# When a horse stumbles...



## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Depends upon the loss of balance, how severe and fast it occurs and how fast I can recover myself.


I have held and been used for a balance point...
I have also thrown them away to the rein buckle and allowed them to catch and re-balance themself while I also did the same thing...
And then, I have been pitched off when I was a "passenger" not a rider and got caught unbalanced and not able to recover but be a hindrance and off I went. :icon_rolleyes:
:runninghorse2:...
_jmo..._


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

This would be a minor stumble. One where the horse recovers quickly. But I'm interested in hearing about what to do in all stumbles - severe or not.


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## TuyaGirl (Mar 14, 2014)

I always give my mare her head when she stumbles. Also when we are about to cross ditches or so, to give her the opportunity to use herself the way she wants better.

I learnt the other way around by a horsemen I was riding with, when my mare slipped on a paved road and he saw me instinctively hold her up and tighten the reins. He then told me to give her her head so as it would help with rebalance. That made sense to me because when she slipped she put her head down and I held her, braced, and felt I was ripping her mouth by pulling against.


Could be wrong though, so interested to follow the responses


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## TXhorseman (May 29, 2014)

Although attempting to "hold up" the horse may work in some situations, I would generally allow the horse to take care of things himself. Of course, I would also try to prevent making things worse by keeping my center of balance over his so he could make adjustments as if I were not on him. 



I was on a horse once that must have been sleepwalking while on a trail ride. He tripped and went down on both knees. I just stayed balanced. He got back up and began walking again. But he paid more attention to what he was doing.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

I believe one of the US Horse Magazines (Horse & Rider maybe) had a really good article on this topic earlier this year. They stated (and I agree) that pulling a horses head up when it stumbles only causes more issues for the horse. The horse uses its head and neck for balance but it is not its center of gravity. The horse will move its head and neck in the way it needs to in order to stay upright. A rider jerking the horses head up or not allowing it free movement causes the horse to lose more balance - and in some cases could be the reason the horse falls or goes to its knees.

I try to give the horse its head - I have been caught off guard and had the horse fall into my hands at a hard stumble but try to give them their head.


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## Cedar & Salty (Jul 6, 2018)

Give them their head for balance, shift weight off their front end. 

I have emergency dismounted when a horse could not get his feet back under him to prevent a fall.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

I have had a horse stumble and go down to her knees and nose and then recover and get up with me still safely seated. If I had pulled on the reins, she would have pulled me over her head. 

By the way, this was out on a trail, and after that day, this mare started watching where she was going instead of hunting for spooks in the woods.


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## Amitubin (Sep 11, 2018)

This is interesting, my personal opinion is that the rider should be quick and elastic enough that if the horse trips or stumbles you can give him enough release to catch himself (the horse doesn’t need the rider to balance) but a horse stumbling shouldn’t stop the work that was asked - so you shouldn’t completely loosen the reins ..
Just give enough and then gently ask the horse to keep going


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

There is a poem somewhere that refers to the horse's neck & head as its "5th leg". Then there is "The Man From Snowy River":

When they reached the mountain's summit, even Clancy took a pull,
It well might make the boldest hold their breath,
The wild hop scrub grew thickly, and the hidden ground was full
Of wombat holes, and any slip was death.
*But the man from Snowy River let the pony have his head*,
And he swung his stockwhip round and gave a cheer,
And he raced him down the mountain like a torrent down its bed,
While the others stood and watched in very fear....

...Through the stringy barks and saplings, on the rough and broken ground,
Down the hillside at a racing pace he went;
*And he never drew the bridle till he landed safe and sound*,
At the bottom of that terrible descent. - written circa 1890

The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses, by Andrew Barton 'banjo' Paterson

Poetry aside, real world, I have a lot of heartburn with the idea that we humans know more about balancing a horse than the horse does. When I need to go across rough ground, I give my horse his head and let him take care of us. Little 13 hand Cowboy, our BLM mustang, is our surest footed horse. Put a new rider on him, let him have his head, tell the rider to hang on, and he'll take a new rider across stuff I dismount and lead my horse over.

I generally ride trails with the reins loose in my hand, so they can slip through my fingers automatically if my horse needs to use his head. He hasn't failed me yet. After 3 1/2 years of riding together, he often knows what I plan as soon as I do. He sometimes needs "contact" to remind him I'm there, but he gets total freedom any time there is a question of balance! He's had a few stumbles, once to his knees, and I'll give him as much freedom as I can.


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

I give them their head and stay out of their way to let them recover on their own terms.



They don't need pressure on the bit, or worse, getting jerked on their mouth.


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## redbadger (Nov 20, 2017)

With Toby and the other barn horses, I trust them to catch themselves. I do my best not to tighten up on the assumption that'd throw their balance off. I figure they have more feet on the ground than me, and if they're truly going down I can't stop gravity's imposition on 1200lbs of horse.


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## Kalraii (Jul 28, 2015)

Katie stumbled like 50 times the first week I had her. She was so distracted she never watched her feet. It resolved itself pretty quickly as she relaxed and learned to work properly and now never does it. 

I was told both ways you mentioned. Her stumbles were nearly on her knees. Every time with me I would let the reins slip but also because it was really hard to counter balance such a huge horse. 

