Tripping horse--where to start looking

[RegentLion]

My 15 yr old Arabian gelding has always been a “trippy” sort of guy, especially when he’s gawking and not paying attention. He trips in fields (while riding), groomed arenas, uneven arenas, trails etc. I don’t love it but since he has always done it with me (got him when he was 8 and only green broke), I assumed it was his normal, and he never went down, just…tripped.

Attempts to get him to “pay attention” to his feet have not worked much. He either is or he isn’t.

This summer though, within the last 2 weeks, he’s tripped two times, badly. Once was last Friday, cantering right, and he went down so fast he hit his knees and face and I rolled off over his head. We’re both fine, but it scared me. My trainer was there and she couldn’t even tell what happened it happened so fast.

Today (Sunday, a week and 2 days later) he tripped going right at the trot. He did not go down but it was a ‘big’ trip, unlike his ‘little trips’ and it felt like he might have gone down had we been cantering. DH, who is a horse person, said he looked like he was being lazy/not paying attention–but my horse was actually not being lazy but was distractible and being over-reactive.

I mentioned today’s close call it to my trainer and she said that this was out of the norm for my horse and I need him checked out.

I agree and I won’t be riding until we have him assessed. I will longe him tomorrow with an eye to his soundness and in side reins to see if I can really observe the ‘trips’ from the ground.

Vet is going to get me in this week, but I need a plan of what to look for… Horse appears quite sound at longe and feels sound under saddle. He is very fat this year even on a diet and with more exercise than usual.

DH is my farrier and trimmed him 5.5 weeks ago. His feet are a little long, but nothing outrageous. So we will start here. Fall was at about 4.5 weeks, so again, nothing big. Saddle fitter was here about a month ago and everything seems to fit well there. No back soreness on palpation.

Considerations are checking for Lyme, EPM, lameness exam, neuro exam… so many options that I don’t know where to begin, and funds at the moment aren’t unlimited.

Any thoughts are helpful!!!

Small Update post #21

[Showbizz]

Check feet first! Shorten and/or square toes.

[Lunabear1988]

With tripping I always think feet, neck issues or neurological. I’d probably rule it out in that order.

[walktrot]

My Paint gelding was a tripper. He needed a 2-degree frog pad on his fronts to adjust for his pastern angles. His toes were long when I bought him. I had an outstanding farrier and she put him in Natural Balance shoes with the pads, found the correct breakover and squared his toes. He was barefoot behind. He had one signifiant trip and went down on his knees. I rolled off and in the process of avoiding a fractured clavical shredded part of the brachial plexus on the right side. I have permanet nerve damage. That was 20 years ago.

What corrected the problem immediately was switching him to Avanti steel shoes for the last 5 or so years I had him. Farrier went to a clinic and decided to try them. I was amazed. The tripping and stumbly steps disappeared. They maintain the breakover but are contoured to reduce stress on ligaments and tendons around the coffin bone. I never got into the heavy-duty details of how the design works so effectively and so quickly. The wear pattern on the Avanti was basically the same as the Natural Balance. She tried them on a number of other horses with similar suceess.

He had a lump on his left knee when I bought him at age 7 in 2001. He was perfectly sound through 3/31/2020 even though he had started losing a bit of flexion when he hit his early 20s. The BO locked the barn down for a month when the pandemic started. She did not allow owners to access to their horses despite state-issued guidelines allowing us to provide daily care. He started having lameness problems that became signficant and I retired him from riding. The Avanti made a real difference. Our original farrier retired, but the new one took advatage of x-rays every few months and was able to make small adjustments to maintain balance and angles in the hoof. He was getting Osphos as part of his treatment plan. The changing wear pattern on the left compared to the right was obvious. He didn’t show signs of pain, could put full weight on it when staiding, but favored it. When the vet said it was time, it took me a few days to recognize what she saw. The arthritis was much worse, he lsot the flexion, and the knee was unable to control his hoof. He went downhill in a few days and I put him down a year ago at age 28.

I remian convinced that the Avanti shoe made a signficant difference in maintaining his soundness. It was standing around in a muddy field for 30 days that started the decline. The shoe seemed to help him remain comfortable until the last couple of days.

Defiinitely worth a try, If your farrier can’t get them easily you can order them online.

.

[Eclectic_Horseman]

Stifles.

[fivestrideline]

I’d start with the trim. My tripper always got worse when we cleared 4 weeks. If he’s barefoot, can you get your DH to show you how to rasp his toes in between trims?

