Time to retire?

[MrsNorris]

Bit of background, old boy nearly 20, been stumbling a bit in front for a while, not much, usually in trot, sometimes in canter, has always managed to recover ok. Checked by vet on several occasions, nothing found, was barefoot for many years, but have shod him temporarily to see if that makes a difference, farrier is aware of problems and has trimmed and shod him with that in mind, though he found no obvious cause for the tripping. He was shod 3 weeks ago. Then yesterday, he tripped big time and crashed to the floor in canter in the school
He’s ok as far as I know, I was rushed off to A&E by ambulance as I landed on my head and flipped over, lots of neck and hip pain so they wanted to be sure, mangled nose (glasses), didn’t get out till late, so he’s had to stay overnight at the yard where it happened, picking him up today, they say he’s fine but I haven’t seen him since it happened.
So, I’ve been considering retiring him for a while, so do we think it’s time now?

 

[FfionWinnie]

I certainly wouldn’t be getting back on!

 

[rabatsa]

I have retired in a similar situation.

 

[Mahoganybay]

When you say checked by vet, what did that involve? Lameness workup, X-rays, nerve blocks etc.

 

[Suby2]

My 20 yr old pony started tripping in front too. We were only happy hackers. I gave it one more chance after I fell off after a dramatic trip (only in walk) with pony’s nose hitting the ground but on the next ride she tripped again and it obviously caused her some pain and so I decided to retire her. She did have other issues - Cushing, EMS and arthritis which had some bearing on the decision but also the safety aspect as being an older rider I take longer to recover!

 

[lamlyn2012]

We retired one at 21 due to tripping. It was a constant niggle when riding.
Have you had back looked at as tripping can ne caused by issues in the back.

 

[pippixox]

yes. My boy has had arthritic changes noticeable since 15 (he is an ex-racer) I rode him while I was pregnant 1.5 years ago as I trusted him so much. But earlier this year aged 19 I called it a day. I didn't actually make a big deal of it being his last ride. But he was being such a plod even with a long warm up on an easy hack and he has a brain abscess when I was heavily pregnant that nearly killed him. He needs to keep moving to keep him comfortable but I have a 10 minute walk to turnout and bring in every day to help and he comes into a large barn with 2 others, not a small stable.

I just knew it was time. I felt if I had pushed it (as he would honestly try his best and even try and jump today if you asked him!) we were asking for an accident like you had.

I am lucky to have 2 others I can ride (barely have time anyway!) but even typing this I do feel myself well up that he is retired- I hate to admit he is old! he gave me 10 years of riding though so he deserves a great retirement

he used to pace if I took out another horse for a ride- I honestly think he wanted to always join the fun, now he happily tucks into more haylage- only starts to weave when they come back as he is ready to go out to the field.

 

[pippixox]

personally, I would still want a vet work up to check for anything obvious and that may cause them discomfort.
I know my boys issues are arthritis and he does have all over tension and poor feet, which I continue to work on (currently transitioning to barefoot) plus the uncertainty of another brain abscess in the future.

I know tripping is more likely to cause harm when ridden, but I would want to minimize it when retired in a field too as they could seriously injure themselves.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

20yrs isn’t that old these days. I know three 22yr olds that are fit and healthy, lively and hacking fine including my own. One has just recovered from laminitis caused by Cushings. Now he’s on Prascend he looks better than ever. The other also has Cushings managed well on Prascend and he was quite stiff and uncomfortable before. Mine had an op at 19 on both his hind annular ligaments and recovered well for another 3 years of fab time riding together so far .

If he were mine I’d spend a little more time in trying to find out a cause and treat it if it is possible. I’d definitely have a Cushings test. If that came up negative a proper lameness work-up or you could try a physio as I find they’re better at more subtle issues that might affect movement. Maybe Bute and some joint treatment like Cartrophen would help loosen stiff joints.

Of course if you want to retire him now that’s your choice

 

[LaurenBay]

I wouldn't get back on. I can imagine its not very pleasant for your Horse either.

If vet can't find something wrong then I would 100% retire.

 

[hopscotch bandit]

20yrs isn’t that old these days.

If he were mine I’d spend a little more time in trying to find out a cause and treat it if it is possible.

