# help! tripping?



## Skipka (Feb 10, 2011)

What you describe sounds a lot like what happened to my old horse some years ago. She would keep tripping, always at the walk or trot, sometimes went over on her knees and once rolled right over. Luckily I managed to get out the way in time! 

In her case it turned out she had a problem with her navicular bone, so it may be worth getting a vet to check that out, even if just to rule it out. We were advised to stop riding her, as the problem was becoming dangerous, but I'm sure you can treat navicular with corrective shoeing. Just a thought and I hope it's nothing like that.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

I have a horse that used to trip a lot, found out the farrier was keeping his toes to long. Now his toes are short and squared off to help break over and he doesn't trip until they've grown out at the 6 week point or so.


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## bubba13 (Jan 6, 2007)

Pictures of his hooves? Veterinary attention is required. Could be arthritis, navicular, poor farriery, or neurological....


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## leoandlivvy (Dec 26, 2011)

thankyou everyone for your suggestions! i will leave it another few weeks or so just to make sure and keep a really close eye so then i can do what is neccassary thanks again!


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## Tnavas (Nov 29, 2011)

As you say that he has a shoulder muscle less developed than the other I would suspect a back/neck injury. He probebly needs a chiropractor.

Other things to check - length of the feet, long toes may cause a horse to stumble

Tight saddle or low on the withers

Heart problems


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## Caitlinpalomino (Nov 16, 2010)

If you manage to rule out health issues then he might be just lazy. I have a horse that trips as well but he never gets close to falling to his knees luckily. I asked the same question on here and people replied by saying I should try trotting poles so that he would have to pick his feet up more. 
Just an idea.

Hope you can fix the problem and I hope that it isnt anything to do with a health issue.


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## ponyvoog (Dec 24, 2011)

I had a horse that tripped a lot and fell to his knees a lot. My shoer said it was because he was young and didn't know where his feet were. He got over it. I don't know if that helps at all.


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## Prinella (Jul 12, 2011)

It could be a back issue. I know from experience that fjords are incredibly hard to fit a saddle to.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Tnavas (Nov 29, 2011)

ponyvoog said:


> I had a horse that tripped a lot and fell to his knees a lot. My shoer said it was because he was young and didn't know where his feet were. He got over it. I don't know if that helps at all.


This is not correct at all - the horse knows where its feet are! They trip if feet are too long, if sore or tack doesn't fit, if they have back/neck problems or if they have heart problems.

He probebly got over it because your farrier shod your horse to deal with the problem.


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## leoandlivvy (Dec 26, 2011)

thanks everyone! he has just been shod again and he trips alot less when newly shod so i think that may be the problem, he is now being shod every 4-5 weeks instead of 6-8 xx


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## Tnavas (Nov 29, 2011)

That's great - often such a small reason for a problem.


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## jumanji321 (Dec 1, 2010)

That's good that his feet were probably the issue. My uncle had a horse that did three somersaults with him ad had a pinched nerve that would make him collapse sometimes. We managed to fix him up with an amazing chiropractor though.


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