Re: stumbling horse

[Sue Brown <sbrown@wamedes.com>]

[bsdavis@kansas.net]
>We had a bad ride on Tuesday, rode a rocky trail and I could tell it really
>hurt his feet so I got off and we walked last half back to grassy area, but
>he also seemed really tired that day.  That was the first time he didn't seem
>full-of-it for the whole ride, even when we get back to the truck, he's
usually wanting to turn
>in on the trails and go again.  So I gave him a few days off.  Light ride
>Friday night and then this morning...He could barely make it back to the
>truck.  What did I do wrong, this was not normal for him?  Too hot, too
>humid?  Feet still sore? (rode only good grassy dirt trails today and they
>didn't seem to be bothering him).  No limp, but stumbling worse today than
>ever.
>

Over the years I've had 3 horses that had stumbling/tripping problems that
were all from different causes.  First one was diagnosed with navicular
problems (former owner had done too much too fast with him when he was
young.)  The stumbling occurred because he was reluctant to put his front
feet down flat when he moved and would instead put the toe down first
causing him to trip and stumble.  Xrays of his feet diagnosed the problem.

Second horse had EPM.  The stumbling was caused by a decrease in muscle
mass, strength, and energy.  She also had muscle wasting which only became
apparent to me when I compared pictures of her taken before and then at a
time shortly after the stumbling started.  Suspicion of a positive
diagnosis was obtained thru a blood test then confirmed with a spinal tap.  

The third horse stumbled and tripped quite a bit when I first started
working with him.  As he gained more muscle strength and coordination...and
lost a lot of weight (he was a porker when I started)...his stumbling and
tripping decreased.  We also discovered with him that he is not tolerant of
his toes getting a little too long (definitely couldn't handle being shod
with LTLH) and he is a total weenie about his feet.  He is ultra sensitive
to concussion (hates to even have the farrier nail shoes on) and needs pads
for work any away from the arena.  (He is now regularly shod with eventers,
pads, and a silicon type filler under the pad.)  I know right away if he
throws a shoe when I'm riding since he immediately starts stumbling and
gimping first step.  Getting him to decrease the amount of "star-gazing" he
does (he's very sociable and a tourist) and getting him to watch his
footing helped a lot! ;-) 

Another factor I consider with him (and with any of my horses) is that his
saddle is not placed too far forward.  Rider weight too far forward
disrupts the horse's center of balance and can put too much of the rider's
weight onto the front legs.  While this may not be apparent right away, as
the horses get tired (and they will tire more quickly having to hoist extra
weight up and forward off of their front end) tripping and stumbling will
show up quickly.  With the saddle in the correct position, it is still very
important that the rider have a *balanced* seat -- this is partly rider
skill and partly saddle style...no "feet forward, chair seat" posture since
a rider who is not well balanced will make it doubly hard for the horse to
stay balanced.

You can help a horse who has a lazy front end by working him over
cavalettis and teaching him to lift his feet off of the ground when he
strides. This will go a long way towards improving the muscles in this
area...and improving his perception of how high he needs to lift them in
order to make it over an obstacle without tripping.  Also, as they improve
in condition and coordination over-all, stumbling and tripping should
diminish quite a bit.  

Sue 

sbrown@wamedes.com
Tyee Farm
Marysville, Wa.