My mare does this a few times each riding session in both directions with either myself or our coach in the saddle.
It seems to happen at all trot paces, from slow sitting trot to fast trot across the diagonal. Walk and canter are fine.
She is shod all around and the farrier visits every 6 weeks.
Any idea of what this could be?
Lower back pain issues. Stifle issues. EPM. Those would be my current guesses. Why does she wear shoes in the back?
Describe the “stumble”. Does the leg drop out suddenly like it can’t support the horse? Does it feel like tripping?
It doesn’t feel like we are going to fall or that she is struggling to catch herself, it feels almost like her hip drops fast and then her head comes up. She does catch the rear toe in that second, so not sure if this is coming from feet or higher up.
Her feet were bruised after being barefoot in wet pasture all winter and then moving to a gravel paddock at a boarding barn. Vet did lameness exam and suggested that we put 4 shoes on.
I’d have her stifles looked at. My mare often “tripped” behind when I was in the saddle, with the same “hip drop” that you describe. It was never a trip that felt as though she had to catch herself and it never jolted me out of the saddle. Had her hocks injected but it did not help. Then one day I managed to catch a video of her doing it on the lunge and played it back slow motion and was surprised to see that she was actually not tripping at all. It looked more like her leg just “gave out.” She placed it down, and then it buckled, giving a tripping effect. It would happen most often on the outside leg. Had radiographs of the stifles done and thankfully they looked good, so, suspected weakness behind (she had had some time off due to an unrelated injury) and was put on a specific exercise program.
[QUOTE=CupOJavaa;8695743]
I’d have her stifles looked at. My mare often “tripped” behind when I was in the saddle, with the same “hip drop” that you describe. It was never a trip that felt as though she had to catch herself and it never jolted me out of the saddle. Had her hocks injected but it did not help. Then one day I managed to catch a video of her doing it on the lunge and played it back slow motion and was surprised to see that she was actually not tripping at all. It looked more like her leg just “gave out.” She placed it down, and then it buckled, giving a tripping effect. It would happen most often on the outside leg. Had radiographs of the stifles done and thankfully they looked good, so, suspected weakness behind (she had had some time off due to an unrelated injury) and was put on a specific exercise program.[/QUOTE]
Could that also explain why she sometimes crossfires during canter too? With regular work that is almost gone now and only happens once every few weeks now.
[QUOTE=CupOJavaa;8695743]
I’d have her stifles looked at. My mare often “tripped” behind when I was in the saddle, with the same “hip drop” that you describe. It was never a trip that felt as though she had to catch herself and it never jolted me out of the saddle. Had her hocks injected but it did not help. Then one day I managed to catch a video of her doing it on the lunge and played it back slow motion and was surprised to see that she was actually not tripping at all. It looked more like her leg just “gave out.” She placed it down, and then it buckled, giving a tripping effect. It would happen most often on the outside leg. Had radiographs of the stifles done and thankfully they looked good, so, suspected weakness behind (she had had some time off due to an unrelated injury) and was put on a specific exercise program.[/QUOTE]
I think I have something like this going on too. Lameness exam showed hock soreness in both and some right front fetlock soreness (probably as a result of trying to compensate for the hocks). Got put on a regimen of Previcoxx and shod all around for added support. This has helped tremendously, but he still does that trip-thing behind sometimes.
What exercises did you do to improve fitness?
It very well could explain the cross firing/cross cantering behind. If the stifles are locking or “sticking” bad enough, it can be painful (think of all of those tendons and ligaments there…the stifle is a complicated joint) and you know how crafty horses can be about eluding and hiding pain. Has she gotten a little more reluctant to canter under saddle, or been giving you any different signs when you ask her to canter, such as a nasty ear flick or a head toss? Does she bunny hop into the canter?
Also, sticking stifles that are causing tripping can quickly make your horse lose confidence in herself. So if you jump, I would stop doing so now until you get it figured out. You don’t want her dropping back behind your leg in fear of a “trip.”