Of course if you want to retire him now that’s your choice

Agree with the above. I would want to get to the bottom of it. Maybe he was a bit stiff and that's why he tripped over, or maybe his toes are too long and need rounding to increase the breakover. It may have been a completely fluke accident. I doubt I would do anything other than hack out making sure he has knee boots on until you can get the vet to take a look. It may have just been a fluke, and I wouldn't retire my horse if she tripped until I'd made sure I'd done everything in my power to minimize any risk. Of course you may have to retire based on the vets findings but my horse is still going strong at 22 albeit hacking and the odd dressage test.

 

[Antw23uk]

I wouldn't get back on until I'd found the root of the issue but I suspect he will have arthritic changes up his shoulders like my old ex racer who was retired and not ridden again after diagnosis.

 

[Asha]

I retired my girl for the same thing. She had an accident years ago, after injecting / rest etc she seemed to come ok for a few weeks. But soon started to trip on that same leg, especially in canter. Shes retired off now, and lives a perfect life in a big field looking after the youngsters. She is the most perfect nanny. As your guy is actually falling over, its time to investigate whats going on, and go from there

 

[sasquatch]

I would get vet back out and do a full work up, maybe get chiro out again.

Also, consider the footing of the arena you were in - may sound silly, but my horse has tripped 3 times in canter. Twice when I was on him, once on the lunge. Two of those times was in a smaller wood chip arena, the chips had got greasy and he tripped/slipped and went down twice in a similar spot. Since moving yards, he has tripped and fallen in sand once, however it was during a jumping competition and I think he tripped where the sand had been a bit churned up and got a bit deep on a tighter turn. He's never been the most sure footed horse, but some footings he's much worse than others (he's less likely to trip on harder ground). Each time, the tripping has been completely out of the blue.

I would definitely get more investigation done, just incase there is an underlying issue. My horse had his big trip where he went down jumping, and after that we got his back looked at by both physio and chiro and he had a bit of time off and when he came back into work the tripping wasn't anywhere near as bad as before. My horse went lame in April, and before he went lame he did trip in front, and was found to have minor arthritis that was treated and when bringing him back into work he was tripping behind on softer/deeper surfaces (taking his back shoes off actually seemed to help) but he's since been found to have soft tissue damage in his foot which may have contributed as well. If you do or don't find anything with more investigation, you can always go from there with your decision on retiring or not.

It's really up to you, personally I would investigate further before you make any decision about getting back on. Hope you're feeling okay, sounds like a bit of a scary fall!

 

[MissGee]

A very difficult decision for you. I know as been there. A toyed with the decision for years and then eventually did retire him, but at the age of 28.

Have you tried pain relief/joint supplement to see if that helps?

 

[Cecile]

Rather than thinking retiring for a while, why not say to yourself we are in Nov and he/she can have the entire winter off and see where you are come the spring, it would certainly take the pressure off trying to decide

I had one who tripped in the woods and I ended up in hospital, this one had seen the same vet for investigations, once I escaped hospital I called the vet out who met me looking like I had done 3 rounds with a Sumo wrestler
Vet is so lovely, his advice for this particular horse was: We can test and test until we eventually find something, I can start visiting you in hospital on a regular basis if you keep trying (I've known him years lol) or just leave her and let nature take its course

i just left it, she retired, I rode her occasionally bareback around the paddocks, sat on her often to keep warm in winter and just enjoyed her company, her routine stayed the same and she never once complained

 

[0310Star]

I retired my mare for the exact reasons you have stated - started tripping then one day we both face planted out on a hack (luckily on the grounds of the yard and om grass!), me in a+e all eve and sporting a nicely broken nose and 2 black eyes, although horse was fine thankfully!

Although she did have other big issues with her front legs and I am 99% sure the arthritis had spread to her back legs which was the cause of all of it, she was supposed to have been retired about 5 years previous so it was a much easier decision for me.

If your horse has no other issues then I would try and find the route of the problem first, as I say mine was pretty clear cut as she already had a whole host of problems and there was no point in doing any more tests.

 

[DD]

I wouldn't waste time and money on veterinary investigations I'd just retire the horse.

 

[ester]

Whereas I would want to ensure my horse wasn't in unreasonable pain and discuss with the vet whether I should be using bute to keep them more comfortable during their retirement rather than just retire them and think no more about it.

