Trips and falls...when is it 'an issue'?

[Otter]

I think I’m getting paranoid. Or maybe not.

When do you say ‘oh, he just tripped because (insert reason here)’ vs ‘OMG, this should never happen and something is terribly wrong’?

There are many reasons why a horse might trip, right?

• its feet are too long
• it wasn’t paying attention
• the footing was bad
• the rider changed the horse’s balance
• it has a neurological disorder
• it’s lame
• etc

But where do you draw the line between a trip/fall that’s “ok” and one that’s a sign of danger?

Here’s some back story - and why I’m now so paranoid.

My horse fell at a recent show while trotting. Thankfully no one was hurt. It was his third fall in a year, so he went to a highly respected clinic. The vet got very serious with me and said ‘horses should NEVER fall’. NEVER. After a thorough neuro exam and myelogram, my horse was diagnosed with severe spinal compression. He has since been retired.

The horse had a neuro exam after the first fall, but the vets didn’t find anything, so I chalked it up to a freak accident and kept him in work. The second time, I was cantering over a pole and leaned up his neck (because I’m an amateur and that’s what we do) and he caught a toe. Again, I chalked it up to a freak accident. The third time, he was with a pro just trotting, tripped and fell. In retrospect, I should have pushed harder for a more thorough diagnosis a year ago, but I didn’t know any better.

So, now I’m completely paranoid and every time I see a horse trip, I think there’s something horribly wrong with it.

Is it ever “ok” for a horse to fall while riding under normal circumstances?

[findeight]

Maybe ONCE. Unless there are extenuating circumstances like just slipping going around a tight corner on wet footing, spooking and tripping or stepping on or in something? No, they really don’t fall down- as prey creatures, going down means death, just not in their nature. Doubt it, watch a newborn fight until it can stand and fight to get back up when they fall within minutes of birth.

But, OP, don’t kick yourself over this. You did the right things and diagnostics are still new and can be complicated… Plus we all want to be optimistic.

Its OK and sensible to be concerned but tripping does not equal going down and as long as they save it and stay up? No need for concern…unless they trip alot and then you should be concerned.

I won’t get on one with a history of going down or who goes down with me more then once without obvious reason- one time I will assume they did step on something or slip. No more, and they better try to get right back up or we are done with one. That’s not timid or silly, that’s common sense.

[joiedevie99]

No. It’s not ok. I will chalk up one fall to circumstances - but two generally means a problem to me.

[HunterBranded]

I don’t know, my horse fell three times in her 4 year old year. In retrospect, the trainer at the time pushed us to be jumping too high, too fast with a very green horse. Horse was not physically mature/fit enough for what was being asked… After that trainer it never happened again and the horse is now in her teens, doing the the A/Os with no obvious issue. Sees the vet, but only for regular maintenance. I think there can be bad situations that could lead to falls, but if it happens more for no apparent reason than further investigation is needed.

[yourcolorfuladdictio]

OP don’t be so hard on yourself, like findeight said, diagnosing a problem can be hard and you did what any reasonable person would do.

Also, don’t be too paranoid about other horses tripping, most horses trip because they’re heavy on the forehand (or the rider makes them so).

[hype]

Tripping

Well I think that it depends on the horse, rider, footing and situation.

I’ve seen people cantering around a turn totally off balance (think motorcycling around a turn) and the horse has lost his balance and fallen due to not great footing and rider error. Nothing neurological about that.

In my experience, neurological symptoms come on slowly. In the beginning you might see it as a horse starting to trip. He might start catching a toe on the top rail when jumping. He might not be moving as well etc. He might start having issues with trot poles.

Falling generally happens after a horse has been tripping for awhile or showing signs of something not quite right.

I don’t know where your horse had his spinal issues but we had a horse with some issues in his neck vertebrae and his main symptom was tripping. He did eventually fall with the pro while trotting. He’s retired now. He wasn’t lame so to speak but was tripping where he never did before. The vet said that he was keeping his neck high because it hurt to lower it and that impeded his balance.

He was a naturally up-hill build so the neck carriage wasn’t that much different than his normal carriage.

His symptoms before the fall were very slight and in hindsight you could see they were there but in the middle of everything before he fell, he wasn’t that much different.

This horse was a saint and always had a gorgeous expression which never changed even when he was in pain. He was so willing to do whatever his rider asked. One of my favorites of all time.

[pinkpony321]

Circumstances mean everything. But random tripping and falling for no reason, even “catching a toe,” and falling, are cause for concern. IMO, a healthy horse should be able to “catch a toe” and recover, without falling.
I’ve been fallen with twice- once in the mud, horse got stuck in a deep spot in terrible muddy footing on takeoff to a sizeable jump, and flipped even from a perfect spot (different than ‘falling’) and once with a horse who was very shortly thereafter diagnosed with EPM.