Dramapony, my horse was 1/5 lame on her right front as well, and 3/5 lame on right hind when everything was going on. Attributed the front end lameness to the hind end lameness. They’re so good at compensating that if pain goes untreated for long, it seems everything starts to hurt!
My vet told me no circles, no cantering, and no jumping. I was told to trail ride and hack, at a purposeful pace, 5-6 days a week for 30 days. Hill work is your best friend- strengthen that hind end! Walk and trot up hills, but only walk down. Set up ground poles and cavaletti and work over those walk and trot. Do all of this gradually. For instance, don’t just start trot work over caveletti. You don’t want to tear a ligament (the ligament in the horse’s knee is very similar to our ACL…imagine tearing that) due to strain from lack of power/muscle behind. For almost the whole first week I only walked, and avoided going down steep hills. Then I started trotting up hills. Then I started adding walking over ground poles, etc. etc.
Was anything done to find out why your horse was hock sore? Were X-rays done? Sometimes stifle pain can cause back and hock pain and sometimes hock pain can cause back and stifle pain. But if your horse was significantly sore in the hocks, I can’t imagine Previcox and shoes will be enough to treat them. I would personally want X-rays done, depending on your horse’s age. If your horse is having arthritic changes, you would probably want to treat more aggressively. I had a horse who was hock sore and a vet told me that X-rays would not necessarily change the course of treatment i.e, if there was arthritis, they would still inject. So I had injections done in the hocks and they helped but not 100%, so I had the vet back out to X-ray anyway. The horse didn’t just have arthritis. She had SEVERE arthritis of the tarsus, looked to be caused from an old injury that went unnoticed, and she had to be retired immediately. It was sudden and very upsetting. Had I never had those X-rays, I might have unknowingly ridden her into the ground.
[QUOTE=CupOJavaa;8695791]
It very well could explain the cross firing/cross cantering behind. If the stifles are locking or “sticking” bad enough, it can be painful (think of all of those tendons and ligaments there…the stifle is a complicated joint) and you know how crafty horses can be about eluding and hiding pain. Has she gotten a little more reluctant to canter under saddle, or been giving you any different signs when you ask her to canter, such as a nasty ear flick or a head toss? Does she bunny hop into the canter?
Also, sticking stifles that are causing tripping can quickly make your horse lose confidence in herself. So if you jump, I would stop doing so now until you get it figured out. You don’t want her dropping back behind your leg in fear of a “trip.”[/QUOTE]
We don’t jump - only if accidentally lean forward over a canter pole. She LOVES to canter and will really sit back and wait for me to ask. She collects nicely at the canter when asked (not that we do much collection yet, only a few strides at a time). I had hock x rays done with the PPE 2 years ago and all was well. She has not been overworked in her life ever.
Another thing I should mention is that she does have a small hind end compared to her front so we are working on building that up.
Sounds like it’s time to get well aquainted with the hills in your area. 
That would just be my first suspicion and personal approach. Good luck!
Darn, no hills near the barn! What else can we do in the area to help?
Yep, stifles would be my first thought, too. I’d definitely have them checked. I wouldn’t work it hard until the vet takes a look at it. You actually might want to not ride until the vet checks it. Meaning, you might not be making things a lot worse, but you aren’t helping it get better and that’s just about as bad–IF it is a stifle issue. The horse could have done something and actually damaged it, but is still willing to try and work for you. Just get it checked before you make do more work so you know what to do. Stifles are very tricky and it’s easy to do permanent damage. It also takes FOREVER for an injury in the stifle to heal. It’s like a human knee, and they can’t use crutches. 
I hope it’s something simple, but have it checked out!
Remember your ground poles and caveletti, then! Just start slooooow. Gymnastic stuff is hard work and a horse weak behind can tweak something easily.
I disagree that you should stop riding altogether until you get a vet’s opinion, only because you did not mention any lameness, heat, or swelling. If your horse is going perfectly soundly with only some locking/“tripping” behind, I would not fear a tear or strain. I would, however, only walk and hack until I get an opinion, but I am a big advocate of “motion is the lotion” when it comes to joints. My mare gets stifle issue when she doesn’t work or is laid up for a while. Those big joints do not like to sit.
