opinions please - uncomfortable down hill & tripping

Storminateacup

Storminateacup

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My horse appears to be slightly reluctant to stride out going downhill.
He is also tripping a lot (3 times per hour hack on average) on his nearside fore (only) when walking on the roads, and more so on rough ground. He doesn't trip in canter or fast trot, but often as he comes down the transition to walk or to trot.
He is in NB shoes for the past two shoeings now. He has a good depth of heel but he is slightly back at knee and conscequently his toes can look longer than I like to see them. they are looking long ATM.

He is seeing the farrier next weekend where he will be at 5 weeks exactly, for a refit and trim, I think.

He is not the most athletic of horses but when he puts on a spurt he moves without any lameness. he is quite a forward going fellow who seems to enjoy his work and gets quite lit up at shows and activities.

I have checked his front feet and legs for any swelling and he has no ringbone, high or low, no sidebones, no thickened tendons, no windgalls, no raised digital pulse, and only one small splint on the other leg. He is sound in trot on a circle or if turned in trot on the road on both reins.
He has done little work until I bought him at age of 10, very fat and unfit, but is now fairly trim, at the age of 13 (still a bit to lose) and fit enough for a fast hour 'n' half hack.
He sometimes goes disunited after a jump, but he jumps enthusiastically with lots of power from behind.
He also has 10 inches of bone.

Your comments, thoughts, advice would be appreciated.
 
^^^^ Ditto this

My horse has a managed sacroiliac injury and this sounds just like him. Does yours try and crab sideways downhill, feel very 'insecure' and like he's really reluctant? Does he just trip over nothing - like he's not picking his feet up? Mine does all this. I put him in natural balance shoes, which helped the tripping (Doesn't suit all horses) and he is on Premierflex which has helped his back.

Mine is also 13 years old and used to get disunited when jumping - we don't do any now (he does, out the paddock!). He has a tendency to get fat too if not worked.
 
I'm having the exact same thing at the moment, even on the same leg!! My horse is 19, so not sure if age is beginning to play a factor too. Over the last couple of months, he has had his back and teeth checked, and I'm arranging for the saddler to come out too. However, I have noticed that his near fore has started to go a bit longer and flatter than the other one. He is being shod next week, so will mention it to the farrier for his advice. He is already in NB shoes, but has enough TB in him to have crap feet anyway!
 
My horse is a confirmed tripper - which I'd always put down to a bit of laziness. He's also been quite reluctant to stride down hill - and has struggled with stony ground.

X-rays three weeks ago identified a rotated pedal bone, very thin soles and a compressed cofin bone.

I'd speak to you vet, personaly, and get a full lameness work up done.

You could be describing my horse.
 
I should have explained a little more, my boy trips, doesnt like uneven ground, quite relutant to go forward....unless spooked, he was found to be lame on all 4 with kissing spines and i thought he was just a bit footy in front, unbalanced and lazy, get it checked with the vet.

Due to be reassesd on 27th July....never have i been sooooooooooooooooo excited about the prospect of walking in straight lines on level ground for 20 mins!
 
Ditto amymay, get your vet. Bony changes are only visible from the outside when they are very advanced/severe. The only way you can tell is from an xray. Tripping is obviously not safe and if you get help now you can hopefully minimise any further deterioration if something is found.
 
Yes he does all that downhill apart from the crabbing sideways. I will get his shoes done and then I think get the vet out to check his back etc etc.
I do not like the tripping one bit and he does seem to be getting worse. Especially if he spooks at something then trips over, most disconcerting.
His back seems fine and his canter good and strong and can go on the right leg too.
Its a difficult one, tripping - it can be the start of so many things or just lazyitis.
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Did the start of the tripping coincide with the natural balance shoes being put on? Whilst my horse is in NB shoes and I swear by them I have heard of a number of horses who appear to trip regularly in them and simply do not get on with them.
Unless you are overly concerned I wouldn't be worrying. If it is particularly during the downwards transitions that he trips I would say he's probably just on the forehand. Yes it could be a whole host of lameness issues but being that he's sound on a circle and on hard ground and hasn't lost performance I honestly wouldn't be worrying (and this is coming from a complete worrier).
 
Thanks marchtime, He was tripping a bit before the NB shoes went on its only his second shoeing in them. He is in NB s as he has slightly back at knee confo and slightly turned in nearside fore -( the one he trips on) both feet are the same size, also I notice in conventional shoes the shoe always rotates slightly on that foot, in the NBs there is no rotation of the shoe. The first time he was shod in them he was so much better and his gallop really fast compared to how it was before. He never trips when he has first been shod for about two - three weeks, but he is always feeble down steep hills. In his previous home he only went in the sand school and didn't have much experience of hacking on a variety of surfaces. Since with me he has had to cope with mud, rough ground, stubble field, stony paths and undrgrowth.He is always fine on hard ground, roads and tarmac or concrete even unshod unless it was on gravel and then very footy.
He is an enthusiastic jumper when he gets the chance, I am not too brave on that subject, and he doesn't hardly trip when he is excited say at a show or event.
He is very strong and can bounce off when it suits him. Today he cantered downhill in his field to greet me (and the feed bucket), and I though OMG there will be a huge accident but he was very motivated, hence he was fine!
Maybe its just lazyness after all. Trouble is how can you tell?
Perhaps a bit of motivation masks an underlying issue.
I ll see how he is again after the trim and refit.
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No one has mentioned Navicular, this can be characterised by tripping, and my horse "slaloms" downhill and he has navicular. Sorry if Im depressing you.
 
