horse tripping

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AGAGE

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My old boy (nearly 19) has been tripping in the ménage much more frequently over the last year or so. He has always tripped even when he was much younger. He has always been lazy in front and finds it hard going when the school is very deep or wet.

Tonight however, he fell over completely on his side with me stuck underneath him! It was awful. Thankfully we are both fine, I'm just a bit shocked!

I let him stretch his head down in trot as we were warming down, and he went on the forehand and his legs stumbled, as he tried to save himself, his left front leg slipped from under him and down we went. He fell flat on his side, his face was covered in sand! The school was very deep in the corner where we fell.

I hacked him in the forest for the first time in 3 years on Sunday, he was an absolute star and he didn't trip once. I'm not sure whether to risk riding him in the school as even when it's levelled it's still very deep. It's a silica and rubber surface.

I'm going to call the vet out regarding his tripping, but I don't know that there's much that he can do, as it's probably arthritis. He already has arthritis in his hocks but is sound, and only gets lightly worked.

Is there any specific treatment for tripping, or is it just his age and stiffness?
 
See what the vet says. Also, has the farrier had a look?

Could be his age though, although 19, while old, is not necessarily decrepit yet so it could be sortable:)
 
They use to say over long feet, but it could be muscle corodination and I'd never really do any serious work in an menagie that was deep going, I'm surprised there aren't many lost horse shoes in there or the farrier put loose shoes back on. Get the vet to check him over real good.:):)
 
Our 20 year old mare has natural balance and is on Cartophen (jab by vet every 3 months) and we have seen an improvement which isn't 100% but is better. She started tripping more often and we got to a stage where we stopped riding her because it was becoming dangerous and different surfaces contributed to this, she had stiffness in her back legs too.

Your vet will be able to advise, they may ask for x-rays to see what the pedal bone and surrounding bones are up to, ours wanted to do follow up x-rays and we decided against becuase they were only checking our farriers work and as the toe gets longer, the break point moves and she starts to trip again, so we get the farrier in.

Good luck and let us know how you get on
 
Thanks, his feet are due to be shod next week but they aren't massively long. Thankfully Ted's never lost a shoe in the seven years that we've had him, and our fields can get very deep in winter. I think I will have to avoid riding in the school until we get some rain to compact the surface a little, as he's much better on harder ground.

Just hope the vet can suggest something to help!
 
Horse I own used to trip a lot. Since hes lost a lot of weight hes better but the big improvement was from the Farrier rolling the toe of his shoes. Hardly ever trips now. I would be careful about riding in deep going, especially in the school as it is a big contributory (sp) factor to suspensory ligament injuries.
 
My elderly horse used to trip. Vet diagnosed arthritis in knees. He recommended bute and exercise and the tripping stopped for about a year. When it happened a few occasions whist on bute I decided to retire him as was worried about him injuring himself and didn't want to take the risk.
 
I hadn't thought about his weight, he has put on a lot of weight since the spring grass came through! He is on a diet but has always been rather round as he was a top show pony a few years ago, back when overweight show horses seemed to be acceptable.
 
I had the vet out yesterday about this very problem in my 22 year old TB. His tripping has been getting worse, although he's never gone right down, he trips several times on a hack, especially on uneven ground. Verges are a no-no.

She has recommended a course of bute to see how much difference it makes, but mentioned that she had a client who had the Cartrophen injections on her horse & it made a big difference. Not cheap though at around £70 a time.

We have tried the rolled toes, but this didn't make a significant difference.
 
AGAGE said:
I hadn't thought about his weight, he has put on a lot of weight since the spring grass came through! He is on a diet but has always been rather round as he was a top show pony a few years ago, back when overweight show horses seemed to be acceptable.
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If he's got arthritis anyway, the last thing he needs is to be overweight - imagine how uncomfortable it must be for him, carrying extra weight on sore and inflamed joints :( Get him on a diet!
 
Had vet out today. we've been prescribed Danilon for a month, to see how he gets on hacking. I can no longer ride in the school - where he has been tripping much more frequently.

Alongside his arthritic hocks, the vet thinks he might have kissing spine- obviously couldn't diagnose without x-rays but back is also likely to be arthritic! Vet advised if he frequently trips on hacks when on Danilon then it's probably best to retire him.

Could do cortisone injections but vet said as he has degenerative joints it will only get worse given his age, and it being in both hocks and back.

my poor old boy! I'm now having to seriously think about retiring him, but he will always have a home with me for life! Will have to start saving for new horse as even if Danilon works it will get progressively worse and won't be a cure!
 
I have two elderly horses 30 and 25 and they do occasionally stumble. One is on one sachet of Danilon per day and they both have rolled toes on their front shoes. They are also on Linseed which acts as an anti-inflamatory and on formula 4 feet. I keep both their weights down by keeping them on restricted grazing. I have found that by regularly hacking them out and keeping contact with their mouth when riding them out that this works well. I would most certainly not advise retiring your horse as gentle regular excercise is best for them.
 
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