Horse falling down

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YellowCaterpillar

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My sister got a pony who hadn't done any work since she was about 4 (she's 8 now) so we started retraining her. I've noticed that she trips a lot, especially walking to the field (the ground is pretty uneven though) but I always just put it down to clumsiness or not picking up her feet properly. My sister was riding her in the arena one day and she tripped and landed on her knees. My sister jumped off in case the pony rolled over and trapped her against the arena fence, and pony just jumped up and trotted off. Then a week or two later I was lunging her and she spooked, the ground was fairly slippy (we just lunge in a small grass paddock) and she went down. Walked her off and monitored her for a few days - no problems. My sister has also seen her fall in the field before after attempting a quick spin and run. Is this something we should be worried about and should I call a vet? Or is it just a balance problem? She is very long bodied and has a very long neck if that makes a difference...?
I have had an EDT out since just for their checkups and he said that her teeth were in really bad shape, very sharp and that it was causing her a lot of pain, she had cuts all along the inside of her mouth. So I'm wondering if that would affect her balance? i.e pressure on the bit causing her too much pain and making her trip/ fall.
Any suggestions much appreciated.
 
I would get all the checks done.

If she is long she could be working to much on the forehand, so all her weight is on her front legs, causing her to tip.

My horse used to trip, he has ringbone, this caused him to trip and fall on a number of occasions. I worked hard to get him to come back and work from behind, I also learned to sit up and ride through the trips, this helped reduce the number of times we went splat.
 
Agree that all the checks need doing. Definitely a farrier right away. May be as simple as hoof balance issues.

Is she mostly tripping in walk? That worries me a bit as it's the most balanced pace. Is her walk a true four beat, does she overtrack? Does the rhythm seem equal on both reins? Have a look at her walk on video (it's much easier to assess this objectively for most people). Is the leg breaking too early underneath her? Does she rotate her hoof as her body passes over it? If you can spot a mechanical issue I would definitely stop riding her. TBH I'd stop anyway, too great a risk for pony and rider.
How is she in hand on a riding surface, can she pivot on the forehand? back up, move away from pressure? I'd do some work in hand in the meantime... a well mannered pony is always a delight so it's of benefit and if she just needs to improve her body awareness starting small is the way to go. Walking over a pole for example.

As mentioned before she may be very much on her forehand; many horses left to their own devices do tend to bomb around on the forehand.

I would make sure you have her eyes checked also. An issue here may have gone unnoticed in the field but could be showing up now. Best of luck.
 
Thanks everyone, I have a farrier booked for Saturday morning and had planned on saying all of this to him as well, see if he could help.

Bakewell - she only really trips in walk when she is on an uneven surface but she trips fairly regularly when she's trotting around the arena. My sister has stopped riding her as she's worried that if she goes down again one of them could get seriously hurt. In the meantime I have been getting all of her checkups done and - providing all goes well with the farrier- my sister had planned on having an experienced instructor observe her riding to see if there were any obvious problems.
I haven't noticed any problems whenever I've worked with her in hand but tbh I wasn't really watching that closely for any so I will watch back videos that I have. She is fine with turning and backing up etc and never really has balance issues in this regard, it seems to be when she's in a faster pace that it gets a bit messy (more tripping)
My sister did some pole work with her as we thought she maybe wasn't lifting her legs enough but she had no issues with this.
And she was very unbalanced on the right rein when we started her training and with lots of short lunging sessions, this improved a LOT but she is still a bit hesitant on the right rein when being ridden.
 
You need a vet really. It could be muscle wastage because of lack of work or because of something more deep rooted, it could be neurological, it could be lameness related, etc. Best to get the all clear from the vet before your sister risks riding her again because a horse that falls can cause a very bad accident for the rider.
 
Sounds like you've got the right attitude with getting her checked out.
Bear in mind it can take a look longer for a balance/ bending issue to resolve than might be obvious to the eye; there will be associated muscle disparity etc. Also this build up process is going to require almost continual saddle adjustment.
As working evenly is new to her remember her concentration ability or duration may not be the same as the riders.

Just as an aside, you say she is very long bodied/ long built. Is there any possibility she's gaited/ from harness racing lines?
 
Nothing more to add to what others have said, but please please please, if you do continue to ride this horse, please put knee boots on her
 
My horse trips when stressed .. We worried about him (had vets and farriers out etc) then as he got more confident he tripped less - except when he was in stressful situations.. He barely trips now only when I push him way out of his comfort zone....
 
Just as an aside, you say she is very long bodied/ long built. Is there any possibility she's gaited/ from harness racing lines?[/QUOTE]

Yes, probably should have mentioned that she is a trotter/ stb but was never broken for harness and has a regular gait
 
joulsey said:
Nothing more to add to what others have said, but please please please, if you do continue to ride this horse, please put knee boots on her
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My sister doesn't plan to keep her in work, just going to walk/ trot her for an Instructor if the farrier can't find any problems. If it's nothing to do with the feet or riding then we will get a vet out!
 
blitznbobs said:
My horse trips when stressed .. We worried about him (had vets and farriers out etc) then as he got more confident he tripped less - except when he was in stressful situations.. He barely trips now only when I push him way out of his comfort zone....
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I'd never even considered that, thank you for the tip
 
YellowCaterpillar said:
Yes, probably should have mentioned that she is a trotter/ stb but was never broken for harness and has a regular gait
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I think this might play quite a large part. Some standardbreds have trot as we (rider types) understand it, and trot as their racing pace. They're not the same.... look at how far out behind they are when racing. It's what she's naturally built and bred to do. It's a bit like saying my hackney's knee action is a bit full on.
None of this means that she can't be reschooled/ re-educated but it's not the same as for a standard pony. It sounds as if you have a great relationship with her. You also need to remember that her default gait is the racing trot. Asking her to do something else is a bit more complicated than for other horses as it's not what she's been bred to do. I know a lot that are racers have difficulty after when ridden in transitioning into canter.... they just really get going in trot instead. Even if she hasn't raced it's still her natural instinct (icelandic ponies don't learn to tolt... they just can!)
Increasing and decreasing circles, lots of serpentines will help her. She will get there in the end, you might just have to be extra patient.

Obviously none of this overrules the need to have her checked out, tack fit checked etc but her actions don't seem to reflect pain to me. There may still be a physical reason exacerbating the problems of course.
 
So she had her farrier visit and he said he could understand the tripping if her hooves were horribly overgrown but he can't see any reason for it in her, everything looks normal. I have also been watching her walk up and down to the field with me and she has not tripped once. I really think it has something to do with her visit from the EDT but idk
 
I suggest that you have a chiropractor look her over. Horses that have fallen , nosedived usually can put their neck out. The nerves to the front legs go through the seventh cervical vertebrae and if this area is out of alignment and the nerves become pinched the horse may trip or fall.

One of mine was like this and it took several visits from the chiro to fix.
 
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