Tripping horse--where to start looking

[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.

[RegentLion]

Small Update:
I put him on the longe yesterday. He tripped 6 times; 5 to the left (all ‘small’) trips, and once to the right (bigger, but not a fall). The times he fell/almost fell were going right. All the trips happened in the first half of the longe session.

I used a surcingle with side reins that approximated my usual hand position and rein length, and I attempted to get him to work under himself and carry himself as I do under saddle. He did not trip with the side reins OFF, but I did not work him as hard and his frame was longer/looser, with his hind end trailing behind him. I warmed up and cooled down without side reins.

In the trot, the trips are as though he unloads the foot that is down before the stride has completed…then falls forward onto the foot that’s about to take his weight. I think this suggests a hind end soreness. I also didn’t love how he looked behind, but I’m also one of those people who sees lameness everywhere when I look for it.

He also has essentially no gaskin muscle; which could be for any number of reasons, and may or may not be related. He’s got a lot of loft/spring, but getting him to move UNDER himself instead of out behind has always been a struggle, he tries, but overcoming his natural way of going is hard.

While I mentioned he has always been a little trippy, I really noticed it starting 2 summers ago, and I wonder if he has had issues for a while now, but his increased workload and weight this year are negatively impacting him more than usual. Until the last few weeks, he’s always come out happy to work and putting in tons of effort.

At this point, I’m going to discuss doing the following tests:
EPM
Lyme
Cushings

And am going to start with a lameness exam and discuss if this could be a vertebral issue in the neck.

The vet also suggested trimming and doing an equioxx trial and see where that gets us before her visit. So I’ll do that with light longing to evaluate.

Still very open to thoughts and suggestions. I have a few more days to mull over this, gather information, and make a pre-plan before the vet comes out.

[MsM]

Tripping can also occur with Navicular syndrome.

[RegentLion]

My 27 yr old pony who has very difficult to manage metabolic issues has the exact opposite! Mane for DAYS (thick, chunky), and a coat that is unbelievably long/dense, even with Prascend. I clip him 2-3x a summer.

My gelding in this post though, has a thinning forelock, and a crazy shiny coat even without grooming.

[2tempe]

I had a horse who developed cervical arthritis. His first signs were inability to maintain canter lead. Occasional tripping. Some hind end neuro symptoms when tested. My gelding could always do the carrot stretch bendy things. I had him injected and went back to riding him for a period of time. VERY happy to go in a long/low frame, held the canter, all was well but I didn’t try to collect him up. Later he began so have is one stifle sort of drop out or feel like it got left behind. Got more frequent so I quit the riding. BUT it did not happen when I’d free lunge in the round pen. It was the weight of rider and saddle pressing on him. I’m adding one more vote for checking the neck.

[beau159]

@RegentLion

And am going to start with a lameness exam and discuss if this could be a vertebral issue in the neck.

The vet also suggested trimming and doing an equioxx trial and see where that gets us before her visit. So I’ll do that with light longing to evaluate.

Of course, make sure your horse is OFF the equioxx long enough before the lameness eval so it doesn’t mask any symptoms. My vet usually says 1 week off it before she does a performance lameness evaluation.

And of course, be prepared for the lameness eval to find multiple issues. That always seems to be the case as lameness never seems to be “simple”. If he’s sore in his hind end (for example), he could be compensating more on the front end, which is now making the front end sore.