[shaggy]

So I've finally got sick of not riding my horse cause of rain. So i had an idea today( while walking down the driveway back to field cause I decided to turn shaggy out and see if he would stay in well he didn't and met us almost in the road needless to say he's not going out again for awhile!) the owners have this huge long concrete driveway so i thought since its the only place dry on the farm why not ride him down it a couple times! but I was wondering is it ok on his legs to ride on the concrete? I mean he runs up and down when ever he breaks out of the field anyways.

 

[Saskia]

I wouldn't do it. Concrete is very hard, and I think it would be hard on his joints.

Although that's just what I think.

 

[waresbear]

You see horses in parades & city cops riding horses on pavement. While it's not ideal, keep it to a walk. When I was a kid, we used to gallop our horses down the street and watch the sparks fly off the pavement, yes I was young & irresponsible, but it was fun.

 

[themacpack]

Moving freely on his own and moving while carrying weight on his back is different - so being comfortable with the former may not translate to comfort with the latter. Is your horse shod or bare? If bare, what sorts of footing is he being kept on, moving on on a routine basis (not just when he makes a break for it ;-) )?
As waresbear said, keep it at a walk - the concussive force of impacting on pavement at higher speeds is amplified on their structures - often with negative results.
Are you avoiding working him in the other areas due to your own concerns about the muddiness or is it that the BO has put restrictions on use of areas because of the wetness? I only ask because it is not necessarily automatically not possible to work in a wet area, as with working on concrete you would have to make appropriate adjustments to what you do to fit the conditions.

 

[Tianimalz]

Ive heard that riding too hard on pavement is not only horrible for the joints...but can also cause bruising in the hoof. When pavement comes in play i keep it at an easy walk. Sounds like a preventable vet bill.
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[shaggy]

I guess i should have said shaggy's barefoot and he's got great feet a side from the thrush i can't seem to get rid of lol and he's mostly walking on dirt and grass and some gravel when he's actually aloud in the field and no the owners aren't keeping me from riding in certain places. the ring is just so muddy it looks like a pond instead of a ring.

 

[Country Woman]

if you ride on the pavement be careful

 

[bubba13]

It's a) extremely hard on the joints, b) can cause road founder, c) tears up a barefoot hoof, and d) does not give safe purchase for a shod hoof.

 

[gypsygirl]

riding on the road can be very beneficial to your horse if you do it right. start only at a walk for short periods of time, starting at only a few minutes. road work can help strengthen their tendons and ligaments, which will make them less likely to tear. i personally will w/t/c and gallop on the road, but thats because i fox hunt.

 

[waresbear]

Sorry to go off topic, however....Is foxhunting done on pavement?

 

[bubba13]

riding on the road can be very beneficial to your horse if you do it right. start only at a walk for short periods of time, starting at only a few minutes. road work can help strengthen their tendons and ligaments, which will make them less likely to tear. i personally will w/t/c and gallop on the road, but thats because i fox hunt.

Where are you getting your information?

 

[Kayty]

Bubba, working horses on hard surfaces is actually quite a common practice to help strengthen the tendons and ligaments. A lot of dressage and event horses are brought lightly back into work doing road work for this reason. Mainly walking, and gradually building to gentle, short bursts of trot. Never faster.
I was advised by my vet when Hugo tore his suspensory, that 'when' he was sound enough to start light work, to do most of it on hard surfaces, preferably on roads at walk and eventually light trot, to strengthen the ligament.

 

[mom2pride]

I think if you were to keep him at a walk going up and down once or twice wouldn't hurt him, especially since this wouldn't be a 'permanent situation'; if you have any leg protection, put it on him.

 

[bubba13]

Bubba, working horses on hard surfaces is actually quite a common practice to help strengthen the tendons and ligaments. A lot of dressage and event horses are brought lightly back into work doing road work for this reason. Mainly walking, and gradually building to gentle, short bursts of trot. Never faster.
I was advised by my vet when Hugo tore his suspensory, that 'when' he was sound enough to start light work, to do most of it on hard surfaces, preferably on roads at walk and eventually light trot, to strengthen the ligament.

