Young horse tripping

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BeckyCandy

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Need some advice please.. My 4 year old constantly trips up he is schooled a few times a week and hacked out just walk and trot work still (canter is balanced and hasn't tripped in canter yet) he seems to trip up a lot. Most of the time of course is when something catches he's attention, other times is on a surface when he's working well. Or out hacking at worse its every few strides. Yesterday he tripped up and nose planted the floor on a level grass surface. Farrier said he would round he's toes has anyone experienced this before? Will rounding he's toes help or are there some schooling exercises? He does light pole work and never touches a pole. Thanks in advance for advice :) he has also had saddle back and teeth done and it didn't improve the tripping
 
It could be that the horse is just a little unblalanced and sometimes dosent think about where he's putting his feet; like you say, he gets distracted.

You could try a physio, in case it's soft tissue, back tightness for example.

May also be worth checking out the Tellington Touch website. They suggest loads of pole work exercises aimed at horses that stumble or trip, such as raised poles.

This may also help increase his awareness of where he is putting his feet (propreception sp?).

Maybe walk him up and down some mellow banks out on the hacks, to get him to develop the '5th leg' and look out for himself a bit more!. Maybe try knee boots?
Good luck anyway :)
 
Mine was terrible for tripping for a couple of years, he was just unbalanced and really bum high. It's to be expected if they are downhill, weak and gormless I think.

Be careful the work you are doing isn't putting him more on the forehand, and that your arena surface is good and not too deep.
 
Does he have shoes on? If not and his toes are too long then yes this may cause him to trip but be careful not to take too much off and make him sore. What is his foot balance like? Are his feet good in general? If he has shoes on maybe try natural balance or similar to ease the breakover. Agree with others he is probably just finding his balance though the fact that you say he sometimes trips every few strides does worry me. Might be worth getting the vet out to see if he is in pain somewhere. How does he carry himself when ridden. I n theory he should trip less when working on the bit but sometimes particularly with young weak horses this can put them on the forehand, eg. if he carries his head quite low and prehaps leans on the bridle, and this will make him more likely to trip, particularly if he is being lazy and not really coming through from behind. Do you have lessons on him/someone on the ground who can advise? It may be you need to ride him forward more and encourage him to work more uphill, though obviously this will be hard work for him at first so don't overdo it. How long has he been broken in for? Introducing a little lateral work may help to get him off his forehand,also lots of transitions both between and within paces. Also make sure you are not tipping forward at all and so putting him on the forehand. Sorry long reply!
 
All my babies have tripped, it's just a case of strengthening and balancing usually.

Mine all wear knee boots, and yes, i would get farrier to shoe his front feet like backs. Other than that it's just time I'm afraid :0(
 
My young horse was terrible at four, she tripped over everything and actually fell over twice. She is naturally built downhill with a low set neck and massive shoulders which din't help.
Now she is five she is a lot better, I have done loads of schooling and she is a lot stronger and has learnt self carriage so now is a lot more balanced and she only has minor trips occasionally and she now feels a lot safer!! I also made sure her toes were kept well trimmed and she was shod every 5 weeks.
 
Thank you for all the replies :) I have spoken to a few friends with youngsters and none if which trip so it's reassuring to hear others say there babies also trip :) he has a lovely carriage and I have regularly lessons and thinking about it he rarely trips in a lesson. Have one Saturday do will speak to instructor then :) I lunges him last night and working him long and low to see how he found that. The only time he tripped was when we slowed down to an inbetween trot walk sort of striding but when clicked on he didn't trip once. This makes sense as when I ride him if he drops he's head into a long and low contact as I say good boy and encourage it he slows and stride then trips but I have to be careful as he is prone to rushing and getting pretty excited not to push him on to much which I'm sure you can all understand is such a fine line when the are young and unbalanced :) he has very good feet he's barefoot on hinds. He's feet have no thrush in that I can see or smell so I think I'll take a look at that website and speak to my instructor as like you say I don't want to take he's toe back and make him sore / take it back when schooling exercises will improve it.. :):)
 
Riding over lots of different terrain will help him too. If I had the guts I'd trot and canter down all the hills I could, but I don't! ;0)
 
Really interesting thread - my ex racer trips a bit and it was just starting to worry me after reading all these stories! But looks like what I thought originally an he just needs more work on his balance and self carriage - he's only started schooling in the past 6 weeks so hoping it will improve as he gets his balance right and builds up muscle in front :)
 
My 4 yo trips quite a bit, my instructor says its just him being weak and un-balanced and sometimes when he gets distracted.

I always ride in a neck strap at the moment in case he does a big trip, to help me not grab at his mouth when trying to keep my balance!
 
i know you dont want to be overfacing your youngster, but maybe the tripping is concentration thing, it sounds the same as my horse. because she is looking around so much on hacks, she forgets her feet! it will come with time and schooling. its not nessecarily a conformation or disobedience problem, more just typical youngster behaviour. if it is really bothering you, try to keep him focused by doing lots of walk trot walk halt transitions to keep his brain ticking over, or try and walk on unlevel ground/ turn out on a hill, or a slight slope so he learns some balance going up and down hills. as for in the school, (think its called a cavaletti) just some slightly raised (about 1ft) poles off the ground to trot over. will teach him to watch his feet and look where he is going!
im afraid it really is a matter of work work work, the only thing you can do to try and protect him when youre out is knee boots, hock boots, over reach boots brushing boots etc, cover everything, so if he does knock himself he wont do any damage. good luck :)
 
Hey, schooled tonight and placed poles spread out so 3 poles along each of the long sides (6 in total) so I could circle over them etc randomly whilst schooling to keep him focused and forward really worked. Hacking home in walk he tripped 3 times on a relaxed rein. I think I'll leave farrier and keep with different schooling exercises etc. buying some knee boots tomorrow for hacking after he went down on he's knees the other night :)
 
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