The first episode makes me really paranoid about footing! The second made me paranoid about tripping. Don’t blame yourself OP. you did all of the right things.

[rabicon]

Slipping in a turn (like barrel racers sometimes do) at high speeds can be normal unfortunately. A horse that is trotting a nice groomed arena that trips and goes down IMO something is wrong. My retired horse tripped a lot hence his retirement but he has epm and arthritis in his neck that caused his issues. My other horse started tripping and it was from back soreness from poor saddle fit. Fixed that and fixed the tripping. He will still trip on the trail but he is lazy out there and doesn’t watch where he is going so I have to steer him around roots etc.

[goodlife]

Don’t worry, OP. You did right by your horse.

While dangerous and a bit scary, I’ve seen many horses trip and go down in some sort of freak accident, but I can’t think of a sound, non-neurologic horse that I’ve seen trip and go down twice.

Lots of horses have little trips where they aren’t quite paying attention and lose their footing slightly or something similar, but if they stay on their feet and it isn’t happening every week, it’s not anything to even think about.

If a horse goes down to their knees or all the way down, I would have a vet look them over just to make sure they didn’t strain anything in the fall, but wouldn’t necessarily think lameness/neuro.

If a horse goes down to their knees or all the way down twice in, say, a year, I’d be worried.

[Darkwave]

It’s a side point, but this thread reminds me of an evil large pony I had that started stumbling on purpose - he had figured out that I’d come off with a prolonged stumble (I had a lot of stickability, but tended to bail when he went down with me, for obvious reasons).

My trainer figured out this out, and told me to do everything I could to stay on, and kick him. Yup, next time he started to stumble, that’s what I did. And he clambered back up from his knees and never did it again.

[alternate_universe]

Yup, sometimes it’s no one’s fault. I had my horse totally drop out from under me as a teenager. There is was slippery spot in the ring, he was green and therefore not very balanced, and I wasn’t much of a help in the balance department either. He ended up flat on his side on the ground with my flat on my side above him. Luckily, neither of us were hurt at all. I don’t recall him ever falling or seriously tripping beyond that incident.

[Otter]

Thanks, everyone. I guess it’s like that (Chinese?) proverb:

Something that happens once will never happen again. Something that happens twice will always happen a third time.

Sounds like I shouldn’t worry a ton if a horse falls once. But twice, there’s probably something going on.

My horse rarely ever tripped. He gave no sign there was anything wrong with him. Then he’d have a catastrophic failure. That made it even more scary… he’d just fall for no apparent reason.

[To_the_MAX]

That is quite scary. Glad you were never seriously injured!

My horse is kind of clumsy and trips probably more often than most other horses. But he has NEVER fallen. I’d allow one fall, and call it a fluke. But a second would definitely have me on edge. I’ve only been on a horse that has fallen, and it turns out that he did have neurological problems farther down the line (whether he had them at the point that he fell or not I’m not sure).

[CindyCRNA]

[QUOTE=yourcolorfuladdiction;7204318]
OP don’t be so hard on yourself, like findeight said, diagnosing a problem can be hard and you did what any reasonable person would do.

Also, don’t be too paranoid about other horses tripping, most horses trip because they’re heavy on the forehand (or the rider makes them so).[/QUOTE]

This! My mare trips frequently but has never fallen. She is a draft cross and gets lazy with her feet. I am also eventing pre-BN and am finding my balance so I’m sure I cause much of it. It concerned me at first but it hasn’t gotten worse and always happens at a walk trot, never a canter or gallop.

[ryansgirl]

[QUOTE=findeight;7204300]
Maybe ONCE. Unless there are extenuating circumstances like just slipping going around a tight corner on wet footing, spooking and tripping or stepping on or in something? No, they really don’t fall down- as prey creatures, going down means death, just not in their nature. Doubt it, watch a newborn fight until it can stand and fight to get back up when they fall within minutes of birth.

But, OP, don’t kick yourself over this. You did the right things and diagnostics are still new and can be complicated… Plus we all want to be optimistic.

Its OK and sensible to be concerned but tripping does not equal going down and as long as they save it and stay up? No need for concern…unless they trip alot and then you should be concerned.

I won’t get on one with a history of going down or who goes down with me more then once without obvious reason- one time I will assume they did step on something or slip. No more, and they better try to get right back up or we are done with one. That’s not timid or silly, that’s common sense.[/QUOTE]

^ This.