i have a horse that was unsound on unlevel ground and did not want to go foreward, after exrays nerve blocks ect it was a very simple problem that he has thin soles. i was so relieved i thought it might be narvicular
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. he now has aluminium shoes on with fillers and is totaly sound.

i also had a horse on trial a few years ago which tripped more than normal. after getting the vet out we found the horse had some sort of wobblers syndrome which is a mental disorder. he was also odd riding downhill. this can be caused by very poor nutrition but normaly its genetic and will only get worse. these horses are almost always too dangerouse to ride as they often fall but can have a very good quality of life as a companion as they are in no pain.

best of luck, i hate getting the vet out makes me so nervouse and i suspect its only minor as it sounds mild.
 
Lamitis? - the first sign in my old girl was reluctance to go down hill, probably due to the pressure it puts on their 'toes'

that and reluctance to pick up feet but the footiness down hill was the first sign, it was almost as though she was taking baby steps very tentatively down the hill
 
Well, we've all thrown our ideas in to the pot - the only one who can give a proper diagnosis is the vet.

Good luck - let us know what the outcome is.
 
My horse began to trip on uneven ground and started to get very reluctant to go forward downhill. I took him for a specialist lameness workup. As soon as they nerve blocked one foot, we could see that poor Sullivan was almost hopping lame on the other foot. The diagnosis was DJD with navicular syndrome thrown in for good measure. It presented as the same in both feet - bilateral lameness - which is why owners often miss the degree of lameness present. Sullivan was a 20yr old Highland x and had been a safe happy hacking ned at a well run trekking centre. All the novices were put on Sully. Commonly, horses like that go on their forehand pretty much all the time and that's what contributed to the damage to the front feet.

Of course, your ned may just be lazy as suggested above but I'd get an urgent referral for a full lameness workup.
 
I've been avoiding posting here as I didn't want to be the first to mention navicular, but ... my then 14yo Arab started tripping on the flat and being slightly awkward going downhill about a year before his navicular disease was diagnosed. As with Box_of_Frogs, his was bilateral so it took ages to realise he was actually lame - in hindsight there were quite a few clues but spread out over more than a year. He became quite short-striding on hard surfaces, started leaning on the farrier when his hind feet were picked up, but it was only when two vets asked him to trot up 7 times at an endurance ride before deciding there was something 'not quite right' that I got him Xrayed.

Hopefully with your boy it's something much less worrying.
 
Downhill problems indicate front legs/feet; tripping could be as others have said, navicular. It could also be a sign of developing arthritis at some joint in the leg, in the case of mine it was the knees (she was 13 but an ex racer so probably "high mileage"). She began tripping and was noticeably short strided downhill. If they are roughly equally sore in both legs then they won't show lameness as easily.
 
Yesterday evening after all this serious talk about lameness, I put my fellow in the field with my friends horse for companionship.
Well - having a Hoolie was not the word!
My cob galloped round and round the half acre field, up and down the hills flat out, with some serious acceleration and standing stops that involved pounding front hooves fast and hard into the ground in a bouncing movement (like on springs) with neck arched like a stallion, canter pirouettes, rearing and spinning then galloping off, and massive bucks interspersed with floating extended trots worthy of any Med test, up and down the hills!!!
Could not believe it!!!!
We all stood watching in amazement wondering when he would trip or slip but no, and he kept it up for about ten minutes.
And sound this morning too.
I think perhaps he is taking the pee out of me.
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Not necessarily taking the pee. Without the rider's weight, on softer ground and with some adrenalin pumping through his veins, he'll still hooley round if the mood takes him.
 
see what your farrier says
the horse may have long toes
arthritis in the knees or sholders
an injury in the sholder
or could be navicular etc

Your farrier can shorten and roll the toes, if this doesnt make a difference its time to have a vet work the horse up
 
Could be any number of things - I'd speak with Farrier and also get vets advice on it and get vet to check foot balance/ bony changes/hocks, x ray if necessary and go from there and get Vet and Farrier to work together if possible, for the horses benefit. Hopefully it's nothing too major, NB shoes suit some horses very well. But not all of them, maybe he just needs the type of shoe used tweaking as well, so that he can use his toes to grip, with NB shoes the heel is taken right back and the toe is "dumped" which can make matters in a sensitive horse worse.
 
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