Even under saddle, and when shod? I have always heard--both from local veterinarians and from articles in print and online--that doing any work on hard surfaces is extremly detrimental to the joints. When evaluating ground to ride on, the guideline has always been that if you can hear your horse's footfalls, it's too hard and thus not safe. Hard ground will support soft tissue more that soft ground, but at the expense of joint damage, common sense would say. Do you have any evidence to support this belief?

 

[Kayty]

Bubba, working horses on hard surfaces is actually quite a common practice to help strengthen the tendons and ligaments. A lot of dressage and event horses are brought lightly back into work doing road work for this reason. Mainly walking, and gradually building to gentle, short bursts of trot. Never faster.
I was advised by my vet when Hugo tore his suspensory, that 'when' he was sound enough to start light work, to do most of it on hard surfaces, preferably on roads at walk and eventually light trot, to strengthen the ligament.

Oh and just to add - no I don't think that riding on concrete every ride is a good idea. Ligaments will do well on it, if introduced very slowly, but joints will not fair well and it is very easy for them to slip.

I would limit any work you do on pavement/concrete, to walk and a slow trot in short bursts if the horse is conditioned enough. Otherwise, just sit on your hands and wait for the normal riding area to dry out.

 

[waresbear]

Well, if it was so horrible, I am pretty sure they would not ride police horses on pavement, or carriage horses on the street. Although someone is alway protesting that the carriage horses are abused, so I dunno. I can state for a fact, I rode all sorts of horses & ponies (as well as many of my childhood friends) on pavement 1/2 the time & dirt trails the other 1/2. We rode probably 20 to 30 hours a week, rarely did we have a lame mount. So, maybe we conditioned them without knowing.

 

[waresbear]

And off topic again, is foxhunting done on pavement streets?

 

[Kayty]

Even under saddle, and when shod? I have always heard--both from local veterinarians and from articles in print and online--that doing any work on hard surfaces is extremly detrimental to the joints. When evaluating ground to ride on, the guideline has always been that if you can hear your horse's footfalls, it's too hard and thus not safe. Hard ground will support soft tissue more that soft ground, but at the expense of joint damage, common sense would say. Do you have any evidence to support this belief?

Apparently so. I'll have to look into it, only telling you what I've heard re ligament injury and working dressage horses back in.
I wouldn't have been able to work Hugo on a hard surface like that anyway, due to his hock injury. Was caught between a rock and a hard place on that one. But the treatment for ligament and tendon injuries has always been to work them on a solid surface, they should be able to reach the base of whatever surface you're riding in. Any drag from a soft surface will increase damage.

 

[crimson88]

Don't do it. I know of a horse who lived in a concrete paddock and he slipped and fell, did the splits and it ruptured an artery in the pelvis area (I don't know the name of the artery) and basicly bled himself to death.

 

[bubba13]

Apparently so. I'll have to look into it, only telling you what I've heard re ligament injury and working dressage horses back in.
I wouldn't have been able to work Hugo on a hard surface like that anyway, due to his hock injury. Was caught between a rock and a hard place on that one. But the treatment for ligament and tendon injuries has always been to work them on a solid surface, they should be able to reach the base of whatever surface you're riding in. Any drag from a soft surface will increase damage.

I haven't really researched this, but seems to me there would be some sort of happy medium. I just know I got chewed out by a vet one time when she saw me trotting my gelding down the road, and that she thinks that riding on hard surfaces was a contributing factor to his navicular syndrome (which we suspect is primarily soft tissue). Which makes sense, if you think about it. Concussive force causes chronic inflammation, which irritates the bone, causing deterioration. The rough edges can form spurs or can abrade the soft tissue (tendons and ligaments)--causing more pain and inflammation in an vicious cycle.

I don't know. I wouldn't do it. If feasible, I would think rubber mat footing would be ideal. It has plenty of shock absorption but no give to stretch healing tendons.