Horse going down in the school

[deicinmerlyn]

TB Gelding , 18 years old. Fit and well, well schooled, ridden by educated rider (my sharer) cantering a 20 metre circle, leaving E to literally nosedive during a balanced canter and possibly somersault, catapulting rider onto her head.
Rider is fine,although sore and cut to mouth.
Horse seems ok but not able to put his head down to eat grass, but is happily eating from a hay net. Vet out tomorrow for check over.
I can’t understand how he could have gone down?! He apparently didn’t trip, he’s bf but his feet are good at present.
Any ideas please knowledgeable peeps, as I’m racking my brains as to what could have possibly caused him to go down for no apparent/obvious reason.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I think its just one of those things sometimes they just fall, one of mine did similar cantering in the school I didn't feel him trip he just went down and unfortunately I went with him and my leg got crushed, my ankle had 2 breaks had to have surgery and it's full of metal now.

I've had him since he was 2 he had never done it before and not done it since.

 

[planete]

This happened to me coming out of a corner in canter too. Unsettling when it comes out of the blue and you have no explanation. My horse and I were ok afterwards but I did worry about it and it made me hyper aware of our balance for ever after. I hope your horse just tweaked something and recovers quickly.

 

[Red-1]

I had one do this, at walk, on a hack. I was walking beside someone else, then we were looking at their tummy.

Horse never did it again.

In your case, I applaud the quick vet exam. Yes, the neck needs looking at, but I would also consider X rays of the foot and an assessment of foot balance. Also a heart listen, although I think it is likely to be clear.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I’d like a bit of a neuro work up. They are really fairly simple and easy to do and it would give peace of mind just incase.
Id agree though with above maybe just one of those things ?

 

[splashgirl45]

this happened to me cantering in a straight line on a track which was flat, he somersaulted and damaged both the pommel and cantle of the saddle but luckily he missed me. i got the vet out and he found he had a problem with his heart and said not to ride him again and either PTS or retire him. i retired him straight away and he had quite a few years doing nothing until he struggled to get up one day and i PTS then as there was no one there during the day and he could have been laying on the ground for hours before i got back from work if it happened again...

 

[deicinmerlyn]

Thanks all.
The poor sharer has a small fracture in her jaw and has had her mouth stitched.
Horse can now stretch his head down to drink and eat his dinner from the floor following one Bute earlier. He walked out around the school fine, but the rubber is slippy I felt . Too much of it and that flat type rubber. But sharer didnt think he slipped, so who knows. She thinks he somersaulted?! But how
Hopefully, the Vet will be able to shed some light as it’s very unnerving when the cause is not apparent.

 

[Rowreach]

Given his age I'd want a pretty thorough vet exam, but I'd start by xraying the front feet.

 

[st_marks]

I saw a friend's horse of a similar age to yours simply catch a toe and have a rotational fall while trotting on a beautiful arena surface. No one was hurt but it did a number on her saddle. That was 6 years ago, he's never done it since.

 

[Lucky Snowball]

Is it possible that there was a stone under a piece of the rubber which he stood on? In canter that would be very painful.
I hope nothing is found and it's just a one off and your friend is well again soon.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

It's something about the part at first not being able/wanting to lower the head afterwards, only doing it again after some time have passed, which makes me think that if it had been one of my dogs, I'd suspect a trapped nerve.
As in A nerve got trapped, could be just by pure bad luck, causing dog to fall, nerve got "untrappped" but was still unhappy, preventing dog from lowering their head until the nerve had recovered.

But I have no idea if that's transferable to a horse or not.

 

[Lois Lame]

That sounds like an interesting theory, FinnishLapphund.

I know a very good rider who had a horse trip and fall and hurt her to a degree. It's puzzling. That was in an outdoor sand arena, doing a few jumps I think.

 

[TPO]

Had a horse do that in walk. Vet booked straight away and turned out to be a heart murmur.

Definitely a good idea to get a thorough check up. The neck issue may have been caused by the fall but not the cause of the fall.

 

[deicinmerlyn]

Thanks for your replies
Horse was checked by Vet yesterday and given a thorough exam and work up. Apart from being a little stiff and sore, now appears none the worse. Think that not putting head down was simply shock and he was dazed, just stood there. He is going back in another week for further tests and nerve blocks just for his and everyones safety and to rule out any possible underlying cause.
I think the stone under rubber may have been a possibility
He was also slightly off on the R hind and L fore, which considering he was in canter on the left rein when it happened, will be investigated further. At 18 he’s probably got some Arthritic changes but Vet said not enough to warrant medicating at this point.
Hes got the rest of the week off then hacking and walk/trot in school until he’s re assessed.

 

[exracehorse]

Three weeks ago my lovely sharer was riding my big lad. Cantered around the corner in the school. It does get a bit deep in there. In slow motion he fell onto his side. Frightening to see a 17.1hh horse land with a rider underneath. I think he just slipped. And went down.

 

[Fieldlife]

Three weeks ago my lovely sharer was riding my big lad. Cantered around the corner in the school. It does get a bit deep in there. In slow motion he fell onto his side. Frightening to see a 17.1hh horse land with a rider underneath. I think he just slipped. And went down.

