Tripping horse...out of ideas...do I quit?

Jackobean said:
Hi Richard
I had an ex-racehorse who tripped. Never injured me though but fell on his knees loads of times. Had him vet checked, back, tack, etc. Always kept his feet trimmed so he never had a long toe, he wore standard shoes.

With him I really think it was down to his concentration, fitness & interest in what we were doing. Never tripped when we are flat out, never tripped when we were doing something he was interested in & stopped tripping when he got very fit. I did a lot of balancing work with him in the school on the lunge, etc. Funnily enough most of his tripping went on in the school - may well have been a coincidence but schooling was his least favourite thing!

If you get him checked over & he is sound I would suggest really putting him to work - I don't mean riding him into the ground, give him lots of varied things to do in the school, keep his mind occupied at all times so he doesn't switch off & become bored. Some say that you should only focus on 1 or 2 things during a schooling session but I found with my horse the more I crammed in, the better he was. The fitter he gets he will develop better muscles & be able to carry himself properly.
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Just saw this as I was signing off...sounds like Incarna(my horse,) and Neal, my mate whose been school "us." We had GREAT days and then it would go weird...Go figure?

Thanks again and will keep you all posted...Will send some pics to Sidesaddle in Soapbox of the horse so you may see him...I am American but very computer stupid(unaable to post photos and too stubborn to learn how...)

nite...rr
 
RichardRider said:
Yes, and maybe I can keep my soul this way?

Today, when he tripped for the second time(good shoulder dipping, throw you off type,) on a slow(I thought,) balanced canter, I just got off him, my mate pretending not even to see me, and said that was it. This was ANOTHER accident waiting to happen but I'll try anything...

rr
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To back up the others on the barefoot - I have many clients who complained about their horses tripping until we took the shoes off. Miraculously the tripping stopped. It happens so often it can't be a coincidence. Shoes alter the way the foot lands on the floor - it would be very interesting to see your horse walking. Watch him carefully. Does he land toe first or heel first? He should be landing heel first on a smooth, hard surface. If he lands toe first this will contribute to tripping. Also as has been mentioned before preprioception - touch/feel. This is compromised with shoes (just as we feel less when we wear shoes as opposed to walking round in our barefeet). And shoes also restrict circulation in the foot which can cause a certain amount of numbness, so they feel even less. All these factors combine to make many horses look clumsey and trip.

I should also add that size of horse is not a restricting factor in going barefoot. I know some huge Clysdales and Percherons who are barefoot and have the most incredible feet.

Good luck with your lad - I hope you find a solution soon.
 
when my boy was three and i first got him he was fully shod, he used to trip a lot he was very young we went barefoot and bingo still tripped occasionally but it cleared up he is fully shod now and no issues i put it down to balance/shod/young age you could try turning away how old is the horse sorry lots of posts and then bringing into work barefoot ?
 
HI, my experience of horses that trip has in almost every case resulted in the diagnosis of changes in the foot ie navicular. they don't tend to trip at fast pace also rolling toes, natural balance shoes etc just alleviate the problem as a temporary measure which is why going barefoot may help. I would get some x-rays or nerve blocks done especialy as he has shown some signs of lameness previously. I really hope I am wrong though.
 
mrdarcy said:
To back up the others on the barefoot - I have many clients who complained about their horses tripping until we took the shoes off. Miraculously the tripping stopped. It happens so often it can't be a coincidence. Shoes alter the way the foot lands on the floor - it would be very interesting to see your horse walking. Watch him carefully. Does he land toe first or heel first? He should be landing heel first on a smooth, hard surface. If he lands toe first this will contribute to tripping. Also as has been mentioned before preprioception - touch/feel.
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My coach/mate says he a "grass clipper," meaning dragging his toes, low to the ground when he walks. I remember when he was younger, he once tripped, walking on a lunge line, walking next to me, ending up on both knees beside me!

I am up and ready to ride another horse, after a good "mind changing" run in the woods...Called farrier last night and have decided I am going to pull his shoes...

