why does she keep tripping...?

K

Kate&TheHerd

Guest
my lovely cob annie, recently i have noticed her tripping more :rolleyes: when i first got her she did it A LOT over jumps everything, this all subsided. its out on hacks that it happens really, in WALK! today was the worst, she almost went on her knees. generally its not this bad and its just little trips. i ride with contact obv, but looser than 'normal' contact as on a hack we just chill. i know she can pick her feet up (see proof below)


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but i dont want to have to ride her like this all the time on a ride as it our chill time, so just wondered if it was any other reason or just a 'cob thing?' farrier was out the other day and said its not her feet!
 
possibly, i know shes always tripped now and again but i have noticed it more recently. shes (touch wood :D) sound
 
How old is she ? My old gal started to trip a lot on downhills when she was 18, had her checked by the vet a few weeks later & it was the beginings of the arthritis that caused the problems, we just had to make sure she worked well from the leg on downhills & little contact, & knee boots just in case, but once we got into an excersise program for the arthritis the trips really cut down.
 
Maybe get vet out to do flexions/lameness work up - could be something underlying. Often tripping can be associated with sight problems
 
this is what i thought, its possibly because im poss not riding with enough contact, but i dont *think* she was tripping this much, before she tripped over that massive stone and went lame.

my farrier said not to worry about it much as his heavier horses do the same
 
There's an unconscious reflex nerve thing going on in the foot - can't remember what it's called, I'd have to read KC LaPierre's 'Chosen Road' again to find out and I don't own a copy. Anyway, this reflex is what allows the horse to know where it's feet are and where to put them on uneven going, but sometimes shoeing can interfere with it. I was very interested when I read this because my old cob JS used to stumble like crazy, it drove me mad and worried me because it can be a sign of things like navicular developing. But when his shoes came off, all of a sudden he stopped stumbling :cool: So maybe KC was right! Anyway, before you do anything expensive like get the vet in to take a look, I'd see whether you can ride her without shoes on and see if it makes any difference. It was very obvious with JS that it had helped him, I noticed pretty much immediately how much more sure-footed he was :)
 
ahhh she was tripping lots before being shoed on thursday, has just been shoed but triped only once today!

also yes she has got more unfit, never thought of that. when i first got her she was overweight and unfit, and tripping a lot then. she got fit but has been doing much less work because of her injury so her fitness is lower than usual. do you think this could be a cause? makes sense
 
Iron Maiden said:
But when his shoes came off, all of a sudden he stopped stumbling :cool: So maybe KC was right! Anyway, before you do anything expensive like get the vet in to take a look, I'd see whether you can ride her without shoes on and see if it makes any difference. It was very obvious with JS that it had helped him, I noticed pretty much immediately how much more sure-footed he was :)
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very interesting!! i am thinking of going barefoot in winter anyway, due to lack of acces the farrier will have. il see what shes like when back up to fitness, if not will try bare foot. will no doubt be going shoeless in winter time anyway
 
k8_doran said:
ahhh she was tripping lots before being shoed on thursday, has just been shoed but triped only once today!

also yes she has got more unfit, never thought of that. when i first got her she was overweight and unfit, and tripping a lot then. she got fit but has been doing much less work because of her injury so her fitness is lower than usual. do you think this could be a cause? makes sense
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i just no with my boy (he is only four) when we get towards the end of a hack and he is tired he trips alot more, he doesnt tend to pick up his feet as much and therefore ends up tripping more. like you said i suppose it makes sense. :)
 
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