I had a mare I used to ride do the same thing–her legs felt like they buckled, but never to the point that she felt as if she were going to go down. We had chiro work done on her (she had a myriad of soreness issues), but injecting her stifles seemed to do the trick. She was also put on Adequin and that helped too!
Velvet, my mile long vet bills and 3 different vets would beg to differ. :rolleyes: OP did indicate that her horse does have a small hind end. Besides, anything posted online should merely be taken as advice and the opinions that they are. So no need to be a bully and make judgements about others’ experience. My own opinion still stands.
Bully?? Sheesh that word gets thrown around a lot these days, and often incorrectly.
To quote Inigo Montoya, “You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.”
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Thank you everyone for all the advice so far. I’m really hoping it is not any of the issues you are describing and simply my mare not being fit enough. I am going keep a very watchful eye on her from now on knowing what all of you have gone through and will keep you posted (if anyone is interested). Bodywork like chiro and massage seems to help her a lot and she will feel amazing and loose for several months after treatments, so it may just be time for that again…
I would definitely want to know why he’s stumbling…as others have pointed out, there are several different types of stumbling/tripping. If his leg is “giving out” as described above then I would follow the advice above.
My TB trips himself (hind end) once a day or once every other day or so in the arena, but he travels close behind and either kicks himself with his other foot or appears to stub his toe. He’s always moved a little differently with his RH, and shoeing really hasn’t made any differences over the years. He’s been under the close supervision of a vet, a chiropractor, another body worker, and a great farrier (actually a couple of them) for the 10 years I’ve had him, and has stayed sound and comfortable through many many years of jumping over the big sticks (he’s my FEI horse and has shown at the 1.40m-1.50m level for the last 8 years). He’s also been in an intense conditioning program for most of those years, and that includes a lot of hill work, which also hasn’t changed things. So for my guy we just consider it one of his quirks.
So my advice would be to find a good body person (vet, chiropractor, or whoever you trust to have a really really good eye) and have them help you figure out a) why it’s happening (mechanically) and b) if there’s anything you can do to help it.
Curious, OP and other posters who say the horse stumbles behind but does not slip - kind of like a trip – does it look anything like this? (Stumble happens @ around 0:30 mark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_X52gBaVjw
[QUOTE=beowulf;8696971]
Curious, OP and other posters who say the horse stumbles behind but does not slip - kind of like a trip – does it look anything like this? (Stumble happens @ around 0:30 mark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_X52gBaVjw[/QUOTE]
No, not that severe at all. She carries on in the same rhythm and speed and does not stop after the trip/stumble/hitch. What is up with the horse in the video?
I have found that this often occurs when a horse is not fit, bringing them back into work after time off. Once they are fit again it doesn’t seem to happen. I never worried about it if it only happened occasionally.
Update
So my coach suggested we get a second opinion on my horse’s hooves. Had the back shoes pulled and trimmed and her feet look terrible. They are “bullnosing” and the white line was terribly stretched. She also has thrush for the first time since I’ve owner her. Lightly lunged her later in the day and she is not tripping at all. Trimmer said that the shoes were on super tight.
This morning she came trotting to the fence to get her hay and was quite feisty. The past few weeks she just kinda lumbered around. In a week we are going to pull the front shoes too and get some hoof boots to help with the transition.
Not sure if this is going to solve the whole problem but I feel that it is a good start.
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Hoof balance can definitely cause what you’re describing. The “bullnose” of the hind feet most likely means she’s got a negative plantar angle behind. Rads of the feet will help determine which direction you need to go and maybe a new farrier too.
Check for EPM and pray that it is not EPM.
UPDATE - we pulled her back shoes and she has not stumbled/tripped once! There is a lot more power from behind in the trot now too.
The shoes seemed to be on too tight and she had severe thrush under the shoes.
Just pulled the front shoes as well and she is moving beautifully! Who knew shoes could do so much harm…!!!
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Shoes - sometimes an evil, and sometimes a savior. Glad to hear you found the problem.
The video of the horse stumbling: when it is changing rein and crosses the diagonal it looked like there was a brief “stutter” in the hind legs. Transitioning to the walk was bad. I wonder if he would stumble so bad if ridden with either no contact or with correct contact.
[QUOTE=Gestalt;8723591]
Shoes - sometimes an evil, and sometimes a savior. Glad to hear you found the problem.
The video of the horse stumbling: when it is changing rein and crosses the diagonal it looked like there was a brief “stutter” in the hind legs. Transitioning to the walk was bad. I wonder if he would stumble so bad if ridden with either no contact or with correct contact.[/QUOTE]
If you’re talking about the video I posted, during the change of rein there was a rider/horse miscommunication. Horse thought it was time for a walk break.
That channel has other videos of the horse too, ridden with and without contact.
You’re welcome to come out and ride him and show him what correct contact is. :winkgrin: Generally, for videos taken for vets for soundness eval (which this one is) you don’t want too much contact. The horse in the video has been seen by a few vets, diagnosis is still in the air.
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whew! glad you sorted it out!
[QUOTE=CupOJavaa;8695810]
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]
Realized I never replied!
As for why he has sore hocks, we pretty much attribute it to mild arthritis and the fact that my gelding is 16 and being asked to (gradually) work harder than he ever has in his life. I chose not to do x-rays as I figure they’re result wouldn’t alter the end result…if we can keep him comfy in doing Training/First level dressage work then great. If not, then he goes back to the pasture puff/trail horse existence he had for the first 11 years of his life.
So far, we have been doing well on the Previcoxx and shoes regimen, until very recently when the ground got super hard and dry (grass arena). I’ve tried to limit ring time to only a few times per week with lots of hacking to take it easier on his joints.
Stifles is the first thing I think too but hard to say without seeing the issue. I have seen hock issues present like SI or back issues so hard to say.
Another update for those who are interested… front shoes have been off for several weeks now too - although she was tender for a while, she is going so much better without shoes. No tripping/stumbling at all, much more “elevation” in trot and canter.
Thanks to getting her saddle adjusted she is much more balanced and even on both reins.
super news! keep us posted.
My horse does this same thing. Sometimes but rarely this bad. usually its pretty minor but definitely noticeable. I should have someone record me riding so I can show my vet. I think my mares issue is she is unfit right now. She’s a barrel horse who’s been off and just lightly ridden for the past 2 years. I myself have been trying to find out what causes this too. Glad I came across this post!
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