More later...thanks to all...richard
 
I had a big cob with this problem. At first it was just the odd stumble, but it got gradually worse. I thought that really he just didn't pick his feet up very well, not being the most energetic creature (beautiful though). He was 7 when I got him. He went barefoot and was trimmed by one of the best trimmers in the UK, and did very well, but still tripped. Eventually, it was decided to get the vet to do a proper work-up and find out what was going on. The vet found arthritic changes in his front legs, more in the tripping leg than the other. Also indications of problems in that shoulder. In fact, once they got so far up his legs they stopped because we knew what his problem was and we knew there were limited things we could do to help him. He was 12.
I knew his history from a young horse. I brought him at 7, but I knew that he had been backed and started working, including hacking at a trot on roads, at 2 years old. This happens a lot with the heavies, because people look at them and think they are big enough to back, and also come up with reasons such as they have to back them before they get "too big" (because obviously a horse is going to change character once it gets bigger... ?). Gavin Schofield explained to me once that when a horse is ridden too young they aren't developed enough to use their back end properly, and so tend to pull themselves along from the front end, rather than driving themselves from behind. Certainly with a big cob that is just going to be used for fun riding, people are less likely to look at if they are working properly from behind. So, my horse had to retire. He's now about 17 and struggles with hard ground, but at the moment he's happy. This story is one reason why I am so against starting 2 year olds, of any breed, because I've known many similar stories since, with cobs, warmbloods, TB's etc.
So with your horse, if you really want to work out what to do, I think you need to get to the bottom of the reasons why he trips. Then you can work out the best course of action to deal with it.
p.s. Your friend may be a pro rider, but I have to question his methods if his first reaction with a tripping horse is to bung stronger bits in it's mouth. How did he think that would help when he didn't know why the horse was tripping? Was the idea that if you could hold the head up the horse wouldn't fall over? If you just drive a horse forward into a strong contact then you are more likely to dump it's weight on to the forehand, and your horse needed his weight lifted off. Not criticising you, I've read your thread and I can see you are doing your utmost to deal with the problem, using the advice available to you.
 
my horse started to trip, went lame, was diagnosed with arthritis in her feet. pulled the shoes, she had a couple of good years, then the tripping started again. she is being gradually retired. I believe going barefoot can extend the working life (stopping the concusion and the interference with balance and foot/leg circulation), but in our case the damage was done and it was always going to shorten her working life. and no, she doesn't trip galloping in the field, but she hasnt got a rider adding 9 stone and unbalancing her! do you give supplements for joints? dk if you can get it in France, but Buteless is a good alternative to bute.
 
RichardRider said:
Thanks(to all,) but going barefoot means I can't walk him up to the place where I can work him(and hack out,) when he finally gets back home...He's only been ridden in my mate's school over the past few months...

As for the Bute, he was a bit lame and it did him much good but we took him off it gradually and he seemed fine. Someone just asked me(on an American Forum,) if he tripped when galloping and clowning around here at home and the answer is NO, he's bloody beautiful when Iam not on him!

rr
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Why won't you be able to walk him without shoes? He will be tender for the first few weeks until his feet harden and he gets used to not having shoes but it's natural for them to be bare foot. With the bute thing I think it's deffinatley important to get to the route of lameness rather than covering up with a pain killer... I had a problem with my horses feet for quite a while he was showing slight lameness on hard ground but sound on soft. It turned out that this was all caused by an infection deep in the frog. Have you checked the foot for heat etc?
 
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Not read all replies, sorry, but had to sympathise. This is a rotten problem. Mine started stumbling and falling a few years ago. We both got hurt. After one bad fall AFTER a fence XC where he came up lame and I had to bring him home, I got the vet to check him out. She was adamant I should get him x rayed for navicular, but instead I was adamant I should switch back to my original farrier, as it was only since I had changed that the problem began. I did, and the problem disappeared.

I know that when I mentioned it to the farrier who had done the damage, that he would say "he's a big horse, big shoulder, he's going to trip". This is a fair point, but I have worked tirelessly over the years AGAINST his conformation (Suffolk x) to make myself a beautifully light and responsive horse.

I suppose my point/question to you is, what does it feel like when he "goes"? I.e., if my horse stumbles because he's gawping at something and not paying attention to where his feet are going, or because the ground is bad, or because I'm letting him schlep along on his forehand, it all feels quite logical. However when he did start stumbling it could/would generally be when he was all up together, really going forward, and on good ground. Then suddenly, BANG, his front end would be gone. I maintained that that was Not Right and went against the vet and farrier's judgments in fixing it and I am glad I did!

Def try pulling the shoes. Also with the greatest respect, your extremely knowledgeable friend may be just that, but in this instance, he's not offering any explanation or solution, is he? Not being nasty just saying that when he dismisses something out of hand, maybe you should not dismiss it also (know it's difficult when you are friends but I'm sure you can handle it sensitively).

Best of luck. I know how hideous this is. I ended up with concussion once after being catapulted 10 feet out of the saddle onto my face. The doctor wanted to hospitalise me because he was adamant I must have been knocked out (I was on my own, jumping XC fences). When I told him I knew I wasn't because I sat up to see my beautiful horse, horizontal in the air on his neck, he believed me. It's not nice and I do sympathise. Also don't get bitten as I did, it made me tentative in doing any work with him. Which, in turn, meant I wasn't riding him forward properly, and that the likelihood of his stumbling would be increased. Do keep us posted! xxx
 
Misinterpreted said:
As previous poster said, it could be for any number of reasons, but when my old boy started tripping (shire x) I told the farrier, and he changed the front shoes to natural balance and they gave him a new lease of life.
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Oooo...my boy trips when his toes get a little long or when on uneven surfaces...he skids alot too even with road nails in...what did he change shoes to?
 
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