My Arabian mare had been tripping and stumbling frequently when we first bought her. After my trainer saw this she immediately layed out a program of simple movements very like dressage, to work on the horses coordination and balance. I also found that trotting cavalettis helps aswell, along with longing. Good luck!

Im so pleased he seems to be sorting himself out, but always have it in your mind if strange things start to occur, my lad never tripped, was a serious jumper and most of all hunter.So its been a major shock to us all including my vet who 5* vetted him.He went for back checks and the xrays were just a precautionary measure on his feet.Im finding it hard to accept as hes never had a lame day since ive had him, only very slight when he trotted the concrete circle at the vets. otherwise in his normal activities he is amazing.Im trying to stay positive but finding it all too hard to accept. I wish you all the best with your lad, it sounds like hes found himself a lovely caring home. Good luck for your future together x

kaycomber said:

hi,, thanks for all your advice, well the farrier came last week and because we have been shoving formula 4 feet into Beau's feed, his feet were quite long. They are now muc much better, compared to the mess they were in when we first bought him. I am pleased to say that the tripping is better, I think a lot of it was due to him being out of condition, Grace hasnt been able to do much since the dark nights closed in but, she is taking him out every night for 15/20 minutes light hacking on the housing estate opposite just to make him power walk and lightly trot etc and yesterday we done a good hour's hack with lots of trotting and he didnt trip that much, about 2 times during that time and his shoulder was fine after the trotting, I think that his back is still a little tender due to not having any topline (we are shoving the Baileys No4 Top Line into him as well) and he is still out of condition, with little muscle, mainly flabby areas, so yes, it could be the back that has caused the tripping or, still getting his feet sorted, I am still keeping an eye on him as it still worries me, the only other problem we are now having is that since he has come in at night, he is getting a little stressed and is 'bobbing' is head up and down at the stable door and dancing from one foot to the other, he has to unfortunately be in a night, as its the yard rules for the winter, and he is obviously standing at the door all night as in the mornings there is once large pile of poo where he has stod, we have had him about 2 months now and he has been in for 3 weeks so, its still strange for him, not sure what else I can do to get him to settle better, also, his hay net is hardly touched in the morning, although he is still eating his evening meal, has anyone else had problems with head bobbing?

Hi, im really sad to hear about your horse, i have owned a 17.1 idxtb for 5 months he is a fantastic sports horse, in the time i have had him he has fallen 4 times, one of which was a stumble to the knees,(he is not a stumbler  ) in nov i had a chiropractor come out, and she said he was quite twisted, any way he had a sore back behind the saddle area after she came out. I called the vet because as well as this i felt he was stiff through the left shoulder.He too had started to bob his head and shift weight from left to right, also sticks his back leg out, i could see he was restless and not happy so i took my boy over to the vet for some tests and he was bilaterally lame on a concrete circle, he showed no sign of this in normal activity, he was nerve blocked and front feet x rayed which shows navicular syndrome, he has slight changes in the soft tissue. I am devastated as now the process of navilox and remedial shoes has started. I dont know what the future holds for my boy yet only time will tell. Apart from your horse tripping, it sounds similar mannerisms to mine, i implore you to get his feet xrayed, if only for peace of mind treatment i am told has a better success rate if caught early.

I wish you all the luck , please let me know how your getting on, im sorry if my reply is more worrying for you, but every horse is different. x