Falling over in canter... how can I stop it happening again???

[Mary Poppins]

This morning we were cantering around the school in an active forward going canter, when all of a sudden round one corner my pony tripped and fell right on his side. I obviously fell off and think that I was lucky not to have fallen under him. The ground was a bit uneven and I think that we hit a deep patch in the school.

My question is why did he do this and how can I stop it happening again? He doesn't have the best balance and tends to lean into his corners, especially in canter. I got back on and we tried again and he tripped again (in canter) this time goind down the long side on the school although he managed to pick himself up again. He does trip from time to time in trot but never this bad. He can be lazy, but today he was going really well, was forward going and listening to me. I have been doing lots of work on my position, I was sitting up and deep in the saddle and did not feel that I was putting him off balance.

Was I just unlucky or are there exercises I can do in order to stop this happening? He isn't lame, and is fairly fit. I had been riding him for about 45 minutes but we were not doing fast work and he wasn't worn out. He is carrying a little excess weight at the moment but I wouldn't say that he was overweight. If anyone has any suggestions, or just thinks that it was one of these things and I shouldn't worry, then please let me know. I don't know if I should get back on him like nothing has happened, or should do something differently.

[eeyore]

strange! not heard of a horse like that before.
so it just sounds like he has a balance problem really?

there must be some sort of exercises you can do to help him balance himself a bit better.
have you tried lunging him in canter? if so, does he fall over then?

have a look on google for equine balancing exercises or something, i'm sure you'll sort it out! ^_^ good luck!

[Bay Mare]

I've seen it happen before, usually when a horse was getting a bit overexcited! Do you think that maybe he had got a bit too forward going and just lost his balance and slipped? It may be worth collecting him before the corners and around the short side then pushing him on again on the straight.

One of the youngsters that I used to ride at my old school was very scary when he cantered, he motorbiked BIG time and it was only luck that he never went over. He wasn't my horse so I wasn't schooling him as such so all I could do was to bring him back a bit on the corners.

With regards to his tripping is may be worth having a good look at his feet. I'm not going to go all evangelical about barefoot :) as it's each to his/her own but I know someone who's horse tripped on occasion but hasn't tripped at all since going barefoot. I'm NOT saying that you should go barefoot but it might be worth checking out how his feet have been trimmed/shod. My trainer saw a dramatic difference in Saffy's action when I had her shoes taken off though I hadn't had problems with her tripping.

[Mary Poppins]

Hi Baymare,

Thanks for your reply. He was pretty excited and it was probably the fastest corner we have ever attempted to canter. My instructor had just shouted 'slow down' as we fell over! I have always worried about him falling before as he really takes the corners sharp. I don't think that he has ever been taught how to ride around a school properly.

He only wears shoes on his front feet and he does seriously need to be shod (farrier is coming next Tuesday). His back feet are really hardy so I don't really understand why he is shod on the front. He doesn't do much road work, but does hack out a couple of times a week. Shoeing is an area where I am pretty ignorant about as his owner makes the decisions about this. I think that I will look into this, as he does trip from time to time in trot as well.

[mad&happy]

my pony slips allot whilst going around corners too :o

my instructor told me to:
Sit up
dont look down
maybe put a little extra weight into the outside stirrup use the inside leg to try and make him bend
keep his neck streight

just a thought but does he bend in trot and walk? because if he dosn't then you could try walking, then trotting in circles, sepintines, figures of eight, smaller circles, bigger circles to help his balence.

also you could maybe do troting and walking poles on the streight and then around bends to make him think more about where he is putting his feet.

hope this helps. good luck :D

[dcp]

Hi, sounds very scary to me. I've only had a few strides of canter in the school as I'm terrified charlie will loose his balance going round the corner. He too gets excited glad you were ok though.

[Perfect Pony]

i understand what your going through, i have recently been 're schooling' my 16.1hh tb as all his life he has done show jumping and his schooling slacked a bit and when in canter he used to feel like his weight was more on the inside and he was motorbiking round corners and with his lil skinny leggies didnt feel safe!!! I took the time to start from scratch with his schooling getting him to work in an outline and work from his hind quarters more, starting in walk (i did so many schooling sessions just walking) then developing into trot then canter, i found he was much better but did try it on to begin with until i told him he had to work properly in all gaits!!! I use my inside leg to move him around the bend properly along with my outside rein staying firm and inside reinn coming out (my arm bending outwards at the elbow) and putting a little more weight in the outside stirrup!!! This really helped with our scholling at home, (he works fine at a show) i feel with shadow tho its just him playing up!!! I hope the horsey is ok and didnt hurt himself!!! :)

[eventerbabe]

has this falling happened before? sounds like it might be a balance issue. my lad and i went splat a couple of times when he was a youngster as he was so unbalanced in canter. do lots of bending work such as serpentines and circles. i'd get the farrier to have a close look at his feet, tripping is often caused by too long a toe.

[Jessey]

I would agree get those feet checked, Bo did the falling flat on his face with shoes and hasn't fallen once since going barefoot, I hack 3 times a week on roads so maybe that could be an option for you, it means the toes naturally wear themselves so keep better between farrier visits.

I have also done the motorbike round the corner thing and have had a horse land on me, on that occasion the school had just been sprinkled so was a little slippery and the pony had taken off at break neck speed :p

Bo has gone over a few times but thankfully never when I have been on him, again it is often when he goes to quick and get excited but it also has happened and when I have had the chiro out after there was some stiffness etc in his hips etc, but not sure if that was a cause or effect of the fall :rolleyes:

I have found that using a 'steady' command with half halts really helps, esp when I know the footing is not so good, but I was also taught to 'lift' the inside shoulder by using inside leg and raising the inside hand a bit, it should create bend and help to re-balance.

I would focus on improving balance and felxability, horses tend to motorbike when they can't bend round the corner very well :D

Good Luck

J x

[Lindsayanne]

I have a friend who has an ex-barrel horse and the poor thing used to just fall flat over if you asked her to canter a 20 meter circle. (obviously, she only did this on long lines till they got the horse working better. :p )

This is something my dressage trainer always has us working on- more balanced, truer turns. Does your instructor have the experience to train him for better balance and turns? If not, you might consider working with him with a dressage trainer.

I've been instructed when my horse is wanting to lean in on turns to lift my inside rein and slip my seat towards the outside an inch or two (but not if the horse is leaning too deep!)- shifting your weight makes the horse want to get back under it so they will lean back out.

[JOJOBA]

My horse trips a lot because of his conformation. Having rolled toes put on his shoes helped a LOT, and Im putting knee boots on him too. Try bridging your reins so if he trips you dont smash your face in too.

All the above are ways to help if the horse does trip, and not reasons why he may be doing it, but all helped me :) - quick practical things though!

xxx