Horse falling when being ridden...please help!!!

[DustyDog]

Hi Everyone,

After lurking on this great site for a long time (two years I think!) I am posting to get any advice or info on a problem which is now really worrying me. I've owned my horse (15.2h, 10 year old, welsh x) for 7 months now and in that time she's now fallen twice.

The first time was schooling on a circle in trot..there was nothing to trip over but she seemed to stumble and then go completely down, falling right onto her side. We were both ok but it was a horrible experience. She was completely fine the next few weeks so I put it down to a one off.

Last week we were walking on a grass verge alongside a quiet road, when she suddenly tripped and fell again. We both ended up on our backs in the middle of the road and the back of her saddle was all scratched. Again, luckily both ok but I led her home.

Now I am just not enjoying riding as I'm thinking all the time that it could happen again any time with much worse consequences. I had a horrific accident two years ago and bought this horse to regain my confidence. In all other ways she is great, she is not lame although can be a bit stiff occasionally in one of her back legs. She is quite lazy sometimes though, could it be this and she's not picking her feet up or something more serious??

Her saddle has been checked recently and I'm getting the back man out hopefully next week.

Any ideas very much appreciated....thanks!!!

 

[ThePony]

Vet - so many things it could be, it is obv serious though so I would wait on getting other professionals out and get a thorough check from your vet. Could be from just a little long in the toe causing her to trip, to a nerological prob. OH used to ride a mare with narcolepsy, could still ride her, just had to be aware of keeping it interesting and not hanging about in halt!

 

[sprite1978]

A horses first instinct is self preservation, so I would find it very strange for a normal horse to allow themselves to fall from just catching a toe by being lazy. Esp twice and especially in walk.

Tripping can be linked to navicular, but if you say he appears completely sound this sounds unlikely. There are so many Neurological conditions that it could be. It would be best to not ride, and call the vet

 

[lil47000]

Vet - so many things it could be, it is obv serious though so I would wait on getting other professionals out and get a thorough check from your vet. Could be from just a little long in the toe causing her to trip, to a nerological prob. OH used to ride a mare with narcolepsy, could still ride her, just had to be aware of keeping it interesting and not hanging about in halt!

I know a horse that falls asleep while it is getting tacked up! Narcolepsy is his condition! Would be worth a trip to vets to investigate, nothing worse than riding along always wondering what next! :?

 

[tiggs]

I would get the vet out before the back man and preferably before you ride again. Maybe lunge to see if you can see anything from the ground.

 

[wyrdsister]

Hmm, I'd say call the vet asap too. My old chap started falling at about 28 due to some sort of complications related to his heart murmur (which he'd had by then for over 8 years with no side effects). He was retired shortly after and is now a very happy field ornament. Hope you find a better resolution, though!

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Vet.

Best case scenario, shoeing issue or poor surface?

Worse case scenario, wobblers? Dunno, not a vet, just know a horse with it that stumbled, but it was a lot and sounds like your girl is not doing it much.

 

[Shilasdair]

Agree with other posters that there are so many things it could be, and your first call should be to your vet.
Here are some suggestions, based on my past experiences;
1. Lameness in front (bilateral) - things like mild arthritis can make a horse stiffer and more likely to stumble.
2. Poor foot balance - and perhaps over long toes, meaning the breakover of the front feet is too slow. Ask your farrier to reevaluate her feet.
3. Check her diet, and give her a supplement (broad spectrum vitamin and mineral) or perhaps even get bloods checked. Stumbling and tripping can be linked to Vit E and/or selenium deficiency (it used to be common in horses kept on grazing on carseland).
4. Check her back, and that her saddle fits - back problems and lameness can often go together.
5. Ride her forward, up into a contact more so that you keep her collected and thus (hopefully) more balanced.
6. Check her eyesight - sometimes this is an early cause of mild 'clumsiness' in horses.
Hope these ideas are useful - and that she is ok.
S

 

[mon]

My horse started doing this vet thought tumour or cyst on spine, hopefully yours isn't this but get it checked, before too late good luck

 

[SillySausage]

As a child I had my loan pony fall over walking down a flat track with me, he was absolutely fine and got up and walked off leaving me wandering what on earth had happened!

