Horse tripping

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pixiebee

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Just wondering if anyone has any experiences with their horse stumblng often on uneven ground?

My horse is 14 yr old warmblood and ever since I had him he is prone to tripping over his front legs. He seems to do it more when tired, his back/saddle are ok and not lame, no heat/swelling anywhere and toes not long. He is absolutely fine on the road but if we go on grass and there are some uneven bits, even slightly, he stumbles on his front legs, it can be walk, trot or canter. He occassionally stumbles in the school too and seems to do it about half way through a schooling session. He is foreward going but has not had much schooling previously so does have balance issues and motorbikes round corners if allowed to rush. He seems to do it more when he lowers his head, I wonder if its because he is on the forehand? but then he does stumble walking in/out of the yard where there is a rocky bit. I have found myself telling him to pick up his feet before we get to it as i know he is going to trip, but he seems worse after being schooled when he is tired? I am wondering if it is fitness/balance issue? He does have very narrow front feet which the farrier mentioned and is slightly pigeon toed. He came to me wearing those cylex shoes?????? The farrier put quarter clips on the front but the problem is not on a flat surface. He seems ok going up and down hills, slows down going down hill quite a bit and is careful but then probably as im keeping a tight grip on the reins incase he trips. I have nearly come off the front end coming back from quite a long hack and there was some ruts. He is sound ridden/lunged etc, any ideas?
 
I would get him checked out by the vet. When my boy started tripping it turned out to be navicular, which was a bit of a shock as he seemed fine and wasn't lame, the only clue was the tripping.
 
My boy trips.
Has fallen onto his knees a couple of times aswell (no damage done!)
His reason- Purely laziness.

If he is working- jumping or doing canter work he is perfect.
Walking and looking around everywhere he trips.. 24/7- too nosey, does not look where he is going or pick up his feet :rolleyes: Sounds like me... :p
In a lazy trot, he will trip sometimes- generally when he is looking the other way from where he is going :P

I'd get her checked out if it seems out of character ;)
 
navicular has crossed my mind but he does not seem to trip if we do jumping when he gets excited? He tripped on the common the other day, we were cantering and I could see an uneven bit coming up so slowed huim down but as he was slowing down he tripped. He was fighting the contact a bit as he wanted to go faster though!! Trying to avoid the vet as I currently have an insurance claim going through for his recently diagnosed uveitis!!!!
 
My horse is very clumsy & trippy in walk & trot. Always has been though from when he was backed to now(16 yrs old now). Upgrading to a better farrier when he was about 6 helped a lot. Always shod at 6-7 wks & noticed he's worse the last wk before shoeing. Also I do notice a huge difference when he's not being regularly hacked he gets worse,I make sure he hacks several times a week & I don't hesitate to go over rougher,uneven ground as seems to make him think more. Complete opposite in canter,light on his feet & never trips & to jump he's incredibly athletic.
 
Hexx said:
I would get him checked out by the vet. When my boy started tripping it turned out to be navicular, which was a bit of a shock as he seemed fine and wasn't lame, the only clue was the tripping.
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Id have him checked just to be sure. Mine tripped a lot, WE were always on the floor. Always when we hacked. It didnt matter what surface it was, grass, road, stubble. He NEVER did it in the arena :confused: Eventually he went lame and was diagnoised with Navicular.
 
This is how my boys navicular diagnosis started off as.... tripping. I feel so bad now as I used to call him lazy good for nothing. All that time he was in pain. Downhill was the worst. Had to hack him in knee boots.
 
Mine does it from time to time. Generally when he is on the forehand and often when we are arguing about the speed of going down hill - he says fast, I say normal. He is so busy arguing that he trips sometimes then and sometimes because he is just not concentrating.

We have had at least 9 or 10 times when he has been on his knees, but always gets us back up again. I THINK he is improving, he is 7 so too young I would have thought for navicular?
 
I used to ride a horse that used to trip all the time. All vets checks were done (including Navicular), turned out he was just severely unbalanced, even in walk. After a lot of schooling he really improved and he barely does it any more apparently. He was only 6 and hadn't been properly broken so I guess this had a lot to do with it.
 
If you want to avoid the vets I'd speak to your farrier. If he's unschooled it could just be that in lots of ways he is like a younger horse who loses his balance when tired, especially considering you say he goes on the forehand.
 
I also think it could be imbalance. You have to go through a process of elimination first. No age is too young for navicular. It is not an age related thing as it is a broad spectrum of syndromes/acute condition. It could even be the tendon that runs under the navicular that is the source of the problem, or the bone itself. Unless scans are done, you can't tell which it is.
 
It would do no harm to get him fully checked out by a vet. Also ask your farrier for rolled toes on the fronts and always wear Jeffries Knee protectos.
 
i hack him out with the all in one westropp/knee boots which i rather like as im not too confident on how tight to fit knee boots, the only issue i have with them is that i often ride through quite a deep river and worry that the boots will make it hard for him to walk through the water as i think the top of the boot will act like an ore (sp?) and he will have trouble lifting his legs up in the water!!!
 
no, the farrier said his feet were very narrow, he has very small feet for his size, i wonder if its a combination of horrible shaped feet, pigeon toes and lack of balance/fitness. He is due to be shod in 2 weeka, wonder if it will be worth getting him done sooner with rolled toes and see. otherwise I think I may have to bite the bullet and get the vet back out for the 8th time in the last 4 wks!!!
 
Narrow as in contracted? Post a photo and it may make it a bit clearer. Def get vet but if he's not telling you any different each time, then it's time to get a second opinion from another vet perhaps.
 
a couple of pics, the first is newly shod (came to me with boxy back feet but now they look normal after 6 months!)

second is overdue shoeing, the toes here are long for him but shows how small/narrow his feet are
0422.jpg


037.jpg
 
horses can trip when they are dropped on the forehand. Without seeing you ride it would be hard to say whether you need to 'hold your horse up' more or not but maybe its worth asking someone to watch you or video you riding to see.
 
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