A lady I boarded at the same barn with years ago had a TB mare that constantly tripped. And I mean constantly. She chalked it up to the horse was just young and out of shape. Well one day she tripped and ended up breaking her neck as she went completely down. It was horrible - showed up at the barn with the horse still in the ring covered by a tarp. The worst part was the horse died but right behind that was the owner - she was an actual vet (small animal but regardless) and she did nothing as far as getting the horse checked out. She’s lucky the horse never fell on her. The horse was buried on the property and a necropsy was never done to possibly find a cause for the tripping.

OP - you did the right thing - you had a neuro exam done so don’t feel bad.

[sandsarita]

Do not blame yourself. You did the right thing the first time. Had your horse evaluated, nothing was found, so you went on. When it kept happening, you relooked and something was found and it was addressed. You weren’t hurt, the horse isn’t any worse.

I have a mare that I bred and raised, is 21 years old now. I have never found a reason for her falling, and she has summersaulted with me 3 times, all on the same piece of ground while cantering. The first time, didn’t do much with it. The ground in that area was rough, felt like she tripped over a bad area and went down. Both ok so we went on. About 4 months later it happened again and I ended up in a cast for a year. She was evaluated at the end of it all by 3 different vets. Titers were positive for EPM in the blood, spinal tap was likely negative but contaminated so couldn’t say for sure, third vet did another neurological exam and thought it was negative (first vet said was positive). Needless to say we were frustrated. Ended up watching her closely, really worked on her frame, fixed the dirt issue and she was fine. Fast forward for 5 years - went down AGAIN. This time she was strong, collected, in frame, dirt was better but not perfect. Mare was retired except for occasional fun rides, is never ever cantered except for in a perfectly groomed arena. She was bred twice, both of her foals are beautifully coordinated, athletic specimens with none of her tendencies. I still tend to think this mare had EPM issues - she was definitely exposed, just not a high CNS titer (it was there in the CNS, but with the blood contaminate, they couldn’t say if it was from the blood or actually in the CNS).

[ElisLove]

I’ve had a horse fall with me riding ONCE in all my 16 years of riding. I was letting him go super slow and on the forehand on undulating ground. He only went to his knees, not all the way down. I had that horse for 5 years and that was the only time he fell.

[fordtraktor]

It depends. My horse fell twice with me in 2008 when he was supergreen and superspastic. Once on wet grass, cantering, acting like an idiot, slipped while bucking and his feet went out from under him. Two months later, landing off a jump he tossed his head and hit the end of a standing martingale and panicked, lost his composure bucking, scrambled and rolled. Wet but good footing that time. He has never done it again though for several years he put in similar antics most rides. And he still plays in the corners if he is proud of himself, but he’s a good boy these days and very self-aware and sure-footed. For him it didn’t mean anything, just wrong step on the wrong footing when his mind was on being naughty instead of where he was going.

Yours? That is different. I think you did the right thing. All you could. I wouldn’t totally panic every time a horse trips, though. Look and see if there is a reason. (possibly to include “was half asleep on slightly uneven ground” for trips from those old reliables sometimes…see, e.g., the Short Stirrup division at most shows – not falls of course, but many older horses will trip on occasion)

[Linny]

A friend’s horse with Lyme Disease would trip a lot when it was flaring up. Horse had always been a solid citizen but started stumbling and after a refusal that left the rider hurt after she hit the back rail of an oxer he was tested and found to have a very high titre number. It was controlled with meds but he was always positive. Under stress it would spike and tripping was the first sign. That said, he never actually fell.

I had my former lease horse go to his nose on me once. I found it odd as he was not a stumbler, but it happened in a spot where harrow marks came together strangely and where he had just turned toward the parking lot. I chalked it up to his seeing something outside the arena and just not paying attention. It never happened again.
My friends mare fell with me up after a small jump. She managed to right herself, with me still aboard despite having all four legs stuffed under her barrel right down on the ground.
OP, you did the right thing. Most of the time a fall is a once in a lifetime for a horse. We excuse it as related to footing or inattention but once it happens again, you need to step up the search for a cause.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

It depends. Green baby horses (3-4 year old)…are stupid about their feet some times. They will occasionally fall. But even that is unusual. Horses do not like to fall…that is what gets them eaten! But tripping is different…and while I watch for a pattern, just tripping is different

I’ve also had horses slip out in the footing on a turn at speed and fall…again, not something that should happen often but not a panic if it does.

Sorry your horse is hurt…but I do agree with the vet, any fall of a horse should be a big warning flag. That said…it sounds like you did hear the warning and did do something about it (as much was reasonable).