Do you use a bodyworker? If not, I’d be inclined to have one out and take what they say as a starting point. I’m all for vets, but I’ve had really good luck using a bodyworker to give some direction.

Following that, I’d do a lameness exam with a really detail oriented vet - sometimes when they hurt behind, something vague (vs limping lame) and they dump everything into the front end to avoid the pain in the hind. Then they start tripping because they’re too busy avoiding ouchiness behind. If it’s bilateral, or KS, or SI, it’ll be pretty hard to feel or see. The fact that this happens in the field too makes me think this is possible vs current saddle fit.

From there, neck and neuro (like Lyme and EPM). Lyme is a cheap test (the send off one, not a snap), you could do that as part of the lameness exam.

[Bluey]

My 15 year old started tripping.
During exhaustive vet work, checked for Cushing’s and we thought he had been getting a touch laminitic and sore from it, since his tripping ended once on Prascend.

One more added cause to check out, especially since your horse is similar age and “getting fat”, as ours was.

[RegentLion]

You’re the second or third person to mention this to me. it’s on my list for a thing to test for-- even though he shows no other signs of it. He has the most gorgeous shiny/short coat. But his weight is not reducing even though we’ve reduced/netted his hay and he’s getting ridden more than usual. I’d rather catch it early in any case.

[RegentLion]

He is barefoot; and DH could rasp him between trims himself, if that’s something he needs.

I do not use a bodyworker, as we don’t have many options for those here, although I"ve been looking into it a bit this summer.

My trainer and I also considered the hind end soreness possibility, and I’ll pursue that. I. do want to clarify though that he trips when I ride him in the field. I have not noticed him tripping when he’s running in his paddock, but I also don’t observe him 24/7 and he’s mostly walking in there.

Lyme was one of the things I thought of initially; although he’s not showing any other symptoms of that, or EPM… but I’m not deeply familiar with either of these situations.

[NancyM]

Hocks.

[fivestrideline]

Ah okay I was mistaken. That he only seems to do it under saddle is a consideration that it could be saddle fit or back, but I’d be thinking hind end a bit more.

Not sure if you’ve seen this other current thread but it has some similar elements as well as a bit more details about my own horse.

Lameness Help

Seeking help on persistent lameness issues with my 16 year old mare. The issues began 3 years ago. We’ve performed extensive veterinary diagnostics with nothing much to show for it. Summary: She stumbles in the front and collapses in the back. The lameness has shifted around on her multiple trips to the vet hospital (tested for Lyme, it’s not that). The vets have been uncertain on whether the hind end issues are just about conditioning, and if not, whether the hind end issues are causing th…

[EmilyM]

coffin joints and neck. and epm

[Bluey]

@RegentLion

You’re the second or third person to mention this to me. it’s on my list for a thing to test for-- even though he shows no other signs of it. He has the most gorgeous shiny/short coat. But his weight is not reducing even though we’ve reduced/netted his hay and he’s getting ridden more than usual. I’d rather catch it early in any case.

Short shiny coat before grooming, just out of the pasture, at 20+, on Prascend a good 7+ years.

Cushing’s affect more the mane, not tail or coat itself, mane hair gets short, whispy and sparse.

[candyappy]

Is he one to go heavy on the forehand? Can you post pictures of his feet? I know your DH does his farrier work but maybe fresh eyes can help.

[RedHorses]

@Bluey

Cushing’s affect more the mane, not tail or coat itself, mane hair gets short, whispy and sparse.

Rather say, Cushings affected your horse in that manner.

PPID has many symptoms, in varying degrees of severity. The non shedding, or unseasonal coat growth is just one of them, and before additional research into the disease occured it was the one that most often prompted testing. Prascend has varying degrees of success in treating various symptoms.

My horse has also always had seasonally appropriate hair growth/shedding. His one PPID symptom was lack of topline muscle, and unfortunately he is in the over 50% of horses that don’t improve topline muscle when treated with Prascend.

The only reason I had him tested was the vet offered me one of the tests Boehringer Ingelheim was paying for. I just paid for the blood draw (when the vet was out for dentals). That did allow us to catch it very early, before other symptoms developed, and begin treatment to maintain his good health. Nine years later he is 25 and with a daily pill his tests have his number well within normal range.

OP - check B-I’s website and see if they currently have any offers running to pay for testing.

[HorseLover65]

Similar experience… young horse, easily distracted, frequent trips at the trot. Thought he was young and clumsy. Until the day we were cantering to a jump, he tripped and went down to his knees and I somersaulted over his head. Trainer saw nothing alarming - just one moment we were cantering and the next we weren’t. He had a slight club of left front, but unknown to me, also had ringbone… in three feet.

