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Discussion on Riding on The Road with Shod Horse
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Member:
canter
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 11, 2007 - 8:11 am:
Hi All,
I'm sure this is a really dumb question but...Is it risky for a shod horse to walk/trot on a paved road? Could the horse's shoes make it more slippery so if it spooks while on the road, a leg is more likely to slip?
Around here, many people ride on the road but in un-shod horses. Not sure if there is a reason why for that.
The reason I ask is that I have slowly worked to make my mare comfortable outside of a fenceline or arena. She has come to enjoy our work in an open field and we have many lovely trails near the barn that I have hand walked her on to cool out. Last week, while cooling out I gave her a completely loose rein and she marched right over to the entrance of one of the trails and I just let her go. We pulled up only because she decided to take a bite of something and ended up with a small branch up her nose. I had to get off to pull it out of her nostril but she remained calm. So, I'd like to complete the trail with her but before it loops back to the barn, I would have to ride about 1/4 mile on paved road, unless I back-tracked.
Since she seems to really enjoy these mini outings, I'd like to increase our time out but just want to make sure that I don't pose any greater risk by riding her on the road with shoes on.
Am I being neurotic...as usual... by being concerned about this?
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Member:
hwood
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 11, 2007 - 8:51 am:
Yes, Fran, the pavement is more slippery than gravel, especially when turning or pivoting, and especially when it is wet. I've had horses go down on both gravel and pavement, though, shod and unshod . . . but that isn't the norm, and I ride a lot of green horses who are spooky and sometimes "pushy," so they are more prone to the unexpected. Just be aware of your surroundings and keep your shoulders back and seat in the saddle and be ready to hold back on the rein closest to a potentially spooky object. There is more concussion on pavement with a shod horse at the trot, but if your horse has been conditioned well and has no lameness issues and isn't trotted for long distances on pavement, then there shouldn't be a problem.
If you can ride on the shoulder of the road, on gravel, that would be best, IMO, but sometimes we just can't do that and have to be on the pavement in order to get where we want to go.
If you will be doing lots of pavement riding, I recommend horse sneakers, rubber horse shoes, or barefoot.
In Old Sacramento, there are several horse/carriage combinations that give rides, I was very impressed with one of the fellows who shod his draft with rubber shoes. If I can locate the photo, I'll post it.
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Member:
hwood
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 11, 2007 - 9:14 am:
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Member:
lhenning
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 11, 2007 - 9:49 am:
My horse is unshod, so I don't have this experience. However, we have a lot of Amish folks in the area and they shoe their carriage horses, then trot them on roads. I thought that is why they are shod. (Nothing prettier than hearing that clip, clop, clip, clop in the evening, while sitting on our porch).
You might feel more comfortable just walking on pavement, at least until your horse becomes used to it. Can you hand-walk her once before doing the ride, just to see how she reacts?
Linda
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Member:
amara
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 11, 2007 - 11:35 am:
for a long time our carriage horses were shod and they worked at walk and trot on paved roads (we eventually went barefoot)...
they were all shod with borium/caulks at heels and toe.. we never had any problems, even we when we were he^^ bent for leather on getting to that wedding on time!!!
but on the rare occasion a horse came in with normal shod feet or the borium got worn too thin we definately saw some slippage...not real real bad, but enough to make me a little queasy about going downhill on a crowded street... even at a walk i could sometimes hear a little slippage when the foot landed...always worried about too much torque on the joints..
if the road is flat and not too well travelled i wouldnt worry, especially if you can travel on the shoulder, but if its hilly and there's scary traffic and you're stuck on the road i foresee an ugly slip if she spooks...
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Member:
canter
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 11, 2007 - 12:56 pm:
Thanks, everyone & thanks Holly for the photo.
I have no plans for a lot of road work - it's a small part of the trail, but I do not want to put Sparkles at risk. Unfortunately, there are deep culverts on both sides so keeping her off the pavement isn't an option for the 1/4 mile or so.
Since we are in training, I won't be removing or changing her shoes -Are the horse sneakers/boots made for shod horses? I always thought they were meant to go over a bare foot.
I just want to broaden our horizons a bit as we both enjoy it and I believe it's a great way to keep a horse mentally happy.
The road has a slight incline up back towards the barn and it is a country road with little traffic, but the traffic that does come by is pretty quick.
I think perhaps after we train tonight, I'll take her tack off, put a halter & lead rope on and walk her down that portion of road and see how she does - it will give me a chance to look for pitfalls that I haven't noticed while driving on it on my way to the barn. If I load up my pockets with treats and keep her next to me instead of under me, we are likely both to be more relaxed before we tackle it under saddle.
And, if all else fails, I'll just turn around when we get to the road and head back the way we came - it's still a pleasant trip, either way.
Thanks again!
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 11, 2007 - 3:25 pm:
If it's just a short section of pavement, you'll be fine. If you are concerned about your horse acting up and slipping, then get off and lead her until she's more comfortable on the pavement.
btw-the mounted police in NYC use rubber shoes also. I used borium on our horses if we were riding in the mountains as the Sierras are full of granite and the borium really prevented them from slipping. I put it on their shoes in the spring, also, when snow would melt during the afternoon and be ice in the morning and at night.
