Curious what others think of this situation and if it warrants a vet assessment or if it is just bad luck.
Within the last month, horse has had two instances where he has tripped/stumbled while jumping. The first instance he was turning to the right and he stumbled/fell to his knees but was able to get back up (no fall). The second time he caught a back toe and couldn’t get it back up. He wiped out and I went flying. We both seem to be okay, fortunately!
Horse is not my own so I can’t make decisions about veterinary care, however my mind jumped to neurological issues (once could just be bad luck, twice in a month sounds like the start of a pattern).
WWYD? I at minimum think I should pause jumping until he is assessed however I am also concerned that this could happen while flatting!
Horses don’t want to fall. Period. Could be long toes. Could be heel pain. Could be a neck or neuro issue.
If it were mine I’d be consulting with a vet. In the OP’s situation I’d be talking to the owner about consulting with a vet. And I’m not sure I’d get back on until that happened. Realizing that the OP may not have much, if any, say.
Life is too short to ride horses that fall down.
I’d also do x-rays, particularly the ECVM series (see Fb group for exact instructions). Could also be stifle.
Try Avanti shoes. My horse tripped or stumbled often, which is not unusual. The farrier decided to try the Avantis and the problem disappeared immediately.
What I’d do depends on if this horse is a known tripper or not. I personally know an Arab mare who tripped all the time (strength issue + long hind toes); since it didn’t happen undersaddle and only when mare was “distracted”, the owners didn’t do anything but get her stronger.
On the other hand, the two other horses I’ve seen fall neither were trippers and those falls were taken very seriously. One horse was retired (he was old and seemed to just be loosing it in general). The other was ruled to just have taken a bad step.
Given that the horse has gone down twice and how dangerous that is, I would talk to the owner about having the vet out.
Tripping like that can be dangerous - is the horse backsore at all? Can you palpate the back and SI pretty strongly without a huge reaction? How’s the trim? My first thought is poor angles/long toes, or bilateral hoof pain (when it’s bilateral, they won’t limp). Hoof pain all around can make them do weird things to try to alleviate it, and that compensation can cause a trip.
I would not be getting on this horse until it has been checked by a vet. Two trips in a month is a LOT, and these don’t sound like “stuck a toe in the dirt for a second” minor things. A tripping horse is one of the most common ways to get lawn-darted face first into the ground, with catastrophic consequences. A random trip in poor footing is one thing - this sounds like a vet call to be made.
Be safe, OP.
I have been riding for a long time, have broken out lots of babies, have done tremendously stupid stuff, and the worst fall I’ve ever had was a horse going to her knees, sending me over her shoulder head first into the dirt.
Two trips in a short period of time is a BIG red flag. I would not be getting back on this horse until a lameness eval has been conducted, and I got a second/third opinion on farrier work/hooves. Big nope from me.
Another vote that this horse either just had a very bad month for weird reasons (not likely) or there is something going on that should be looked at by the vet.
Thanks for these responses! It’s a bit of relief to hear that I’m not overreacting.
Additional context - horse has no (known) lameness issues and is fairly fit, but is approaching 18 years old. He has no history of these falls or major trips
What does the horse’s owner have to say?
What’s changed for him recently? New saddle, late for injections, toes are long, new footing/barn/routine?
This is what told me it was time to retire my old guy.
Nothing has changed. Same barn/footing/program/saddle. He will be coming due for hock injections again in the spring. He got them for the first time last year
I have been leasing him for a little over a year, he has been at the current barn (owned by a friend of mine) for about 5 years. So I am familiar with his history for the past 5 years.
Owner seems on board with investigating the potential physical cause of his trips and falls. I will stay on the ground until we have more information!
Me either!
There is a “reason why”. Questionable if that reason can be located, identified, and relieved. Be careful!!! You have been warned. If others (the horse’s owner, your coach) don’t take this warning as something to pay attention to, save yourself.
How is the footing? Even if it is the “same”, footing breaks down, needs maintenance.
My late gelding that I laid to rest in September fell completely down on me trail riding. It completely took me my surprise and freaked me out. He did it twice over the course of about 24-30 month period. Both on a nice relaxed trail ride. It could have been a footing issue, but I suspect he was beginning to experience the foot issues that led to his demise. He had developed some ugly pedal osteitis. He was kept shod and on Equioxx for other issues. Only used osphos when it was probably too late.
I had the vet check him after both falls and do a neurological tests but we didn’t think feet because he had stifle issues so i always attributed it to to that. Looking back, feet issues make a lot more sense.
I realize there isn’t much you can do as you don’t own the horse. Hopefully though, the owner will take the issue seriously enough to look into it.
A few of the older horses at the barn have fallen down with the kids who ride and the adults just blow it off. The entire time I’m thinking “horses just do not fall over for no reason! Get that horse looked at.” 
100% look into it. My friend had a horse trip once or twice not large trips just a little stumble and it seemed just random and then he tripped and fell while she was riding alone. She was unconscious for who knows how long, had a TBI and took months to recover. The horse ended up having EPM and even after extensive treatment had to be euthanized. We all take tripping much more seriously now.
FWIW I’ve known three “trippers”. One is mine, two belong to friends - they’re all retired for vague soundness issues. All look FABULOUS but tripped regularly enough despite good footing/vet work ups/etc that it became sketchy to ride. Not for nothing, two have suspensory issues and the one who fell with a rider has unidentifiable neurological issues that even the vet school couldn’t pinpoint.
I throw these out there because horses generally DO NOT like tripping and seriously don’t want to fall - when it starts happening more than a one off on bad footing, it’s a physical issue IME. My jumper went down to his knees/face twice in our years together - once on the lunge and once in the warmup. BOTH happened at the same facility in identifiable crap footing (the place is known for it now 
). That’s different than two trips in a month including a fall.
Good on OP and the owner for investigating it sounds like. Hopefully it’s something simple that just needs a little maintenance!