Were they all okay?

 

[exracehorse]

Were they all okay?

Yes. All fine. And not done it again. Think horses do sometimes just fall.

 

[deicinmerlyn]

Update for those who might be interested

vet was back out today, to do a second exam, Including front foot X-rays, heart, eyesight and bloods for Cushing and general FBC.

All good, nothing significant. Good foot balance, good sole depth 1 cm (which I was astonished at) he’s barefoot. Navicular all good and coffin joint etc.

i was hugely relieved but at the same time was in a way hoping that there was something to explain what happened.

Im not using the saddle again, it needs checking anyway and I can’t afford to have it done yet with two vet bills. So he’s in his Event saddle for now.

He has been fine since in walk trot and canter. So still have no idea what happened. The school surface possibly. He is a bit of a ‘Daisy cutter’ which doesn’t help. Saddle? Who knows?! But at least I’ve done all I can do for now.

 

[lynz88]

Strange. Though it does happen. Mine didn't quite do that when he was young but did trip over a small crossrail which had ground poles laid out in front as well and it wasn't as if he has never jumped before (how is beyond me) and both him and I ended up on the ground. One moment we were up and next moment we were both on the ground wondering what happened!

 

[SEL]

That's how I did my shoulder 20 odd years ago. It was in a lesson so people watching and his feet just went from under him. No one could work out what had happened.

I was supposed to be buying that horse because he was a bit much for the riding school but I lost my nerve on him after that...

 

[deicinmerlyn]

Strange. Though it does happen. Mine didn't quite do that when he was young but did trip over a small crossrail which had ground poles laid out in front as well and it wasn't as if he has never jumped before (how is beyond me) and both him and I ended up on the ground. One moment we were up and next moment we were both on the ground wondering what happened!

Argh! Not nice, but at least there was a cause in that he did trip.

 

[deicinmerlyn]

That's how I did my shoulder 20 odd years ago. It was in a lesson so people watching and his feet just went from under him. No one could work out what had happened.

I was supposed to be buying that horse because he was a bit much for the riding school but I lost my nerve on him after that...

can understand that. It’s not a nice experience. Did you find out how he was in the years following?

 

[catembi]

Mine collapsed in walk. His legs just buckled & he went down with no warning. It was PSSM - n/p1, n/p3, px/px. He did it 3 times in walk and once in trot and I stopped riding him and retired him. You would probably know if it was that though as you would be having other symptoms.

 

[deicinmerlyn]

Mine collapsed in walk. His legs just buckled & he went down with no warning. It was PSSM - n/p1, n/p3, px/px. He did it 3 times in walk and once in trot and I stopped riding him and retired him. You would probably know if it was that though as you would be having other symptoms.

im sorry to hear that

 

[Lucky Snowball]

I hope everything continues to be fine and it was just a one off.

 

[deicinmerlyn]

I hope everything continues to be fine and it was just a one off.

Thank you, so do I!

 

[Cob Life]

I h

Strange. Though it does happen. Mine didn't quite do that when he was young but did trip over a small crossrail which had ground poles laid out in front as well and it wasn't as if he has never jumped before (how is beyond me) and both him and I ended up on the ground. One moment we were up and next moment we were both on the ground wondering what happened!

I had this happen twice on 2 different horses, the first tripped on landing from a small cross pole I wasn’t expecting it obviously and landed on my head, the other a few months ago tripped warming up for jumping over what was essentially a raised pole! He didn’t go all the way down but went down to his knees, I knew what was coming so rolled to the side Especially as he’s clumsy enough to accidentally step on me when he’s on all 4 feet let alone when he’s just tripped!

 

[SEL]

can understand that. It’s not a nice experience. Did you find out how he was in the years following?

He was fine - just a freak accident. He went on to do a tonne of riding club stuff with his new owner and as far as I know never did it again. I hope it was just a freak accident for yours too

 

[ElectricChampagne]

I had this happen to me twice. Once was in a riding school lesson, horse suddenly became lethargic and wouldn't move forward, but bless her she kept trying. She just dropped out from under me in trot and I knew something was seriously wrong despite the instructor telling me to pull her up just kick on. Vet came out and said she'd had a heart issue and she died a few days later. Poor pet.

My own horse a few years ago came down in top of me after we jumped a small log in an arena, we were a good 4 strides away in canter and it was just like his legs went out from under him. He landed on top of me with the cantle dug into my ribs. I was incredibly lucky as I he knew he'd come down on top of me, he rolled up enough to release my leg and waited so politely till I disentangled myself from the stirrups and pulled myself out and got out of his way. I luckily wasn't injured bar a few bad bruises. I wondered what happened and maybe he did hit a stone or just tripped like was suggested here.
He hasn't done it since.

Hopefully your fellow is ok OP doesn't sound like it's anything serious thankfully. You're on the ball to get him so thoroughly checked.

 

[lynz88]

EC - your stories made me just think of Eric Lamaze when he was riding Hickstead when he went down ??