When I DrOve my driving mare, I put rubber rims between her hoof and her shoe to help with concussion.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 12, 2007 - 7:38 am:
Hello All,
I have had a friend and client who lost her life by simply stepping on to a asphalt rode with a shod horse. We know this story because an oncoming car saw the event and reported it as such: Cindy, who taught dressage and balanced seat style of priding, was riding up the side of the road and stepped out onto the road to get around the mail box before entering her driveway. A foot slipped forward the horse goes down, the rider came off forward and broke her neck.
You must be very careful with shod horses on smooth hard pavement surfaces and rain makes it worse. If you plan to regularly ride a horse on such a surface, I believe borium granule caulks a must.
DrO
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Member:
canter
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 12, 2007 - 8:04 am:
DrO,
What a horribly sad story - I am sorry that you lost a friend in such a tragic way and appreciate you sharing the story.
That does it for me - I'm staying off the road with my horse as long as she is in shoes. There are enough options for us to get out of the ring that it simply isn't worth the risk.
Thanks again to everyone for their input.
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Member:
zarr
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 12, 2007 - 4:57 pm:
Dr.O so sorry for you and your friends family ! A young girl and her horse were killed in Mich. because a car crossed the center line and hit them head on ....2 very good reasons to stay off paved roads. Cindy
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Member:
ilona
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 12, 2007 - 11:23 pm:
I too know of too many accidents that have occurred on pavement, one in which the horse had to be euthanized on the scene and the girl hospitalized for months. A road both horse and rider were familiar with. An unusual vehicle spooked the horse and all hell broke loose. I hate pavement and have to load my horses to travel 1/8th of a mile to reach the trails I love....people think I'm nuts, and all I have to do is remember that young woman, bare their sneers and keep to my ways. I need to get those borium granule caulks. Until then I just load.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Jul 13, 2007 - 7:16 am:
While I was emphasing the dangers of shod horses on hard paved surfaces, I did not mean to suggest you should never step on to pavement. But that it must be done with care with regular shoes on.
We occasionally find our herd of horses and children walking on a paved road but I always make sure during the transition from dirt to pavement is done slowly and with care, we never travel quicker than a flat walk or slow corto on the roads, kids have helmets, extra caution if pavement is wet or particularly slick...
DrO
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Member:
canter
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Posted on Friday, Jul 13, 2007 - 9:39 am:
Completely understood, DrO. As I said, I have other options for my horse and if I want to ride the trails more extensively and need to travel on the road, the barn owner is always willing to loan me one of her horses, most of which are not shod and all of which have more trail experience than my horse.
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Member:
ilona
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Posted on Friday, Jul 13, 2007 - 11:06 am:
Dr O and all...there is quite a bit of traffic on my road, (campers, horse trailers, motor cycles, trucks with strange looking objects,fishing gear, and the occasional adolescent driver who thinks its funny to watch spooked horses) and that is always another consideration for me.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 14, 2007 - 6:52 am:
Our "country" roads are made when they put oil and small pieces of "gravel" down, after the cars drive on it, it turns into "pavement" we have no trouble with slippage because of the rough texture of the pavement. I know there is a different name for it but I can't think of it. Is this a regional thing?
Are your country roads true pavement? Just curious.
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Member:
hwood
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 14, 2007 - 7:16 am:
Macadam?
Bitumin?
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Member:
cheryl
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 14, 2007 - 7:39 am:
I've always heard it called "chip seal" - an excellent source for cracked windshields ! ! ! But - it's hard - relatively smooth - and a shod hoof will slide on it just as easily as on asphalt.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 14, 2007 - 8:21 am:
Hmmm we never have problems with cracked windshields, maybe some oil on the car when they first do it. This stuff is quite rough compared to "regular" pavement. The pieces of "rock" seem to give very good traction. We have NEVER had a horse slip even a little on it even on hills. Then again maybe we just have been lucky. I think they do call it "seal coating" but there is a different name. I tried to find a pic of it on the internet, maybe I will take one, as I am very curious if this is what other peoples "country roads" are.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 14, 2007 - 9:05 am:
Holly you were right bitumin seems to be what it is.
Here is a website with a pic of the finished product.
https://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://www.highwaysmaintenance.com/Srfdre ss/nudress1a.jpg&imgrefurl=https://www.highwaysmaintenance.com/sdpics.htm&h=301&w =401&sz=23&hl=en&start=11&sig2=WWw9c6kYaU-uWK8v9XyVMg&um=1&tbnid=kWslGvncEh5csM: &tbnh=93&tbnw=124&ei=csiYRuiMDYiEiQH_yKyRBA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Daggregate%2Broad% 26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den
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Member:
canter
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 14, 2007 - 11:11 am:
Here, the country roads are pretty much the same as every other road (normal asphalt pavement, I guess, not sure what the technical term for it would be) or dirt and gravel, no type of oil or sealant. Lovely to drive down after a long dry spell - the dust can be seen a mile away, and even with windows closed, the dirt gets in your teeth. yuck
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