My gelding is extremely front end heavy under saddle so much so he often trips. It feels as though he is only using his front end and not with his hind end. Any tips I cant try to help?:no:
Yes, ride using your legs to drive him up
Make sure he does not have a hoof issue that is causing him to land toe first
There are lots of exercises to teach a horse to drive up from behind and also to keep his shoulders up
Make sure you are not just riding him off of your hands, hanging onto his mouth
First you need to make sure it not his feet … like toes too long can make them trip … or some other foot issue.
If that’s ok, then you need to wake him up. Just going faster isn’t the key. You need to get him sort of marching along … not too fast, but deliberate …
We used to cal it ‘waking them up’ … you don’t want him to be nervous of you, but paying attention … start clucking or chirping the rhythm of you gait and tap with your legs …
A horse that trips can really get you hurt, even from a walk … they can trip and the entire front end just drops out from under you and they actually can flip in slow motion and the land on you … this is not so good.
So, wake him up. …
Another thing to check out, far as a physical reason for tripping-bi lateral lameness,like navicular, will often show up first by a horse tripping
We have tripped and went down at a canter which landed me in the hospital for three days with a concussion and a broken nose. He was fine, just a broken saddle and a few scrapes. He is extremely laid back, so much so he seems drugged. The chiropracticor is coming out to look at him this coming friday. Thanks (: ps. He is on a regular farrier schedule (:
Sorry for your injuries, hope you heal quickly. If he were mine, even before your unfortunate incident, I’d have had him thoroughly checked out by a vet, stumbling like that can come from several different issues, navicular comes to my mind first but there are others, none of them good.
I agree with the others; in that the first thing I would do is get him a lameness evaluation with a good equine vet. That’s good you are having him checked by a chiro, but he also needs a lameness eval.
Can you post pictures of his feet? While it is good that you have him on a regular farrier schedule, not all farriers are created equal (if you get my drift).
Horses usually just don’t trip. There often is a physical reason behind it.
[QUOTE=sgussler;7935793]
We have tripped and went down at a canter which landed me in the hospital for three days with a concussion and a broken nose. He was fine, just a broken saddle and a few scrapes. He is extremely laid back, so much so he seems drugged. The chiropracticor is coming out to look at him this coming friday. Thanks (: ps. He is on a regular farrier schedule (:[/QUOTE]
How old is he, has your vet looked him over, blood work all ok?
I started a four year old that was 14.3 hands in February, he was 15.2 in June.
We were cantering slowly in a draw when he stumbled and went down slowly.
I though he would pick himself up, he didn’t and we went all the way down.
He landed on my leg and seemed dead, then kind of came to and sat up enough for me to get out from under him.
He sat there a minute longer and then got up and was fine.
I thought my leg was broken, but it was not, I did have two broken ribs, don’t know how that happened.
I hauled him to the vet right away and he could not find anything wrong with him, said he may just have fainted, he was growing so fast, he was just a bit uncoordinated.
He never again did that, but he always was a bit of a slowpoke.
If you have not yet, run him by your vet.
We have had him since he was 6 months. I cant figure out how to add a photo
Ground poles will help, a lot. I have also found that trail riding with the purpose of getting them to lift and pay attention also improves them. Sometimes they just get lazy in the ring.
You will have to use your legs and seat and get him to drive more with the rear but that is easier out in the open than when going in circles.
[QUOTE=sgussler;7936693]
We have had him since he was 6 months.[/QUOTE]
Have you had him examined (recently) by an equine vet who specializes in lameness?
[QUOTE=sgussler;7936693]
I cant figure out how to add a photo [/QUOTE]
You’ll need to upload your photos to a hosting website, such as PhotoBucket. Once it is uploaded, then click the little button that has a “world” picture on it, so that you can insert the link into a post.
Does he do the same thing when free? When longed? If yes, I also vote for more in-depth physical examination.
If he’s okay on the longe without tack, do you see a change in movement with it? If his stride is shortened even without a rider, something is not fitting correctly, and that would only be exaggerated with a rider’s weight in the saddle.
If he’s okay on the longe with tack and only trips with a rider on board, does he do it with every rider?
[QUOTE=Bluey;7936616]
How old is he, has your vet looked him over, blood work all ok?
I started a four year old that was 14.3 hands in February, he was 15.2 in June.
We were cantering slowly in a draw when he stumbled and went down slowly.
I though he would pick himself up, he didn’t and we went all the way down.
He landed on my leg and seemed dead, then kind of came to and sat up enough for me to get out from under him.
He sat there a minute longer and then got up and was fine.
I thought my leg was broken, but it was not, I did have two broken ribs, don’t know how that happened.
I hauled him to the vet right away and he could not find anything wrong with him, said he may just have fainted, he was growing so fast, he was just a bit uncoordinated.
He never again did that, but he always was a bit of a slowpoke.
If you have not yet, run him by your vet.[/QUOTE]
Been there, done that, without the ribs.
I would pass on the chiropractor in favor of a lameness specialist. You didn’t say how many years you have had him.
Got the chiro out and he is better! We even ran our fastest time on a barrel pattern, she said his back was tight from the fall and if I worked it out he will be fine. Thanks everyone
Excellent to hear. Glad the chiro helped. Keep in mind you may need to have him checked on a regular basis to keep him feeling good. My horses see the chiro every couple months during competition season, to keep ahead of any problems.
I would still ALSO have your horse examined by a very good equine lameness vet. Barrel racing is very hard on a horse’s body and it’s not uncommon to have subtle lameness issues going on.