Personally I would rather just sit well and let them have their head than to catch their mouth. I woule rather roll off than risk breaking their jaw. And im assuming you mean stumbling at nothing speedier than a chill canter (where katie often stumbled too in the early weeks. At every gait.) I think there is something true about counter balancing with their mouth but for me itd have to ve a serious stumble to consider "helping" them.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

Another important thing is to keep your own self centered so that you don't throw off their balance.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

There is , in my mind, a difference between what you do to 'manage' the horse over rough ground, and what you do when they have tripped.
When I am riding down into a steep drop, say, down into a stream bed, I DO take up some contact for the first couple of steps. This is to ask the horse to slow down, rock back a bit, and take more care to start off with, because gravity is going to add to his speed in the 3rd and 4th, etc steps, so I want him to start the decent 'ready'. The important part is to then give him total freedom of his head. 



I know that I have been guilty of over managing a horse over rough ground, out of a lack of trust in the horse. That's fear on my part. When I got better at trusting the horse, I did much less to 'manage' him as we entered some kind of very steep or rough transit.




For a horse that is tripping a lot, not on rough or steep ground necessarily, but just tripping along, I think it is best to take a bit of contact, put some leg on , and ask the hrose to step up with more engagement, not just falling along onto his forehand. really lazy horses often trip a lot.


I used to ride a trail horse that tripped all the time at the walk, but never at the trot. his walk was slow and draggy, and, he *plaited , *so often tripped over his own front feet.


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## Kaiit (Mar 28, 2017)

tinyliny said:


> For a horse that is tripping a lot, not on rough or steep ground necessarily, but just tripping along, I think it is best to take a bit of contact, put some leg on , and ask the hrose to step up with more engagement, not just falling along onto his forehand. really lazy horses often trip a lot


Mostly this. Little trips are often laziness from mine so I find myself saying, “oops! Never mind,” and squeeze on a bit more leg to get them working from behind. I don’t react quick enough to give them their head entirely but I’d hope the elasticity of my hand means they’ll get a little bit of length from the reins. Honestly, there’s no conscious thought over it because it happens so quickly, so really I’d maintain the contact in this scenario.

Bigger stumbles I will let the contact go for a few strides until their rhythm recovers. I don’t know if this is ‘correct’ or not, but I do it.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

My old QH Lucky got kind of stumbly when he got older and one day he tripped BIG when we were out on a nice, flat, well groomed trail. We were at a flat out gallop and he just went whoooops! and pretty much down to his knees. If I'd been hanging on, I think we'd both have been hurt. I let the reins slip right to the buckle and he recovered and kept right on going. I did throw myself backward, so as to get off his forehand, and help him counter balance, but that was all the help he needed. I'm sure somebody out there has done the opposite with good effect, so I'm sure there are others who will say to hang on. My experience has been to let them have their head.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

tinyliny said:


> I know that I have been guilty of over managing a horse over rough ground, out of a lack of trust in the horse. That's fear on my part. When I got better at trusting the horse, I did much less to 'manage' him as we entered some kind of very steep or rough transit.



Raises hand sheepishly.....me too tiny, me too.


My horses are "retired" show horses so they know how to move...
Now, they trail-ride for pleasure only....
With that thought I interfere with them as little as possible...
We ride over trails with varied terrain, water and rocks, tree-roots to water run-off gullies to open sandy areas deep in footing, then add in road crossings of all kinds of man-installed materials at times...
I "allow" them to pick their way and use their body to best keep us safe..
I can still guide where I want to go, control their gait and speed easily but they have their head and neck at a angle of their choice to best see the ground and what is on it...
Now, I will say the day we came around the trail bend to see a alligator sunning himself you bet I had a firm hand on the reins and strong legs on the horse as he wanted to wheel and run and we needed to just stay put about 150 feet away...
The alligator knew we were their and moved off at his pace...we then moved past at my pace of "enhanced" walk with animation on our way back to the trailer and home.
Snakes we encounter often, alligator was a first for me and was I ever glad my friend was with us to lead...although her horse was agitated but listening as was mine. 
:runninghorse2:...
_jmo.._


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

Another thing that comes to mind is to consider why a horse is stumbling? All horses will take an occasional misstep out on the trail. I am talking about chronic stumblers.

1. Are they just lazy and not picking up their feet?

2. Are their hooves too long?

3. Are they slightly lame?

4. Could they need a different farrier? Or shoes if they are barefoot?

5. Could they have arthritis or other physical things that make them want to move slowly? I have a 31 year old horse that we obviously don't use often. She is not lame at all; just old as dirt. About every two months or so, I'll have a beginner that wants to ride and I'll get her out because she is so safe. The mare never complains, but she moves slowly. I never go more than two or three miles or let the rider ask her to go past a walk. The last two times we got her out, I gave her a little bit of bute before the ride. She picked her feet up and moved a lot better.

6. One other thing that comes to mind is do they have a vision issue?


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## charrorider (Sep 23, 2012)

Acadianartist. Does this instructor ever gets out of the arena and rides in the real world?


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

I give my horse her head on the trail. Most of the time I am riding on the buckle at any speed. I trust her. If she stumbles I try to stay as balanced as I can to stay out of her way and let her find her footing. 

That said . . . I once had a horse who stumbled a little going down an embankment so I threw him the reins, and he took the opportunity to get his head down and buck really hard. I flew off like a bird. Witnesses said I turned a somersault in midair but they may have been exaggerating.


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## Caledonian (Nov 27, 2016)

Honestly, it’s always happened so quickly that I’ve rarely had time to think about the best way to handle a trip. 

It’s meant that, self-preservation kicks-in, I sit still, let the reins slide if they’re pulled and allow the horses to move and re-balance under me. I think leaning forward, backwards or shortening the reins will only affect how they recover. 

I used to ride an arthritic ex racehorse who wore knee boots due to tripping and, if I’d kept a hold of him or pulled back, I’d would’ve been under his feet and in more danger.


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