# Would it damage my horse's hooves if I was to lope or gallop her in the road?



## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

If you are talking about a paved road then the greater danger would be slipping and falling. They can get road founder though from higher speeds for long distances.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

I wouldn't recommend it, no. I wouldn't take the risk.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

And the short answer is yes, hard asphalt can and will chip and break away hooves. Doing it once in an emergency may not harm the hooves but doing it repeatedly will cause chips and as someone else mentioned road founder could also happen


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## AndyTheCornbread (Feb 3, 2019)

Horses that work on pavement like police horses etc. require special shoes that have shock absorption built into them to keep from wrecking the horse's hooves and legs. You couldn't pay me enough to go faster than a walk on pavement with any of my horses.


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## Horsegirl80 (May 10, 2019)

Thank you everyone! I will be sure not to do it. I read somewhere it said it was perfectly fine, and wasn't sure!!!
I know now! thx!!
I also saw a video of someone galloping at full speed on the road.


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## ClearDonkey (Nov 27, 2016)

The only time I was ever advised to do walk/trot work on pavement is while rehabbing a horse that's feet were neglected while having shoes. When we pulled his shoes, he was four-legged lame and had to kept in a soft ground paddock. As his soles of his feet hardened up, we were told to walk him up and down our road to help along his feet a bit. I would never trot quickly/canter/gallop on pavement, as it is dangerous for yourself and your horse.


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## UnhappyHacker (Dec 30, 2017)

i would not...
even with the damage to their hooves I've ridden at a school that made us do some heavy road work on a hack- one horse then had swollen joints, the other was completely lame for the next week.

the issue isn't so much their hooves but their tendons and joints, lots of heavy roadwork can lead to serious issues in later life

that being said, a little bit of trotting is ok, like to cross the road or if on a narrow road and needing to get out of the way, but it should only be done when needed. i would never cater or gallop my horse on concrete


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I wouldn't lope or gallop on asphalt, either. But, horses that are ridden regularly on hard ground grow accustomed to it. Their tendons and ligaments adapt quite a bit. They may then struggle more with soft ground, like a sandy arena.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

There are many reasons that have been mentioned.

1. Danger of falling and breaking the horse's leg or yours
2. Damage to hooves
3. Destruction of joints
4. Collisions with cars, bicycles, people and such on the road could be an issue also

If you mean a dirt road with no rocks or traffic, I would say go for it.

I keep shoes on my horse. I rarely ride on pavement. There is a 1/4 mile stretch of pavement that I go over once every few months to get to some good trails. I have trotted her for a few feet just to get out of the road faster if a car was coming and nobody died. The pavement is very rough pavement and not at all slick like good pavement will be.

I'm glad that you asked and decided it is a bad idea.


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## Horsegirl80 (May 10, 2019)

Thanks everyone! I agree!


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

I'm going to be the devil's advocate! :twisted:

If your horse's hooves are well trimmed, then no, you are unlikely to damage them, much if at all, trotting or cantering on pavement/bitumen.

BUT I would not do it if the horse is conventionally shod. The damage from shock to joints, tendons, etc, etc is too great, along with dangers of slipping.

Even barefoot, horse needs to be trimmed well & have good, well developed hooves to absorb shock. Wouldn't really consider cantering, but trotting is OK.

Adequate hoof boots, Easyshoes or the likes, with appropriate padding where necessary, is how I'd 'dress' my horse if I were doing a lot of road work.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

Odd how different countries have different ideas. 

In the U.K. We have to do a lot of road work and majority of horses are shod. 

I would do a lot of road work with the horses whilst getting them fit. This was mostly steady trotting for many miles. 

Many times, whilst fox hunting we would canter on the roads, again this was with shod horses, they were fine and did not have any shock absorbing protection. However, cantering on e roads under normal circumstances didn't happen. 

Road work helps to harden their legs.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

When I was a fearless kid, my friend & I would gallop on the pavement after dark to see the sparks fly off the horses' shoes. This was before Cable & internet, we made our own fun.


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

Trotting is ok in moderation to condition legs and tendons but canter/lope/gallop isn't safe.

