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Member
Posts: 42
| My farrier pointed out to me after watching my mare work that she really doesn't pick her feet up and that's why she trips so much. Now, she is a hyper horse so I'm not sure why she doesn't pick them up. I watched her in the mirror and even long trotting you can see the dirt plowing up in front of her toes.
how do I "fix" this? Her tripping so much makes me nervous and now that it's been pointed out that she isn't just klutzy.
Ground poles, riding outside? What works? |
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 Expert
Posts: 1857
  
| front, hind, or both |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| I would say possible stifle problems, or hocks. I would vet check first to rule out |
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  Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4557
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | Possible to long in the toe and or needing shoes with out the grip and or leg problems. |
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Member
Posts: 42
| She has a pretty short toe, she has steel shoes that are a lot less grippy than the aluminums she had in the fall.
Front only, she lifts her backs pretty good. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Is she sore? |
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Member
Posts: 42
| Southtxponygirl - 2014-03-28 5:37 PM
Is she sore?
Nope! She's been tripping randomly since I gotbher a couple years ago & she is pretty sound. Now that I think about it I've noticed her not picking her feet up quite a bit, just never occurred to me that that was causing the tripping. |
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Expert
Posts: 3147
| I had a paint I raised and he drug his back toes from the first time he was ridden. You could always tell his tracks from the toe dragging. He wasn't sore, nor did he trip so can't help you on the tripping. Just wanted to let you know it might not necessarily be due to being sore. |
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 Living on the edge of common sense
Posts: 24138
Location: Carpenter, WY | Try laying out some posts or tree limbs and obstacles and whatever and walking over them..might just be lazy and never had to learn to pick them up |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | HHTough - 2014-03-28 8:58 PM Southtxponygirl - 2014-03-28 5:37 PM Is she sore? Nope! She's been tripping randomly since I gotbher a couple years ago & she is pretty sound. Now that I think about it I've noticed her not picking her feet up quite a bit, just never occurred to me that that was causing the tripping.
So she has always been this way, hummmm, I had a paint that I bought many years ago and he would always stumble in the front end while riding, but that sucker would run and play out in the pasture and as far as I could see he never missed a beat untill I would ride him, sometimes he would almost go to his knees, he scared me a few times so I stoped riding him and he was a young horse around 4 years old. Did'nt know much about EPM back in those days, but I bet he was one that had it. If I were you I would have her tested for EPM just in case. |
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 Expert
Posts: 4121
Location: SE Louisiana | Are you heavy? |
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Fire Ant Peddler
Posts: 2881
| Classic symptom of EPM. |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | I've had lazy horses that were like that when I first got them. Ground poles will teach them to pick their feet up, and also teaching them to shift weight behind, round their back and lift the shoulders will help.
Your mare sounds like unsoundness to me, whether from pain or illness, something isn't right. My gelding had recently started landing toe first, not flexing his front legs properly, and tripping--he had sore fetlocks from thinning cartilage/watery joint fluid. |
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Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | Poor saddle fit can cause tripping in the front also. Does she do it in the pasture? |
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| Check that your saddle isn't pinching her shoulders. If it's somethin she always does and it isn't getting worse I would bet against an active case of EPM. Doesn't mean she didn't have it and has recovered with those lingering neuro effects, but testing won't do any good. Most horses will test positive via a blood sample anyway, only a spinal tap would definitively answer whether or not she is an active case. |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | I have been thinking about your mare, I have a gelding now thats kinda on the lazy side, and will sometimes not pick up his feet, kept him shoed, but decided to try something different with him took off shoes and squared up his toes so that he would break over faster and it made a big difference in how he travels now. So now I keep him bare foot and he sees alot happier and no more triping or stumbles. |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | And I agree on saddle fit too, check your saddle make sure its not to tight.  |
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 Ms. Marine
Posts: 4641
Location: Texas | I have a mare that will trip on her front feet when she's out somewhere in her front end. I would suggest having your horse checked out by a chiropractor. |
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 Angel in a Sorrel Coat
Posts: 16030
Location: In a happy place | I'm not saying this is what is wrong with your horse but I had one that did this and he had navicular. |
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Member
Posts: 42
| I read up on EPM and judging by the other symptoms I'm doubting it is that. Ill give the groundpoles a try and we are starting to add a lot of rollbacks because she is front heavy.
Lol unless 108lbs is heavy, nope Im not! |
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