But take all of our online advice with a grain of salt. You know horses…it could end up being her eye bothering her or something! :o
[QUOTE=Chestnut_Mare;8695723]
It doesn’t feel like we are going to fall or that she is struggling to catch herself, it feels almost like her hip drops fast and then her head comes up. She does catch the rear toe in that second, so not sure if this is coming from feet or higher up.[/QUOTE]
Locking stifle (Intermittent upward patellar fixation, in vet lingo 
). I’ve got one that had problems with stifle lock when he was younger and really growing quickly. He mostly outgrew it, but it still rears its head once in awhile. What you describe is exactly what he does.
OP, this is my horse to a T. I went through this entire thing last year. Around July, he started to slip behind. I chalked it up to the very hard footing from the very dry summer we had and most likely foot sore. In August, he added in stumbling in front. Whenever he had the opportunity, he would switch behind at the canter on the left lead. At no point did he show any outward sign of lameness. He still loved trails, jumping, galloping in fields, etc. You’d never know there was a problem until the stumble.
Vet #1 thought it was hocks, so we did those in September sans xrays to confirm. It made zero difference.
Vet #2 could not find anything obvious. He suggested bone scan which was well out of my budget.
I read somewhere that if a horse prefers W/C to trot, it’s a stifle issue. If he prefers to trot instead of W/C, is a lumbar/sacral issue. I had already had his teeth done, saddle fit checked, massage and chiro done, and the stumbling was still happening. This was a very well muscled horse who could come straight down hills like there weren’t there suggesting this was not a weak stifle thing. On an educated guess, I asked the vet to inject his SI in November. From there he recovered very slowly but completely. After about 3 months, I had a ride where I realized I forgot to worry about him stumbling.
I thought this was all in the rear view mirror. I’m sad to say, he has recently started to swap behind again. Hopefully it’s not the start of this whole thing again. Do yourself a favor and don’t throw money at every theory out there. You’ll go broke fast. Your problem is anywhere between the hocks and SI, and could even be in the neck. (I forget where, but it’s on the table as a possible cause). Good luck in your diagnosing. I hope you find it sooner than later.
Cupojava, you obviously have no experience with stifle injuries. Often by the time a person realizes there is an issue there is no swelling or heat. A hyper extension can start it and the horse can look fine, but small tears are not noticeable until they become bigger.
The OP can do what she wants, but if it is just happening and becoming more noticeable, it is more likely from an injury. And ignoring stifle issues can lead to a permanently crippled horse.
I don’t want to scare you, but I have been dealing with intermittent hitching and stumbling since January. Treated as sticky stifles at first, then bute and rest and gradual return to work, then cortisone shots, chiropractor, massages and just about everything everyone else has mentioned. Had a different vet look at her who did an ultrasound yesterday. He said the three words you never want to hear," suspensory ligament injury" and an old one. I am crushed. Such a long recovery and rehab period.
[QUOTE=Retiree;8696136]
I don’t want to scare you, but I have been dealing with intermittent hitching and stumbling since January. Treated as sticky stifles at first, then bute and rest and gradual return to work, then cortisone shots, chiropractor, massages and just about everything everyone else has mentioned. Had a different vet look at her who did an ultrasound yesterday. He said the three words you never want to hear," suspensory ligament injury" and an old one. I am crushed. Such a long recovery and rehab period.[/QUOTE]
Did this horse swap leads behind a lot too? If so, was the injury on the leg the horse swapped off of?
I had a tb gelding that did this when I first got him. He was 6. Only stumbled during trot work in the arena. Being young and dumb (me) I just trail rode the begeezus out of him. A couple of years later we started in hunter training. I realized he no longer tripped at the trot in an arena.
All the trail work was going up and down hills AND not being “on the bit” and moving mainly in straight lines.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
