Keeps falling over?

[Hanz]

My gelding is now back in full work after being lame due to a pulled shoulder muscle. About a week ago i was lungeing him at a canter, about 15m circles which he finds easy, then he fell over, he did it again yesterday when I was free-schooling him.

He dosent seem to be in pain, just a little bewildered as he falls over, its like his front legs just slip from under him then he sort of sits down and rolls onto his side. He gets straight back up and pretends that nothing has happened afterwards.

He is great at turns and cantered the tiniest circles before he went lame, im wondering if theres still something wrong, or is he just being clumsy and not concentrating on his balance?

My stepmam suggested it could be something in his ear??

 

[seabiscuit]

What surface have you got on your arena? Its not woodchips is it?

 

[Sags_Deer]

i would advise you to get a physio to have a look at him, it may be a nerve problem. how old is the horse

 

[kcgibson]

I would ask veterinary advice and prob get vet out to take a look and maybe see for themselves what is happening? Physio, as suggested by sammyj may be a good idea, however, a good physio should only work from a vets referral. Physiotherapists shouldnt treat your horse without a vet say-so.

 

[Sags_Deer]

yep sorry forgot to say that one physio, chirp, oesto or masseur all need permission from your vet first anyway. good luck.

 

[Hanz]

He is 10. The surface at my old yard was sand and the new one is this grey sandy stuff with little coloured bits in it (sorry that may be not much help

) Its when he does corners, he also keeps tripping aswell, forgot to mention that.

 

[tanflislibs]

does he do it on both reins?

 

[Hanz]

Yep the first time was on one rein and the second time was on the other. He usually trips with the same leg though.

 

[tanflislibs]

ears does make sense, they get their balance and co-ordination from them, eg, if a horse is in a lake and gets it's ears full of water, it will fall over.

 

[Blizzard]

Souds like your surface is silca, shouldnt be causing him to fall over though!

Def get the vet to have a look.

 

[Hanz]

OK I will have a look in his ears then get vet. Thanks

 

[barkinghorse]

I had a horse just like yours a few years ago, he was lame for a while and when we brought him back into work, he kept falling.
Turns out he had a trapped nerve in his shoulder and after a month of physio he was absolutely fine.......worth checking it out i suppose.
Jo

 

[AmyMay]

Sounds like your horse is simply loosing his footing in the arena, which may not be thick enough.

Stop lunging and loose schooling him before he does some serious damage.

 

[samp]

I would ask your vets advise

 

[sundance]

you are sure that the surface isnt frozen I guess??

 

[Hanz]

Thanks Jo I will give somebody a call.

AmyMay - Lungeing is part of his re-schooling and I dont just want to avoid doing it anymore. The thing is, he dosent usually fall over at all so I need it sorted, When I canter a circle in dressage or make a turn in SJ I dont want him falling over, and I can't just stop doing that.

 

[sundance]

For what its worth mine is having to be lunged daily as part of rehab and when I lunged him today after reading your post he went down on his knees. I had a good look at our surface and I think that the top has become very lose after the wet weather and it needs topping up. He wasnt going "bonkers" by any means, he is fed up to the back teeth of it however! I only state this as it could be a combination of things that are worth considering.

 

[Hanz]

Woops! Sorry I must've jinxed you.

He dosent slip about or anything before hand and is usually very balanced, his legs just suddenly go from underneath him