Roads are unforgiving surfaces. If your horse doesn't slip, there's also abrasion (which you can shoe against) and concussion to consider, plus of course the risk of collisions with traffic. While yes horses DO have the right of way on roads in many countries (Australia and the UK spring most immediately to mind) too many people don't realise this and/or drive dangerously around them. I have had a truck (a big one, not a pickup) collide with my stirrup while I was riding on the shoulder, not even the road itself, and it was deliberate as the driver swerved towards us!! I've also had people rev their engines and lean on their horns while they passed, with the intention of spooking my horse and "teaching me a lesson" about riding on the road. It's dangerous.

I do still ride on the road occasionally, but always in full hi vis gear including a big reflective day-glo yellow exercise sheet on my horse. That way in the event of anything happening I have proof that it is NOT my fault & can thus have the dangerous driver charged.

If you come across horses when driving you should always slow down and pass as wide as possible. They can move SO fast sideways with SO little notice that they should ALWAYS be considered a road hazard.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

I have always wondered how the Amish get away with trotting everywhere on hard paved roads. Is it because they are driving and not riding? Or is it because, as @Foxhunter said, it doesn't hurt them that much if they are just trotting? Or do they actually damage their horses? Anyone on this forum on close terms with Amish friends?


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

When we were kids and not thinking much of it, we would canter on asphalt roads. It was not continuously and not hard gallops either but the horse never complained. No damage at all? Can't really say without ex-rays but he lived to 34 and not a lame day in his life. Never had shoes on his feet either so don't know if that makes a difference.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

@knightrider a not so hidden secret in many areas the Amish live in is the fact that they will drive a horse until lame and then dump it at an auction. Horses are transportation and disposable. Some horses will remain fairly sound for years but some break down very quickly. My Uncle used to get used up carriage horses for next to nothing and rehab them. Now many just quietly go to the kill pen straight from the Amish


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

I have a 1/4 mile of paved road we ride daily to get out to trails. We trot that stretch of road daily twice sometimes 4 times a day. Never canter or gallop it. Have to move along because of traffic. We are not aloud to ride edge of feild any more ,property owners told us to stay off it.

My horse was currently x rayed and no hoof damage from riding on paved road.


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

Foxhunter said:


> Odd how different countries have different ideas.
> s.


Not sure how much it's to do with different countries. For me it's to do with time & information.

When i was young I used to trot & canter everywhere, paved or not. My horses were usually shod. But I didn't know better. I still do lots of trotting on roads, but bare or booted, and it does depend on the state of the horses (caudal) hoof as to how little I might do with one.

Horses didn't used to last as long, they were usually washed up, arthritic etc by 20yo. To look at rads of joints, of shod horses who have done a lot of road work - driving carriages & such, was an eye opener.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

I think a lot has to do with the pace you travel and the way a horse is shod. I have always been careful over the farrier I used. A bad one never lasted long.


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## Horsegirl80 (May 10, 2019)

:gallop:


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## Horsegirl80 (May 10, 2019)

Okay, so what I have read is confusing! Some people say it is fine and some say it is not.
I don't worry about my horse slipping or tripping, just what it could do to her hooves. None of my horses have shoes.:runninghorse2::gallop:


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## txgirl (Jul 9, 2010)

AndyTheCornbread said:


> Horses that work on pavement like police horses etc. require special shoes that have shock absorption built into them to keep from wrecking the horse's hooves and legs. You couldn't pay me enough to go faster than a walk on pavement with any of my horses.


The mounted police near me have gone to no shoes on their horses awhile back with good results. But they aren't galloping down the road every day!


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## ChieTheRider (May 3, 2017)

My grandma told me too many horror stories of horses slipping on the pavement. My farrier too told me that when he was young and spry he hopped on his horse (who was shod all the way around) and went to cross a highway. The horse was galloping and then tried to stop and ended up skating across the rode, sparks flying! 

No, just because road rash and broken bones hurt. Trotting is fine, and loping is alright if your horse is sure footed, but any faster...I wouldn't. And DO worry about slipping and tripping, it can happen. It may not, but if it does you could be in bad shape. I do remember doing this when I was first learning to ride and SPEED was all I wanted lol. I'd run as much as I could. Now...well, I'm still a teenager but have become much more...concerned about my safety. Almost to the point of being paranoid but still. 

And I wouldn't do it on a regular basis anyhow unless I had to. It's rough on the joints. :cowboy:


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

txgirl said:


> The mounted police near me have gone to no shoes on their horses awhile back with good results. But they aren't galloping down the road every day!


