Horse tripping due to collapsed heels or something else?

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Christmas Crumpet

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Morning.

A friend who I ride with has been offered an exracehorse for £1k. He is currently at the yard at home and seems really nice and quiet which is just what she wants. She came out exercising with me last night and I noticed that the horse trips a lot. He has got pads on in front due to his collapsed heels (which look dreadful).

Do horses with collapsed heels trip a lot or could it be something else? She is going to have him no matter what because she's fallen in love with him but I'm concerned he might have something more sinister within his feet. He's about 14 and has been raced hard since about the age of 4.

I'm just quite interested to know what people think having read lots of posts about tripping horses. My horse trips once in a while but that's when he stands on a sharp stone but Jack seems to trip every 2 minutes or so.
 
My horse trips a lot, but after extensive investigations we have decided it is down to two separate causes:
1) He is not very bright and keeps forgetting what it is he's meant to be doing. ie. staying standing.
2) I am a rubbish rider and if I am 'present' all the time, riding actively, he does not trip.
I'm sure many horses do have medical/environmental reasons for tripping, I am equally sure many suffer from 1) above and even more from 2) above .......
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I would, like you, be suspicious about this.
Alarm bells ring for me with TBs with collapsed heels and gel pads - from bitter experience I would be looking at soft tissue problems, coffin joint problems, navicular type pain.
He isn't young and has had a hard life by the sound of things so she may be buying trouble.... then again, if he has lasted this long perhaps he is a tough old thing...
I would be thinking of the vet bills ahead though myself...
 
My mare has collapsed heels and as a result she would trip often because the toe was getting so long and running away from her. Although she was not lame, she was certainly a bit footy on the harder ground, which is what caused me to have xrays taken of her fronts.

The xrays showed that the angle of her foot was too shallow which was caused by the low heels. I was recommended not to go down the heel lift route as this can sometimes stifle the progression of the heel, but to start encouraging the heel to grow and cushion the foot in the meantime, which we did.

That was back in January and I now have a lovely sound horse who no longer trips and has not had gels on for around three months. She is having them put back in now the ground has become a bit harder, more because she has thin soles so I would like to keep her sound
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But I certainly do not need them in on a permanent basis.

It could be worth your friend having the horse's feet xrayed just to see what it is that is going on in there...
 
I had an Anglo Arab that started to trip, she was 12 and had no heel which the farrier was working on. I didnt worry too much at first but she also pointed her toes when standing as if slightly resting one foot. She turned out to have Navicular. Regardless of the cost of the horse please try to get your friend to have a vetting done as if there is something wrong it will cost a lot. A good vet will know the signs and spot minimal lameness, which my mare had and I couldnt see!
 
Responded in NL2 - but here as well:

Sounds like trouble.

If nothing else I'd have his feet x-rayed prior to purchase.


My 'trippy' horse is currently bankrupting me in vet's fees.......
 
£1000 is a lot for a 14yo ex-racehorse who trips. Tripping can be the first sign of serious foot trouble - this has just happened to me with a 14yo eventer, now happily in foal. Try and persuade your friend this could be a purchase leading to lots of grief and disappointment, money aside. Plus is it safe? If the horse comes down she may have a nasty fall too.

Sorry to be negative.
 
D'you know the more I think about this the more I 'wonder'.

Has the horse just come out of racing?? If yes, I'd be looking for it to be simply signed over - not 'sold'.
 
[ QUOTE ]
D'you know the more I think about this the more I 'wonder'.

Has the horse just come out of racing?? If yes, I'd be looking for it to be simply signed over - not 'sold'.

[/ QUOTE ]

Me too AmyMay.

I thought some of the older ex racers were usually given away, not sold.

Sounds like the type of horse one would take the shoes off and chuck in a field for 6 months to see if it came sound.
 
This worries me - take this horse on, and you take on a whole load of trouble and worry.

I certainly would not hand over any money - transfer of owner would be the best thing as mentioned^^.
 
As everyone else really. Tripping is often a sign of bi-lateral front foot lameness. The lameness can be impossible to see since both front feet hurt the same amount. Then when you nerve block one foot the degree of lameness is often startling. Add to this the racing background and collapsed heels and you have all the right ingredients for untreated navicular syndrome and that can be a recipe for massive heartbreak, massive overdrafts and an unrideable horse.
 
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