 

[AandK]

Whilst I agree with others that 20yo is not old these days (my 20yo is still eventing and fit as a fiddle), each horse is different.

If it were my horse, I would retire if he had other issues already going on. If this was the only issue, then I would want to investigate to find out why he fell before I make the decision to retire.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

I wouldn't waste time and money on veterinary investigations I'd just retire the horse.

Why is it a waste of time finding out if your horse has an issue that might be easily treatable?

 

[SEL]

I've got a 13 yo retiree - advanced ringbone on x-rays and no doubt other arthritic changes too. He had a couple of stumbles in the school and I've had a horse go over on me before so it worried me. I wanted x-rays first because retirement was only an option if I could keep him comfortable. I already knew the ringbone was there, but it had progressed.

He's on the odd bit of danilon and happy in the field. I pop on him sometimes but he doesn't enjoy it like he once did so he's now a pampered pet.

 

[Boulty]

I personally would retire. It's not the first time it's happened, you've had a vet look into it and not really get to the bottom of it and have tried him both barefoot and shod. There could be many and varied reasons for it from arthritis to navicular to even something neurological. You could throw a lot of money at trying to get to the bottom of it with no guarantee of success and unless you find something that is 100% fixable then it may not change the outcome. If it only ever happens ridden then you could still perhaps do some inhand work and take him for walks in hand to keep some interest in his life?

 

[MrsNorris]

When you say checked by vet, what did that involve? Lameness workup, X-rays, nerve blocks etc.

He’s just been trotted up on different surfaces, no signs of lameness, and had flexions which he passed, vet says he has remarkable joints for a horse of his age, he tracks up well and shows nothing really to investigate. He also sees a physio every few months as he carries a very old hind injury which alters his gait slightly and sometimes causes tightness behind his saddle, and he sees an osteopath too every 6 months or so.

 

[ester]

I'd strongly suspect he is bilaterally lame if you nerve blocked one side.

 

[MrsNorris]

20yrs isn’t that old these days. I know three 22yr olds that are fit and healthy, lively and hacking fine including my own. One has just recovered from laminitis caused by Cushings. Now he’s on Prascend he looks better than ever. The other also has Cushings managed well on Prascend and he was quite stiff and uncomfortable before. Mine had an op at 19 on both his hind annular ligaments and recovered well for another 3 years of fab time riding together so far .

If he were mine I’d spend a little more time in trying to find out a cause and treat it if it is possible. I’d definitely have a Cushings test. If that came up negative a proper lameness work-up or you could try a physio as I find they’re better at more subtle issues that might affect movement. Maybe Bute and some joint treatment like Cartrophen would help loosen stiff joints.

Of course if you want to retire him now that’s your choice

He gets cushings tested almost every year (can you tell I’m paranoid ) after having a borderline result about 5 years ago, so far all negative since then, worm counts always low to zero, no problems with wound healing or any of the other subtle signs of cushings, so vet thinks he is ok on that score. Bodyworkers see him every few month and he has no real problems.
He’s such a fantastic character and I’d trust him with my life, really don’t want to retire him, he’s not worked hard or anything, just a bit of low level dressage and hacking, but I’m in my 50s now and can’t be flying off like that too often!

 

[SpottyMare]

Has he been tripping/falling over on the same surface?

I ask as my 22 yr old Welsh D will trip in the school (mainly when he's being a bit lazy and has slipped into dragging himself along on the forehand), but jump him or take him out on a hack (up and down steep hills, slippy mud, through woods so over roots and branches and galloping along) and he's the most surefooted horse you could find!

 

[stormox]

I would certainly retire him. For your sake and his!!

 

[PeterNatt]

I tend to keep my horses for life and two of them started stumbling when they got in to their 20's and I retired both of them as I did not want them or myself to be injured.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I would retire him, for the health and safety of you both. Your vet hasn't been able to find a cause for his tripping, so this problem isn't going to be easily treatable. Tripping tends to be a result/symptom of navicular syndrome, or arthritic changes, or some kind of spinal problem. No, 20 isn't old as far as horses go nowadays but it's not a bad age, I wouldn't risk getting on him again, sorry.