# Horse tripping a lot on trails



## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

I had not been out trail riding in over a month before today. Basically went on an hour long walk in the woods. Granted it wasn't the best groomed trails. Lots of rocks and tree roots to trip over, not to mention fallen trees. Anyway, my horse was tripping a lot. A few times he almost fell over completely. Over the summer he had something going on where he was just tired all the time. It was never completely diagnosed, but neurological things were completely ruled out. I can't really say he's out of shape since he didn't even break a sweat even under the girth despite it being a 70 degree day and he already has a thick winter coat. He did seem to get better towards the end. He just seems to be less sure footed this year than he was as a 5 and 6 year old. Is this anything I should be concerned about, or do some horses just take awhile to find their legs?


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## Walkamile (Dec 29, 2008)

Just a thought, how's his eyesight? Also, is he due or over due for a trim/shoeing?


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

I'm assuming his eyes are fine. He sure can see a carrot coming from a mile away. Today when we got lost, I pretty much dropped the reins and he did fine on his own finding the way home. I doubt he'd be able to do that if he couldn't see, could he? He's not due for shoes for another 2 weeks, so that's probably not an issue.


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## Walkamile (Dec 29, 2008)

How is he at going over ground poles (caveletti , sp.? ). Is he picking his feet up nicely and not hitting any? On the trail were you riding with a loose rein so he could put his head where needed to navigate the terrain. Just spitballing here, eliminating what can be eliminated.

Is he still tired acting, and could that be causing him to not pick his feet up well on the uneven terrain? That's kinda why I asked about the ground poles.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

I haven't had access to ground poles in awhile. We recently moved to a new barn and I've been riding in a public ring that doesn't have any poles or jumps. That's a good question. I'll have to set something up and see how he does over them. Maybe he is just still tired. One of the possible diagnosis' over the summer was Lyme disease, but his titer came back a low positive, so we discounted it. Maybe it was Lyme and I screwed up.


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## gypsygirl (Oct 15, 2009)

how many weeks does he usually go between trims ? he might just need to be trimmed more often


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

> how many weeks does he usually go between trims ? he might just need to be trimmed more often


I sure hope he doesn't need to be trimmed more often. I can barely afford him now! He's only at 4 weeks right now. We normally don't go past 6.


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## masatisan (Jan 12, 2009)

He could be lacking confedince, not spooky or anxious, just not feeling so sure of himself. You moved recently and you havn't done trails a lot recently, so that could make him a little less sure footed. Some horses lose/gain their "trail legs" much faster than others. 

Lyme disease is a tricky one to test for, it's one of those ones that doesn't always show up when it's being tested, was it a single test or was he tested a few times?


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

We just tested once for Lyme. I've always had a bad feeling that we blew the diagnosis. He has occasional back soreness and hasn't been great about standing for the farrier the past two shoeings, so it does fit a little in terms of overall soreness. He doesn't have any personality changes. He's still his sweet self, so that goes against the diagnosis. 

I know when we first went out today, he was going completely away from the barn and was somewhat conflicted about going. It's like half his body was moving forward and the other half was going backwards. The funny thing is, when he does get to something tricky like a rocky slope down to a stream and back up a bank (like he did today), he navigates it like a champ. I feel like he's just not paying attention about where his feet are, but I get worried when he trips as much as he did today.


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## MIEventer (Feb 15, 2009)

> I sure hope he doesn't need to be trimmed more often. I can barely afford him now! He's only at 4 weeks right now. We normally don't go past 6.


