Tripping over his front feet

[tammorice]

PLEASE....Can anyone shed some light on how to stop my 10yo TB from tripping over his front feet, before we both end up on our heads.

[Katie_85]

Have you had him thoroughly vet checked to rule out any underlying physical problems? Can you describe the tripping in more depth? What gait is he at when it is the worst, how often does he do it, etc. :)

[tammorice]

I have had him 2 weeks. I am having a vet come out this week, as well as the farrier to make sure it is not his shoes. It is mainly at the trot, & becomes more frequent the longer the session. It is due to this that we rarely canter, just in case... I asked my girlfriend to watch him, he seems to want to cross his feet over, could it be MY balance that is putting him off?

[Katie_85]

That sounds pretty dodgy to me. Wait and see what the vet and farrier have to say. I doubt yu could have enough balance problems to make a horse almost cross his feet in trot. I would wait and see what the vet says. :)

[B W]

It could be that your horse is not balanced. If you are posting his trot more on his forehand, that could be the reason he is tripping so much. My horse did a lot of tripping when i first got him and he still does from time to time when I am not balanced. Put your horse in the round pen and trot him around and see if he trips then. If not, it's the rider getting in his way. I don't mean that to say your are riding incorrectly since I am in no position to judge anyone. I'm a beginner. But I see myself as a person who gets in the way of my horse going the way he should. I am working on that but it will take a long time. I have noticed that when my saddle slips forward on his shoulders, it causes him to hollow out and trip. Horses look so balanced and go so well in the pasture. I hope you don't find anything wrong with your horse.

[Georgie B]

My girl used to trip/stumble/hate going down hill and when I moved yards and subsequently changed farrier she doesn't do this anymore. Is he being shod too long in the toe? Hope it's as simple as this for you - best wishes.:)

[Wally]

Could be 101 reasons, some nastier than others. Shoeing cold be the simple answer, training is another simple answer. Tendon or joint problems could be more sinister problems.

[Piaffe]

I think this is a TB thing! I've just posted about this on another thread!

I changed farriers (went to a CYTEC farrier) - the new farrier trimmed the toe right back and shod my horse further back, giving a natural break over point - causes natural wear on the toes. This really helped to stop the tripping. (natural balance shoes help this as well, which is what i have now changed over to)

Another thing I find helps is when riding along, make your horse work - get him tracking up from behind. Normally horses trip when they aren't concentrating and just dragging their feet along! So by making my horse work, particularly down more slippery roads, he concentrates on where he is putting his feet and doesnt slip or trip!