Tripping over - Advise please

[Storminateacup]

Jack seems to be tripping over rather too frequently in recent weeks.
Its always the same foot nearside fore. He only trips on rough ground or long grass, never on the road.
When he trips he leaps forward all excited 'cos he knows I get after him a bit, 'cos really I am thinking he is just being a bit lazy and slopping along, but it happens more often when coming back to trot from canter or trot to walk, rather than up the transitions.
He is happy and keen in his work and never lazy, and always give his maximum effort.
Certainly he never trips if being really forward.
I checked his legs today for lumps and bumps and there are none, His collateral cartilages are springy and soft and his joints at the top of his hoof and at the pastern are all smooth and he has no splints, and all the bone feels clean and hard (he has 10.5 inches of bone).
He is not in the slightest bit lame either in a straight line or trotted round a corner (on a circle) or downhill or even both together on either reins, on hard or soft ground.
His near side fore hoof is a little smaller than the off side one but the farrier says this is within normal ranges for horses and really is barely noticable, and its been 5 weeks since he was shod. To me he looks a little long in the toe and perhaps a little low in the heel on this hoof and perhaps a little narrower across the heel than the off side one.
Last shoeing was in extra heavy shoes with just a single toe clip as he is really heavy on the toes and kicks them out in about six weeks but then I do a lot of roadwork, prior to this he had lighter shoes with two clips and the hooves seemed to look shorter, but that may be just an optical effect.
I think he has been slightly worse since he has been in these shoes.
My friend pointed out to me that his feathers are very very long and could he actually be stepping on them when he goes a bit faster in trot as he overtracks.
I am therefore tempted to trim the feathers up a bit so as to rule this out.
Has anyone ever heard of feathers being a cause of tripping?
Any other ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.
Sorry this is a bit of a long one.
Many Thanks

 

[Tierra]

The amount of tripping ive experienced with my horse has drastically reduced since we switched to natural balance shoes. Mine has a very typical low heeled, long toed conformation problem, coupled with long pasterns.

Id never have described him as very trippy and i always make sure he works forwards actively but there were occasions where he would stumble.

I switched to natural balance shoes after my farrier encouraged me it would be the best thing for his long term soundness and would address the fact that his break over point was incorrect. I must admit i was sceptical; Jack has never been lame, his movement was good and im a little bit of the mind set that if something isnt broken, it can be best to leave it alone (he'd also been traditionally shod for his whole life and hes 15 now).

The results on him have been drammatic and impressive. Hes now got SOME heel (granted, he'll never pass as being conformationally good in his feet but with horses with no heels, a few milimeters is a LOT of difference). His movement has improved. You can physically see him pick up his feet earlier and make a better stride. Where as before he seemed to always be waiting until the last second to pick up the foot (and i presume the result was occasionally that his toe didnt clear the ground properly and he'd stumble), his stride is clearer now with better clearance from the ground for each foot.

Its very hard to explain without seeing it but the difference has been amazing.

 

[Storminateacup]

I think I would want to go for NB shoes if I had the choice, but I am very limited on farriers where I live and my farrier is very conventional.
He would probably have a fit if I asked.
Just say to I had a mare with pedal ostitis who was perfectly sound for ever more after being shod in NB shoes.
If anyone does one knows of a farrier who favours Natural Balance shoeing in the Highlands please let me know!

 

[LCobby]

I;d discuss with farrier and consider a rolled toe shoes.
Maybe have them done every 4 -5 weeks for a the summer months too?
Also put some bandages on to the tuck all the hair out of the way for shoeing,
It makes if easier for the farrier to see the foot angle and it also prevents feather bing singed if you have hot shoeing.

 

[wormhugs]

The only helpful thing I can think of, is that horses feet tend to grow more quickly at this time of year. If he has gone 5 weeks and you think he looks long in the toe, this could be what the problem is. You say your farrier is quite conventional, would he put a rolled toe on in front to help him break over as this may help too?
My boy is only lasting about 5 weeks just now before he needs re-done.
x

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

No idea how old ned is Katenjack but just an alert. My 20 yr old started tripping on uneven ground going DOWNHILL and I too used to get after him thinking it was just laziness. Long story short - I took him to an expert lameness clinic where they nerve blocked one front foot and to my total horror he was hideously lame on the other. Turns out he had BI-lateral lameness and coz both feet hurt the same, you don't see any lameness until you nerve block one or the other. X rays showed he had very bad DJD and navicular syndrome. I felt (and still do) awful for beating him up for what I thought was laziness and all he did was pull faces. Would have served me right if he'd had me straight off. He was so safe and so kind. Poor Sullivan, RIP.

 

[Storminateacup]

Oh dear how sad, you must feel awful. But its easily done. Sometimes it hard to tell what is a genuine health problem and what is a fitness /schooling issue.
When I say I get after Jack, I never smack him just growl at him, he is worried just by disapproval, he is such a sweetie.
But you are right I should check the whole thing out completely and make sure there is no pain anywhere.
He tripped much more a year ago when I first got him, when he was very fat and not even remotely hacking fit.
Anyway he is 12 y.o and now nice and slim and very forward and keen and happy in his work.
Take your point though, as I had a horse with navicular syndrome but he never tripped he was just pottery on front. The same thing happen with him when he was nerve blocked in one foot, he was crippled in the other.

Jack is happy going downhill, although I would not be trotting him downhill ever as I think it can put a lot of strain on the joints, and I am a bit precious about him normally anyway.

Anyway had a chat with the farrier and he is coming friday and he understands my worries and thinks Jack feet grow very fast normally and 7 weeks is about right for this time of year and he probably has long toes, he is also going to roll the toe a little if he thinks its necessary, and put him back in double clips at the front because the single one seems to give him a longer toe.
I think I will bandage his legs up to get the feathers out of the way, so the the farrier can get a better look at the hoof angle. That's seems a very good idea.

So thanks to everyone for all your very helpful suggestions and comments.