I'm trying to ride more around home to save money and get my horse in shape.  The ditches alongside the road are very muddy right now, and so are the fields.  My horse tends to want to walk on the pavement (of course, because it's easier) but i keep forcing her to stay on the shoulder of the road or in the ditch.  I'm afraid that her walking on the pavement will hurt her joints.  Am I being overly cautious?  She is barefoot and sound.  I worry about broken beer bottles or metal lurking in the long grass in the ditches, the road does seem safer at times....but I don't want to ruin my horse.  Thoughts? 

Amanda

Gentle trotting on roads will not kill your horse. If you go at a fast, unbalanced trot extremely often, then it could be a problem. If you are extremely concerned, try a pair of hoof boots to soften the blow. Many say that slowly building up work with the horse on pavement is good for strengthening the bones. I'm not sure if that is actually true or not but I threw it out there FWIW. I drive horses and have spent a lot of time trotting on roads with no ill effects. Just use common sense and don't pound your horse to death on the roads.

Just my opinion...

The amish seem to get along riding on the highways and country roads. Just be careful and condition your horse to the hard surface. There are several ailments such as road founder to bowed tendons to watch for so I'd make a call to your vet to get his/her opinion on how you should procede.

I ride on gravel roads a lot and try to ride on the soft shoulder or field as much as possible. I have never had a problem and I have been doing it for over 22 years. I watch closely for beer bottles, cans, boards and other hazards too + plus the annoying cars. :)

If the choices are rough ditches with trash or flat pavement I'd always pick the latter.  If you are riding along in the ditch and your horse steps into a hole you could be in for some mighty high vet bills...I speak from experience.

So long as your horse has good hoof quality and a sufficient amount of hoof, you will be fine riding on pavement.  The Amish here use dril-tec or borium on their horses shoes to keep the horses from slipping on the pavement.  A bare hoof will do the same but just be aware that the pavement will work somewhat like a rasp on the feet. I agree that the pavement is a better way than ditches with unknown hazards.  With my previous mini (who has passed away) I would purposefully drive him on pavement from time to time to file down his feet.  My current mini is still learning to pull the cart.  My  buggy mare has dril-tec on her shoes.  Just have fun and be safe!

And if you want or need to toughen your horse's feet, I highly recommend Happy Jack Pad Kote;  it is for dogs and horses.

Thanks for the replies guys, I feel better.  I really do like to trot on Daisy, but in the ditches I worry about her stumbling or hitting a hole.  Those durn gophers and ground squirrels make some dangerous ones.  I had thought about the hoof boot thing to cushion her feet, but I wonder if I should do all four.  She doesn't usually slip on the pavement with bare feet, but that's not to say it couldn't happen.  I wonder if I do hoof boots on front, if her back end may slide out from under her.  Should I do all 4 for balance?   Anyone had luck with those glue on rubber type shoes I've seen coming out?  I believe there is one on the renegade hoof boot's page.

Amanda

Extended periods of pounding trot on pavement can not only effect the hooves, but the bones, tendons and ligaments in the lower leg.  That said, as a carriage driver, sometimes driving on the road is the only place available to condition our ponies for competition.  We almost always keep the ponies shod and make sure to cold hose the legs after a workout and apply linament.  This type of road work should be approached with a limited amount of trotting at first then building up to more extended peroids of trotting as the condition of the animal improves.

It's a bit difficult to compare what the Amish do with their driving horses to what the normal recreational driver or rider does.  I understand that the average working "life" of an Amish owned carriage horse is about 7 years.  After that, their legs have a tendency to break down.  They are almost always shod with borium (or other stud type) shoes.  This allows more "grip" on the smooth road surface and also prevents wearing of the shoe.  It does not lessen the impact of the trotting on hard surfaces and the potential for damage.  I know I would want to keep my friend/companion healthy and happy for a lot more than 7 years.  Just proceed with caution and make sure your horse is conditioned.

The pounding on pavement can lead to several soundness issues as others have mentioned. Using hoof boots and using support type wraps can help a great deal.

SMB, Legacy, Classic Equine and other companies make very good stretchy support wraps. The SMB III will absorb up to 25% of stress.

Hoof boots - depending on your horse - at least the fronts which carry the majority of the horse's and rider's weight.

We do not recommend trotting on pavement to our customers for a variety of reasons....one of which being that any inbalance in the hoof, trimming or shoeing, or conformation of the leg......only adds to the concussive forces compounded by the impact on pavement.  Slippage can be a problem, as well as laminitis in extreme cases, most notably on underfit overfed animals trotting longer distances.