O.k. I have a question for you all, to get opinions. I went riding Wednesday night on a 3 yr old Quarter horse. He has grown quite a bit and we have measured him at 16 hands tall. He is quite lanky and good natured. The problem is that he tripped with me 5 times tonight within an hour. 3 times at a lope down to his knees, 1 time down to his knees on a walk and one time a stumble. All of these times were recovered but left me wondering not if, but when I would be tasting dirt! This all happened in a outside arena with nice footing. He is not lame and has never been. I rode his dam all her life and still have her. She is 27. His sire has sired nice riding horses. He's not quite paying attention all the time as he is quite herd bound. I just can't remember ever riding a horse that has stumbled so much. Has anyone else had this happen and what type of reasons did this occur with you? I really like this horse and want to give him a chance but it's not worth getting seriously hurt either.
Clumsy horse
- Thread starter Pooog1
- Start date
A
Anonymous
What are his feet like? Are they too long?
If you don't think he's paying enough attention, work him over some cavaletti on the ground at a walk and trot so he learns to pick his feet up. My mare was like that when I first got her- she was just lazy, and didn't pay me any attention. Now she's fine and I trust her as much as most of my other horses.
If you don't think he's paying enough attention, work him over some cavaletti on the ground at a walk and trot so he learns to pick his feet up. My mare was like that when I first got her- she was just lazy, and didn't pay me any attention. Now she's fine and I trust her as much as most of my other horses.
J
Well-known member
Pooog1":1ix48cnm said:
I'm assuming your farrier is one that you have used before and is good at it, if so, then I'd just chalk it up to uncoordination and laziness. Kind of like the big tall lanky kid back in school that grew real fast but it took him a year or two to get accustomed to it. Practice him slow and stepping over objects, probably just going to take some time. good luck.
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
sounds like a big awkward young'n body growing, dont have his feet under him good yet. have you put him in a round pen and watched him move?
ALACOWMAN":26wa8fh2 said:
Yes we have had him in a round pen. He plays some but I have never seen him fall in there. We mostly trot in the round pen. Once in a while he'll let our a squeel and take off but it's quite tame. I hope thats all it is. We had a poco bred horse one time many years ago that you couldnt trust he would roll right over you. We tried for years to change trimming and anything else we could think of. We finally cut our losses. It was really to bad to because he loved to work cattle. Thanks everyone!
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
id saddle him up and lounge him in the round pen for a few minutes every day then get on and lope him in there. get him use too carrying the weight and get him better coardinated do some figure eights and lead changes. thats why i love working the round pen you can make a different animal out of em
randiliana
Well-known member
We have a 16.3hh 3 year old here that sounds very similar to your colt. What I think it is, is that they are still unco-ordinated, and they are having trouble balancing themselves with a rider. My colt only seems to stumble at a walk though, he is good at the trot and canter (I think because he has to "wake up" to do them).
The suggestions to work him over ground poles/cavaletti are good ones. Start at the walk, and work your way to the higher speeds. I would stay at a walk until he is paying attention to me and not worrying about where his buddies are. Make him work, do circles, figure 8's, transitions. Get him working off your leg, start with the turn on the fore-hand, then the haunches and work up to the sidepass. Not only will this make him a better horse, but it should get him paying attention to what his feet are doing. I would certainly stay at a walk and trot until I was fairly sure he wasn't going to trip again, just on the safety factor itself.
However, with this coming on fairly suddenly, it would be a good idea to have the vet look at him. See if there is any possibility of navicular, or any other problems. In a young horse it is unlikely, but not out of the question either.
The suggestions to work him over ground poles/cavaletti are good ones. Start at the walk, and work your way to the higher speeds. I would stay at a walk until he is paying attention to me and not worrying about where his buddies are. Make him work, do circles, figure 8's, transitions. Get him working off your leg, start with the turn on the fore-hand, then the haunches and work up to the sidepass. Not only will this make him a better horse, but it should get him paying attention to what his feet are doing. I would certainly stay at a walk and trot until I was fairly sure he wasn't going to trip again, just on the safety factor itself.
However, with this coming on fairly suddenly, it would be a good idea to have the vet look at him. See if there is any possibility of navicular, or any other problems. In a young horse it is unlikely, but not out of the question either.
born2run
Well-known member
Ditto on the possibility of navicular. My QH pony has both navicular and low ringbone. First signs was stumbling on the fronts. She was diagnosed as a 5 year old.
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
dought he's navicular but thats why i would want too see him move in the round pen. see if he hit the ground on his front toes instead of the heals. too get away from pressure
Pooog1":3dih9g4b said:
Check the bulbs on his front feet for tenderness or scrapes - if either are present the horse is over reaching, clipping the back of his front feet with his back feet and tripping himself. Your farrier should be able to shoe him to correct it.
longhorn314
Well-known member
I agree with ALACOWMAN.I really like a roundpen because they really can give a good work-out to a horse and you can see what is going on with one also.ALACOWMAN":2ro1a5sw said:
bward
Well-known member
When I was a kid, my horse Bud used to trip all the time. Someone told me he was lazy and told me to give him a whack everytime he tripped. So I did that for a while and then after that, everytime he would trip he would then instantly lurch ahead in anticipation of the coming whack. I sold him years later as a pony horse for the race track and 2 years later heard that he tripped and fell down breaking the riders arm. That was followed by a whole heck of a lot of whacks. The guy just lost it. It was too bad as I hear he really enjoyed his job being pony horse.
the one I had(who fell on me and thats why my knees are like they are) would knock his supporting leg with the other hoof and kerflop! It seemed as tho his legs were loose..sometimes he'd dish out,sometimes in,then he'd go down on his nose..
