​How To Work Up a Tripping Horse - Part 1 - Gaited Horses

​How To Work Up a Tripping Horse - Part 1 - Gaited Horses
By Gaye DeRusso
 
I labeled this part 1 because I have a lot of information on tripping that I want to share with you. I wanted to break it down how I would work up a horse that is tripping. 
 
It's best to do your workup in parts and not jump to any conclusions before you go through all the parts. As sometimes it is just one thing that is making them trip, other times it is a combination of things that is making your horse trip, and it won't get better unless you fix all the things. Before you start the workup, you must take some notes daily about the tripping to help solve the issue. 
 
Important things include, when he is tripping like at the beginning, middle or end of the ride. Is it at a walk or gait? Is it in the arena, grass, dirt, gravel, road, rocks, over obstacles or trail. When during the shoeing cycle is he most trippy? Has he always tripped or is it new? What changed in that time period like a new rider, new shoer, you took off its shoes, or you have new boots or a different saddle, or even your riding on a loose rein vs short, a different bit, a different boarding stable. Yes it all really matters because there are many causes for tripping.
 
If its new you really want to think about anything that has changed in that time period, even if you think it could not cause the tripping, still write it down. Was he in a stall and now he is pasture or the other way around. Did his old friend move away? Think about anything that changed and write it down. You want to write it down, because it is much easier to solve when you see it in writing, and you will remember more things if you write it down. It will also help the vet have more information if you need them to work it up. Vets rely on what you tell them, but no one ever tells them enough, so it becomes a guessing game of what the cause is. The more you give them, the better they can help solve the problem. 
 
Start with the feet of course because they trip with their feet. 
 
I like to watch the horse walk and see how high it lifts its feet when it walks. That's right not all horses lift their feet the same. Some drag them on the ground, some lift them a little and some lift them a lot. You can even video tape it and slow it down if you need to. Gaited horses usually lift their feet higher as they go faster, unless they are pacing. So if it’s fine walking but trips when it gaits, it may just be pacing and you need to teach it not to pace. I also like to see how big is the horse’s stride and watch are they landing heel first then rolling onto the toe or are they landing flat or landing toe first these are all clues of issues. 
 
I also watch them walk from the side, the front, and the back. Then I watch them walk on different terrains, the arena, the grass, the dirt, gravel, and road. Then I watch them walk on the trail, over obstacles and up and down hills. I do this all from the ground without a saddle so I can see their feet but also their whole body moving. 
 
Also be aware of their attitude during the process, do they pay attention, are they looking around, are they lazy or alert. Don't forget to watch their face as well, and see if they look nervous, distressed or in pain. They have a lot of expression, but you have to look for it. 
 
Now back to the feet. A horse is supposed to pick its foot up, move the leg forward then land heel first. If your horse is landing toe first, something is causing it to have heel pain or it is not able to make the full arc with its leg, like it takes a very long stride. If it has a long stride the toe can be hitting the ground because it did not complete the arc of the movement in time. Many times with big strided horses they are just covering too many rocks or obstacles vs a short strided horse. 
 
If it’s the stride causing the tripping, you might have to ride with more contact and collect the horse to shorten its stride when it needs to be more surefooted. If heel pain, it could be bad thrush, contracted heels, navicular, there are many causes. So, you must see how the foot is landing. I like to always get X-rays of the feet to help you to figure some of this out. They show the bone, how long the toe is and how thick the sole is, so they give a lot of information to help you. If it shows navicular, that will be treated totally different then having thin soles, so best to know what’s in those feet! If they have thrush you need to treat aggressively so it does not go further into the foot. Thrush can be very nasty. If contracted heels, you need your shoer or trimmer to try and help you get the horse comfortable. 
 
Now watch the toe and see how much clearance it gets over the ground. If it drags its toe then no clearance, if it picks it up an inch, that’s only a little clearance or it picks it up many inches then it should be clearing the ground and not tripping. Pacey, well gaited and lazy horses many times drag their toes  because they don't bend their knees much and keep the foot close to the ground. The pacey and lazy ones also swing their legs instead of using their muscles. So, a good reason not to let your horse pace when you’re riding it. 
 
A horse that trots when loose will usually have more knee action and have better clearance, or a horse that is bred to have more action will lift its knees higher so better clearance. This is also why I make all the gaited horses walk over poles, to learn how to pick their feet up higher, and become more athletic. And if you have a horse use to the arena or just flat terrain and you have hills and rocky terrain, they have to learn to pick up their feet more and also get use to the hills and mountains which can make them tired and a tired horse will trip more. 
 
