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  Discussion on TWH who trips
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Posted on Sunday, Jan 7, 2001 - 6:40 pm:

I have a three year old TW horse. About 2 months ago he started tripping, mostly on his right front but sometimes his rear end too. I noticed it after he had been re-set by his farrier and the farrier has been working on shortening his toe a bit and angling his hooves. The farrier placed slightly weighted walking horse shoes on the front and regular shoes on the back.

Often it seems like he trips when he is not paying attention. He is definitely catching his toe on the way up. He does not trip in the running walk or canter. He also tends to trip more when he lowers his head in a slow walk (after a workout).

Do training aid help ( to have him lift his feet)?I have been working him over cavelettis (sp?) to get him to lift his feet. Any suggestions?

Christa

Posted on Sunday, Jan 7, 2001 - 8:13 pm:

Hi Christa,

Has he been under saddle very long? He could simply be having some balance problems if not. I would strongly encourage you to consider using regular shoes all the way around, or ideally, barefooting him and keeping his heels low. Horses with high heels can become stumbly, and I've recently heard that heel pain can cause stumbling as well.

Best wishes,

Amy

Posted on Monday, Jan 8, 2001 - 5:52 am:

Hello All,
Amy is right about having this horse evaluated for possible lameness problems. This should be your first step. Next, without looking at your horses feet, I am loathe to suggest how to trim and I do not recommend shortening the heels past what creates a normal angle in the foot.

Chris what are you using this horse for? What is the toe length to the nearest 1/4 inch just after being shod. What are the current hoof angles. If the horse was not stumbling prior to recent changes in trimming and shoeing you should first consider returning to the previous method. In general, shortening the foot as much as possible, maintaining proper angles, and rolling the toe will help most who stumble. For information on evaluating trimming and shoeing see several articles on the subject in: Care for Horses: Hoof Care. There are also diagrams in the reference section on hoof balance.
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jan 8, 2001 - 10:23 am:

I had a very similar problem when my walker was a 3 year old Chris. I still keep him barefoot as a 5 year old and the tripping has stopped. My walker is a pleasure horse so I doubt that I will ever shoe him as we are rarely on anything but grassy trails.

Ruling out any lameness problems and the whole trimming issue, as I pretty much trust my farrier to trim him to work properly, my walker's tripping was, I think, purely immaturity. When he was bored or not paying attention to where he was going, he would trip. When we first started doing a lot of riding under saddle, he tripped (not used to the weight of a rider). Before he was in proper condition, he would trip.

After watching him run freely in his pasture and noticing that there was certainly no 'unsure footedness" or lameness there, I have chalked his tripping up to the fact that he was just learning and needed time to get used to me on his back. This past summer and fall as a 4 1/2 year old, and after many, many long trail rides and lots and lots of walking, the tripping is no longer a concern.

Good luck. Your guy is still pretty young.

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 9, 2001 - 9:45 am:

My Walker gelding seems to trip when he isn't paying attention. There is no lameness problem and the farrier is excellent. When he becomes preoccupied with the next hidden "horse eater" he seems to trip regardless of the gait that we are in. Hopefully building his confidence and getting his mind back on the task at hand will eliminate the stumbling. Could be the same for your boy.

Posted on Wednesday, Jan 10, 2001 - 6:57 pm:

Thanks everyone for the quick responses...I don't believe he is lame, my trainer has looked at him and others too. I have never seen him trip in the field at all ... only when being ridden. He is fairly unbalanced and doesn't bend well. I am working him in circles and doing bending exercises. I can't barefoot him down here in "the sand pit" of south carolina. The sand is terribly abrasive and wears the feet horribly.

I did buy some weighted bell boots and tried them for the first time today. He did much better with the tripping, I think because he had to "think" about his feet. I think the extra weight reminded him he had feet.

Dr. O his frog and heels are terribly dry from the sand, could this be a problem too? He is cracked around the heel in a couple of places on all feet.

Christa

Posted on Thursday, Jan 11, 2001 - 6:08 am:

I don't think so Chris but to be sure you will need to have it evaluated by someone who can examine the feet.
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Jun 3, 2001 - 8:14 pm:

My TWH mare used to stumble when she was shod. Now that I have her home with me and use her strictly for pleasure she is barefoot. Her feet have never looked better and she does not stumble.
I think the combination of training and being distracted and in a ring with soft footing and shoes on were all factors in the problem. Good luck.
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