When we had him vetted to then buy it turned out he was blind in one eye and we had no idea, it could be eyesight related perhaps?

Best to consult a vet.

 

[Daisy2]

Keep the it simple and start by ensuring that the farrier is not leaving the roe too long. My old farrier told me that a horse lifts it foot to clear its pedal bone from the ground not its hoof wall so the longer it is the more likely it is to stumble over them a bit like us wearing flippers, so dont get too scared by all the possible deceases that could be causing it, even better try going barefoot if not already, Good luck

 

[hayinamanger]

Horses with Narcolepsy do not usually fall asleep when ridden.

I'd get the vet out for a full examination. Hope you get it sorted.

 

[Tnavas]

Definately have her checked out by the vet for any medical problems.

Talk to your farrier and ask him to put rolled toe shoes on her, also have her feet done more often than currently done - long toes can cause tripping.

Finally - and this was the problem with my TB - have a chiropractor check her over, the neck out of alignment will cause stumbling and tripping right over, I was lucky ini that mine went over in the paddock with me - on the road he would have ripped his knees open. He was manipulated under general anaesthetic and never tripped or stumbled again.

 

[indie999]

Def Vet. Just retired my boy as he was known stumbler(in walk due to arthritis) and finally went down on both knees. But your horse is quite young and would get it checked out could be anything etc. I remember thinking mine was being lazy not picking his feet up and it went on over a few years(approx 5) intermittently he eventually went lame badly.

When he was x rayed he had lots of new bone growth/arthritis in both back legs(he had been driven). So now retired and yes I agreee when he went down it was very sudden and he panicked to get himself righted. So I called it a day too dangerous.

But Vet yes. Good luck.

 

[Bangagin]

My horse has just gone through over a year of lameness investigation and treatment - and the first signs of a problem were frequent tripping, and eventually she tripped badly whilst cantering a circle in a lesson and fell with me. So I do sympathise - it's not pleasant!

She used to stumble and trip over nothing out hacking, but would usually recover herself well and we only fell once.

It turned out that she had lameness issues in both front feet.

Good luck - I hope it turns out not to be anything too serious.

 

[canteron]

I have a horse who is prone to tripping and it can be quite random. I have had it looked at by the vet, who was pretty sure it was a lack of concentration.

As he has got fitter it has got lots better, but these are the other things I try
1. Had gone barefoot. He definitely more sensitive and does seem to be able to 'feel' more through his feet.
2. Really work at his concentration (and mine)
3. Really work at getting him off the forehand and his schooling
4. Really work at getting my position as secure as can be
5. Last, but probably most importantly, really work at getting him going forward at all times. Never ever let him 'drift' when riding.

I have to confess it is a work in progress and not entirely convinced so am very caution on any surfaces that aren't true, but we do seem to be progressing well so I have my fingers crossed.

 

[Devonshire dumpling]

As everyone else has said definately call a vet.

Whats ringing alarm bells with me is, its not just a tip and fall to the knees,its falling over to the side and back?? This is not normal for a trip! Sounds neurological or some sort of faint/lack of Oxygen to the brain....

Please get this checked as you could get badly injured, hope its nothing XX

 

[Samantha008]

Ok, dont panic about anything neurological yet....

My horse has wobblers and believe me, you would have had more problems than falling over twice in 7 months, she would trip a few times per hack and probably go down on her knees a lot. Have you tried trotting poles? When my mare was a wobbler she would step on top of the poles, knock her off balance and go down. I would worry more about narcolepsy? A neuro horse " wont look right" on the lunge usually either. But there are lots of types of neuro problems, not just wobblers, and lot sof things that can cuase neuro problems.....

Get the vet out and see what they say.

There are neuro checks you can do. PM me if you want more details. Otherwise look online and theyll show you what to do.

Personally though i think you would have had more problems than just twice in 7 months. Especially as my mare was only a grade 1 wobbler :/