Some horses are not athletic or they don't have sensitive feet, therefore they don't react the same as an athletic horse, or if they hit something with their feet they don't care or they just have poor proprioception. Walking and gaiting or trotting them over poles 3-5 times a week for 5-10 minutes can make a huge difference with these things. Sometimes they just need to be taught what to do.
 
If they drag their toes or not lift them high, then you need to get the horse more clearance. So, get x-rays because it will show the vet and the shoer, just how much toe you can take off and if the foot is balanced.  Then start with just trimming that toe back more and balancing the foot. Also, if you do not have a good shoer, now is the time to change, you need a good shoer to work with you and one that is willing to listen to what you’re saying.  Not one that tells you it won't help. They also need to watch that horse walk and see what it is doing. Tripping can be deadly, and you need everyone’s help, to help your horse be safe. If the good shoer cost more, then pay more, because a hospital bill will cost a lot more. 
 
If it still trips, you bring the toe back but also roll the toe of the shoe, to get more clearance as it helps with the break over of the foot. If that doesn't work you can rocker the shoe and that will also take off some sole of the foot, and get you more clearance, so the x-rays will help you know if you can do this or not. If those fail, trim the toe back and use a square shoe like the natural balance shoe. It gets more toe out of the way, increases the break over and gets you more clearance. I have seen horses that tripped all the time stop tripping with these shoes on, but the shoer also has to prepare the foot correctly for it to work. An added benefit to trying these shoeing techniques, is it helps pacey horses gait better by changing their footfall and separating the legs more. Now if you try these things and it is not better, you also have to continue the workup to rule other things out. That will be in the other articles I will post. 
 
But if everything comes back negative, some horses just trip more than others. The next thing to try would be a toe weight or a heavier shoe. That's right when you put weight on the horse’s foot, it lifts it higher, that's why so many show people use heavy shoes in certain classes to get more knee action. Speak with your shoer and see what weight of shoe you have been using and try a heavier shoe. So, if you’re out of other options, a heavier shoe is better than having a horse trip and fall with you. 
 
There maybe barefoot techniques to help but all I know is the mustang roll, so ask your barefoot trimmer if they can try anything to help. I do not have a lot of barefoot horses. 
 
If it is tripping in the arena, mark where it trips and take a ruler and put it in the spot then put the ruler in other spots nearby and see if the footing is deeper in different areas. I have done this in many arenas and had some areas with 8 inches of footing and other areas with 1 inch. Many horses will trip and fall in the arena when footing is bad or if the arena is uneven. 
 
Is he fine on the grass and dirt but trips on the gravel or road? Then his feet may be sore. Even if you have boots on, if they don't give firm support and the horse has tender soles or not much soles, it can make them trip. If you ride on trail and the horse keeps going to the side of the trail, your horses feet are sore. You may need a firmer boot or shoes or shoes with pads to protect the soles. But know if you need more toe clearance, even if you trim the toe back and its barefoot, once you put the boot on, you no longer have the toe clearance anymore.
 
 I have diagnosed a lot of horses that feet were sore that were barefoot, and the boots did not help. I can feel when a horse’s feet are sore and many times the owner cannot. As soon as we got shoes on, the horses walked right over the rocks in the middle of the trail instead of hanging on the side and tripping on the footing. So sometimes it is an easy fix and sometimes it takes a lot more work. But a good vet, a good shoer or trimmer can make a huge difference. But if they don't have the information, they cannot help you. 
 
Sometimes vets will jump to conclusions, because you did not give them the right information, especially because the gaited horses can move weird. But if they come and you say watch him walk, he doesn't lift his feet very high, he is pacey, lazy and drags his toes when he is tired. He is fine after he is trimmed but starts tripping when he is 2 weeks out, can we x-ray the feet to see what's in there? They will have a lot more information to solve the problem and think about the feet. Because some vets when they watch our horses  move, immediately think neurologic because they have never seen a horse move like this, especially the Tennessee Walking Horses. So give them a little guidance where to start. 
 
Its best to start with the feet because I have seen horses diagnosed with EPM only to come back with a negative spinal tap and when I pushed the client to get the x-rays of the feet like I told them in the beginning, they found out the horse had navicular. They could have saved a lot of money if they had started with the feet. With a couple injections and special shoeing, the horse was comfortable and no longer tripping. Look for article 2 coming up!