Wish you the best in finding an explanation that can be addressed!

[Critter]

@RegentLion

You’re the second or third person to mention this to me. it’s on my list for a thing to test for-- even though he shows no other signs of it.

My guy got dx last year with Cushings…his only sign was exercise intolerance and being even more of an easy keeper. Coat is stunning and sheds normal.

I would echo @Lunabear1988…feet, neck, or neuro are the usual differentials. Neuro you usually do see other “stuff” even if it’s not the typical picture. For example my one was having behavioral stuff and not wanting to move…and trouble balancing for the farrier behind (not an issue before)…vet thought I was crazy when I asked for Lyme and EPM titers. Both came back super high. He’s now been treated for both and back to normal. I find farrier work can really be telling when they have neuro stuff going on…they just can’t balance. When it’s foot pain, it looks more pain…when it’s neuro it’s not so much about pain as it’s about not being able to balance.

[beau159]

@RegentLion

My 15 yr old Arabian gelding has always been a “trippy” sort of guy, especially when he’s gawking and not paying attention. He trips in fields (while riding), groomed arenas, uneven arenas, trails etc. I don’t love it but since he has always done it with me (got him when he was 8 and only green broke), I assumed it was his normal, and he never went down, just…tripped.

Attempts to get him to “pay attention” to his feet have not worked much. He either is or he isn’t.

This summer though, within the last 2 weeks, he’s tripped two times, badly. Once was last Friday, cantering right, and he went down so fast he hit his knees and face and I rolled off over his head. We’re both fine, but it scared me. My trainer was there and she couldn’t even tell what happened it happened so fast.

Today (Sunday, a week and 2 days later) he tripped going right at the trot. He did not go down but it was a ‘big’ trip, unlike his ‘little trips’ and it felt like he might have gone down had we been cantering. DH, who is a horse person, said he looked like he was being lazy/not paying attention–but my horse was actually not being lazy but was distractible and being over-reactive.

I mentioned today’s close call it to my trainer and she said that this was out of the norm for my horse and I need him checked out.

I agree and I won’t be riding until we have him assessed. I will longe him tomorrow with an eye to his soundness and in side reins to see if I can really observe the ‘trips’ from the ground.

Vet is going to get me in this week, but I need a plan of what to look for… Horse appears quite sound at longe and feels sound under saddle. He is very fat this year even on a diet and with more exercise than usual.

DH is my farrier and trimmed him 5.5 weeks ago. His feet are a little long, but nothing outrageous. So we will start here. Fall was at about 4.5 weeks, so again, nothing big. Saddle fitter was here about a month ago and everything seems to fit well there. No back soreness on palpation.

Considerations are checking for Lyme, EPM, lameness exam, neuro exam… so many options that I don’t know where to begin, and funds at the moment aren’t unlimited.

Any thoughts are helpful!!!

My tripping horse turned out to have congenital crooked vertebra in his neck, that were compressing his spinal cord. We made this diagnosis at age 10. I had owned him since he was 6 months old. He had achieved many thing in his life including being a 1D barrel racing horse and qualifying for a world AQHA show in Ranch Riding. Not many horses can do that. He always was a stiffer type horse. Never real bendy. We started having some lameness and performance issues that we never could quit nail down. Thought it was “normal” sore hocks and stifles that barrel horses get but injection were short lived. He started rooting with his bit. Tripping more. Vet and I continued to dig until she xrayed his neck and back and send it off to a specialist for analysis when we got the news about his neck.

I sold him to a lovely family who is using him for a leisure trail riding horse. He’s been a great fit and the retirement career change was perfect for him.

You have a good list, but add NECK to that list. Not all vets are comfortable reading neck xrays so find someone who is.

His sore hocks and sore stifles were secondary to his neck issues. Since he could not bend his neck, he compensated by swinging his hind end around. Which made him sore.

[RegentLion]

Thanks, this is something that I did consider. I will say, my guy is quite bendy through the neck, very flexible/ happy to flex laterally both directions; but I won’t rule this out until I can rule it out.

[RegentLion]

I definitely have Lyme and EPM to my list; he’s showing no other symptoms of those however. Nothing behaviorally, nothing with lifting feet/moving. Nothing about him says “neuro” other than the tripping. I will still likely pursue these with my vet, and am 100% going to test for Cushings. I have an old pony (27), who has Cushings and is on Prascend. He’s had several laminitic flares and it’s absolute hell every time… so metabolic stuff is something I want followed up on every time I have a strange feeling that something is NQR.