that hurts the horses hooves
but hammer hammer hammer
on the hard high road.
Horses stayed sound and worked into old age, even with riding on hardtop.
Listen to your horse. He will tell you how comfortable he is. I would think a bit of trotting will not harm him but honestly…walking will probably keep his fitness just fine as long as you do it consistently and often. You would be shocked how much fitness an hour of walking a day can add or keep on a horse. Especially as you described…asking him into the bridle and lifting his back. And if you get some good snow…bonus as that can be hard work just walking in it!
I ride on the roads all the time - I have to. The good things? They are flat - no pebbles or other unevenness.As long as you leg him up properly hard footing can be very good for them. Watch if his feet are wearing down too much. He might need shoes or hoof boots.
Pay attention to how much downhill you do - that is killer on their legs/joints. Even on softer footing.
And about that asphalt - the stuff people use to seal their driveways is like ICE with horseshoes. I don’t even dare walk across it.
Concrete is harder than asphalt. Not that you want to fall on either one, but asphalt has a little more give than concrete, but I don’t know that they make non-highway roads out of it much. I think some hard packed dirt roads are even harder than pavement, and often have small rocks.
Reflective/painted road stripes have glass in them to make them reflective and can be very slippery.
I conditioned and legged up eventers for the long distance format (eventing) on roads at a very well respected BNT’s barn. There were a lot of things I liked, and a lot of things I hated about it. Some things to consider:
Your horse’s fitness. If he is 17, walking long distance is probably best for him over a short/concussive sprint every day. I leg up my own horses every year doing trails that include a fair bit of walking on the road. I do it only at a walk and they still come back from a few months completely off, quite fit from walking alone.
I would not do anything more than walk, if the horse is barefoot. Your mileage may vary. I found that the barefoot horses, even the horses with good, hard horn quality, had their hooves sheared away by the road. On the one hand being barefoot was better for traction and concussion, but I found if I did more than one set a week on the road it was too much for their hooves. I had to “retire” my own personal horse from the weekly rotation of road-work because his feet got worn quite badly even from one session - and I was unwilling to put hind shoes on him because he lived in group turnout.
Trotting on the road shod can be difficult - when it is raining or the road is wet, avoid it - slipping on asphalt is no joke, they go down hard and you can get hurt too. I have had horses slip behind on more than one occasion - it is much more slippery than I think people give the road credit for.
That and, paying attention to the people around you - on quiet neighborhoods you might not run into belligerent drivers (or even joggers!) but I have had more than one unpleasant encounter with someone who believed they had the right of way. In addition to casual pedestrians, even in public quiet roads you run into JV/V C&C teams jogging and practicing, you run into dog-walkers, people with carriages, runners – all of who act mystified to see you there, and sometimes are not so happy by your presence! There’s a lot of unseen things that can pop up too, things you would not expect - I had a man land in a hang-glider in front of me once on a quiet road (!) - once, met the worlds biggest porcupine crossing the road that sounded like something from The Village, and, there is one cul-de-sac I have to avoid because people don’t expect when they let their dogs out that there will be a horse hacking down the road - and I have had a few scary moments with BIG dogs bounding down to my horse. This has happened to me more than once - and I don’t always blame the dog’s owner, because I am guilty of just letting my dogs out without looking too (my dogs are respectful of our yard)… but sometimes things happen quite quickly. People on bicycles (some who are very rude!), motorcyclist, student drivers… I’ve encountered it all and prefer the predictability riding on a private trail or ring any day.
The other thing I have learned about road working is that, there is a lot of detritus on the road. I have pulled glass from frogs and heels before - you do need to be careful as sometimes there are remnants of beer bottles or whatever, on the side of the road - that can get into the hoof. More common on the major roads than quiet neighborhood roads.
Which brings me to my other point - if you are riding through neighborhood roads, do not forget to pick up your manure. A lot of cul de sacs are resentful of people riding through them here, because we had some people condition their horses on the road and leave a nice present while doing so.
Nah, don’t use the hard pavement as your area to work the horse, barefoot on hard pavement. Walk is perfectly fine, as well as an occasional trot, for a short bit. But trotting on the hard pavement for several minutes, barefoot… I just don’t see the benefit. Walking is SO GOOD for horses. A good hack off the property for 45 minutes is a great way to exercise your horse.
At 17, I would stick to walking in the off season. Preserve his body and his mind by backing off and giving him a change of pace and scenery in the off season…there’s no pressure to compete or stay fighting fit for a few months. A lot of fitness can be built up from extended walks/hacks. You can also mix it up by practicing free walk to medium walk transitions, haunches in, shoulder in etc while you are hacking down the road. MANY eventers do not spend enough time working on the walk work required in dressage, and you dont need a ring to do it. Denny Emerson has posted several times about the fitness a horse can build up in the off season, or early spring by taking several multi-mile long hacks a few times a week. Pretty much every upper level Dressage rider/trainer and Eventer I have ridden with or audited has stressed the importance of the walk, and hacking.
I have access to a 2 mile long gravel/dirt road, which makes 4 miles round trip from the barn to main road and its perfect for those extended walks and working on what I mentioned above. My mare is coming 14 so her comfort is important to me as she ages too. I don’t plan on trotting her on the roads for anything other than maybe a 60 second interval here and there. I wouldn’t take her on extended trot sets on an asphalt road, but that is my personal preference for wear and tear on her feet and joints. I think my mare appreciates the 4 months “off” with lots of hacking out, and only the occasional lesson or clinic in a ring, and I’m sure your guy would appreciate the change of pace in the off season too
Thanks for all of the feedback, lots of great tips and things to consider. I’ve taken my guy out through the neighborhood a few times, now. We did a couple trots, but he’s very forward and just got amped up a bit, so I think we will just stick with walking, which as many have pointed out would likely be more beneficial anyways.
It’s a very quiet neighborhood, and luckily my guy is great with pedestrians/dogs/cars etc. We live on a main road and his paddock is about 10’ off of it, so he sees that kind of traffic all day every day.
so far the reception to us by neighbors has been great- lots of surprised but happy folks. I’m lucky that my horse generally does not poop while riding, unless we’re out for a couple hours (which we won’t be on these walks) so no worries there but yes if he does happen to go, I will definitely clean up after him.
Thanks all, I’m looking forward to actually getting some saddle time this winter 1-2x per week and working on our dressage while we walk (it’s the phase that needs the most work for us anyways!).
I scanned the responses here and didn’t see mention of this, so…I would make sure that, if your horse is shod, you either use studs, borium, or pins in his shoes before you try to move out on pavement. That stuff is slippery!
Studs are very helpful for grip on roads, definitely - but I was told you shouldn’t condition on roads in them. I think the tiny winter boriums would be fine but wouldn’t do anything bigger.The uneven loading surface with studs on can make horses fatigue quicker, and it’s more taxing on their bodies because they have to compensate for the unusual angles the studs create. The other reason I have been told to avoid road studs while conditioning on the road is that in the event of a slip or god knows what, the horse is very likely to lacerate itself.