The Western Australian mounted police's horses are all barefoot and booted except the few whose feet are just far too big for boots (those are shod). They made that transition because that way the feet are protected, but they have much more traction on wet grass & roads. Safety.

BUT... hoof boots give so much traction that they increase the concussion up the leg on roads! Hooves are made to slip a little bit on landing, to help absorb some of the impact, and hoof boots take that away. So for heavy road work, especially at high speed, they're not really ideal. Neither are shoes though, because of the slip factor, and barefoot depends on how fast your horse's feet grow vs how fast they wear.

So basically the answer is road work is fine in moderation but generally not at high speed.


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

Horsegirl80 said:


> Okay, so what I have read is confusing! Some people say it is fine and some say it is not.
> I don't worry about my horse slipping or tripping, just what it could do to her hooves. None of my horses have shoes.:runninghorse2::gallop:


OK so if your horses aren't shod in rims & if they are well trimmed, not overdue, run forward, high heels, etc, a fair bit of trotting & some cantering on hard ground is not likely to do any damage to _hooves,_ IME. If the horse has good, strong, caudal feet, well developed enough to be the 'landing gear' and effective at energy dissipation as they're meant to be, then trotting & cantering on hard ground is not likely to damage bones or joints either - and as Fox said, can 'harden' them - cause them to become more dense, condition them.

I do disagree that 'road pounding' in conventional rims(or to a slightly lesser degree, plastic rims or bare, if the horse is peripherally loaded) does no damage. From what I understand of hoof function and peripheral loading, and rads I've seen of conventionally shod 'road pounders', I beg to differ.

But I think doing a _heap_ of 'road pounding' will eventually 'tell' on horse's _joints & ligs_, regardless how well their feet are working - it's like RSI & bodies aren't built for that. So if you're planning on doing a lot, then I'd consider hoof boots, to add a little further 'dampening'. 

And if you're planning on doing a heap, the amount of abrasion on the hooves may be too much for growth to keep up with, so for the sake of _hooves _you may also need boots.



> BUT... hoof boots give so much traction that they increase the concussion up the leg on roads!


That, IME is not true. I've even known horses to skid/fall on roads in boots. They do give more traction than steel rims on hard surfaces(less though on grass/mud), and they may give slightly more traction on a road than bare feet, not sure about that. But they definitely don't give so much as to torque a hoof IME.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

Take this with a big steaming cup of FWIW:

I often go along with my horse choosing to trot or canter, and to stop when he feels like it. On pavement, his periods of self-chosen trotting are probably 1/3 the distance they are on dirt roads. His self-chosen canters on pavement usually end before a half-dozen strides.

Our dirt roads/trails have a number of rocks and the dirt itself is hard enough that they barely leave a print. Often no prints at all. In a sandy wash, their self-chosen trots or canters last much longer (4-5 times) than they do on dirt roads, and last longer on dirt roads (3X?) than on pavement. I assume there is a reason.


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## heybay (Apr 17, 2019)

On paved road walking only mayyybe a light trot if you have a easily controlled horse. Dirt roads walking, trotting, and occasional LIGHT loping... occasional, but not recommended.

Paved roads are very slippery and can be dangerous! Dirt roads, even in the more sand parts don't have a ton of "give." You horses hooves are less of a concern than their legs. Hard surfaces can cause internal damage that is MUCH more drastic than chipping out hooves. 

I would leave roads to "trail riding." Not worth the risk IMHO  

Also side note: When I was younger and dumb I would lope/gallop on dirt roads, I was very lucky to have not cause damage to my horses! BUT it made them SOUR and HOT HEADED. One of my training horse's owner took her on the roads and "only trotted" but the next week the farrier was out for shattered heals. There's no guarantee it was from road riding but I suspected it was.

Don't feel silly for asking the question! I'm glad you did, just please keep roads to "trail riding"


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

^Heyday, I don't believe it was just luck that you didn't 'damage your horses', and I don't think that is what caused your horses to be 'sour'. Though of course, that's assuming it _didn't_ 'damage'. Just, as I explained, I think it depends very much on other factors, not just that fast paces on a hard surface is _necessarily_ damaging. Although if you galloped everywhere, that may have caused 'hot headedness'. I am also sure 'shattered heels' weren't_ caused_ from trotting on a dirt road, though that could have been a 'final straw' type situation, if they were already so damaged.


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