Do not go any shorter than 6 weeks. Nelson is on 6 weeks as well, if I were to go any shorter of a time period than that, then there would be no where to put the nails for the shoes, and there would be no growth.

~~~~

Nelson does the same thing MyBoyPuck. It is called lazyness or sloppyness. It isn't that he is being lazy as in not wanting to work - I mean as in not knowing that he needs to pick up his feet more accurately.

As George Morris stresses to those who jump low fences or grids continuoulsy - teaches a horse to be sloppy. Meaning they don't tuck as they shoud and they drop their backs instead of rounding them.

Same idea - just not as dramatic.

Over the time where Nelson and I took a year off *from lessons and compeating*, we would trail ride and he would trip, stumble, fumble. It was quite frustrating, especially when he would trip and catch himself in the mouth with the bit.

So I set up cavaletti's in the arena *had them upside down so they were trot poles* and worked on going over those for a few days. Then I would rotate the cavaletti's so they were on their side, raising the "pole" part a bit higher up off the ground, and did the same until eventually they were upright.

The higher we went, the higher Nelson lifted his legs - and yes, this stopped him from being sloppy out on the trails.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

MIEventer, I didn't know that about low grids and small jumps. That makes sense. Puck's a big boy and we do a lot of both in an effort to help his middle aged rider get her legs back before going back to jumping higher. We haven't jumped higher than 18" in over 2 months. Maybe I'll concentrate on some raised grids and just suck it up and jump a little higher to get him thinking more about his feet. I sure hope it's just laziness. I've been through way too much with this boy this year. Both my wallet and my nerves are shot.


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## MIEventer (Feb 15, 2009)

Sister, I am 100% with you on that!

I owe my vet over $800.00 in bills ranging from Nelson Choking this Spring *2 day episode*, scoping twice, to him getting Patomac Fever and getting his teeth done and booster shots. 

And that isn't including the $$ I had to put into his groceries because the last facility he was at he lost 300lbs. 

I am extremely paranoid with Nelson. So I am right there with you on that.


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

Hi guys, just another thought (or potential problem). When I first started riding my young mare she was a very forward moving, confident horse and I loved her abilities on hills. She was just four at this stage. Six months after breaking her in and being so happy with her I suddenly had this lazy, bum footed horse. She really stumbled and bumbled and seemed just Lazy!

And then a small patch of white hair appeared on her wither. My saddle was to small for her. It fitted her unridden body but as soon as she began to develop more muscle it no longer fit. I have bought a new saddle, nice and roomy and the difference is amazing. Suddenly I have my wonderful forward moving girl, with her awesome big, free stride, back. I wonder if you may need to double check your saddle, horses are still growing and changing physically up until they are atleast eight. A saddle that fits a five/six year old may not fit a nine/ten year old. Especially if your requirements of your horse get more demanding as it matures, say starting eventing or something. This is just a thought.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Did you work him out a lot lately? My qh dragging her feet sometime after I work her out for couple weeks in row. She just seems to be tired and bored with riding no health issues). Also if he's not used to rocks much they indeed can be really hard on him.


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## horseluver50 (Mar 19, 2009)

I rode a horse before, he was a tall appendix, and he tripped over everything!!!
Trails was terrible and terrifying, cause he tripps on even ground 
It is because he is very unbalanced and his long legs always get the best of him 
He almost fell on his face when my friend cantered him in a flat arena. haha
He is def. not a jumper (the horse i rode)


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

I feel for you! My boy, Red, stumbled and bumbled along in the arena all the time. He scared the pee out of me several times. Yet when my husband would take him out and gallop he never put a misstep.

I would ride in the arena and he would stumbled so much I thought he had a neuro problem. 

I bought Red in January. In May, I went on a trail ride - he stumbled once or twice on rocks - just like every other horse there. He was picking up those feet!! His former owner said he was just being lazy and she was right. I rode him over big pvc pipes and wooden landscape timbers in the arena to get him to pick up. Now on trails he rarely stumbles - except sometimes over roots or rocks. Red just hates being in an arena!

Have your boy checked for Lyme again - never hurts to be certain. Use the timber thingies in the arena to help him pick up. I know how scary it is when they stumble!!! I just had the white thingies show up on Red's withers too...I think a new saddle is in my future - check that out and hope it gets better soon!


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

Thanks guys. I haven't checked his saddle fit in awhile, but that's definitely a possiblitly that it's pinching him. He has put on both weight and muscle recently. I'll try a different saddle next time and see what happens. 

I trotted him over poles in the ring and he seemed to be picking his feet up. We did recently switch barns and he's gone from a hard rubber ring to a moderately deep sand ring. Maybe he's still adjusting to it. 

I walked on the same trails that he was stumbling on recently. They really suck. There are a lot of large tree roots that are covered by pine needles and leaves. I tripped over a few of them myself, so I think I'm just being paranoid.


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## Mingiz (Jan 29, 2009)

I had a palomino mare that would trip and stumble along the trial..Sometimes fall to her knees. Most of it was laziness..My current MFT does it too. Unitll I ask for more speed and then the tripping / clicking goes away....:wink:


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

Horses that were not raised on uneven terrain just don't learn how to watch out for their feet. They can learn, but it take some riding for them to watch and take care of their feet. Along the way, you will have a few trips and a few rock bites on thier pasterns as they learn.

There is a ranch new me that raises quarter horses on the side of mountain. Each suumer they have a sale. The horses are highly sought after not ony for their breeding, but because those babies grew up following their mares across some really rough stuff. Those horses have a reputation of being really sure footed the rest of their lives because of what they learned as foals. Same thing with most mustangs. Owners rav about how sure footed they are, because they learned as babies to watch their feet.

My current gelding grew up in the grass pasture behind the house. And the first year or two of trail rides, my daughters teased about him being an Oaf. Tripping and Clumsey. But a couple of years of trail rides and he is pretty sure footed now.

I'm riding my horse, but turned around and taking pictures of the riders behind me, and not worried about what we are crossing.









He will even work his way through the blow down, picking his feet up and watching where he puts them


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

Painted Horse - makes sense! My gelding was raised in the flat lands and was trained to be a race horse. He will kick off his front right shoe in a heart beat yet never kick the back of his front foot - He gets that close to his foot without touching it. Makes for a great race horse - expensive though to keep shoes on my boy.

I think the saddle pinching could have something to do with it too. Red's former owner said he didn't stumble with her - so it could be a combo of laziness and pinching tack!


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## flamingauburnmustang (Dec 25, 2008)

I know this is probably not the case, but are you well balanced on the saddle? This can also affect a horse's balance.


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## arabchica (Jul 5, 2009)

I think he might not be paying as much attention as he should be. Kind of daydreaming down the trail. "la de da" Wake him up a bit ask him to collect a little and see if that helps.


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## VanillaBean (Oct 19, 2008)

my horse tripps alot on ricky trails, beacause she has soft and easily bruisable hoofs....maybe your boy has the same problem...


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## heyycutter (Sep 26, 2009)

my boy trips and slips alot, its so irritating. i guess its a common problem!


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## Appyt (Oct 14, 2007)

None of my horses do this, not even the former HUS show horse. They are all kept on rough pasture year round. They pay attention cuz they need to.


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