Clumsy horse?

Question

The horse I am leasing isnt the sharpest tool in the shed. She has no depth perception and is very clumsy. I've known her for about a year and a half and I know that she can be a pretty little jumper, but she trips a LOT! We do not have sound in our outdoor arenas so it is a bit harder on her balance. Is there anything I can do to make her pick up her feet and stop stumbling? She has fallen all the way down twice (once while jumping) and has had many close calls.

Answer 1

sounds like you need a new farrier, or maybe you need to tell him/her what you are using your horse for. so they can set her up properly

Answer 2

I had a horse at my barn do this and it ended up being some nerve problem. I forgot what it was called but you should have your vet take a look at her. Until then, just really make sure you keeping her going. Use a crop if you absolutely need it. As for the jumps, you can put a saddle pad or a flipped over car mat over the pole so that if she didn't pick up her feet, she would scratch her knees. My trainer did this once and the horse tucked up nicely fter a few times. Another trainer i know would make it a bounce so that the horse would go over the first one and have to go over the second one. The horse would use its butt and have to collect to go over it. This helps with a horse that lands hard or is lazy after the jump. It teaches them to roll back on their butt and use themselves vs.  just going over and that be the end of it right there.

Also try trot poles so her has to lift up her feet.

Answer 3

thats what my haflinger is like!

i just really keep my legs on and keep her going on.

she might be on the for-hand, because thats what mine was, just now she isn't as bad because we are lunging her.

Answer 4

shot it n get a new 1

Answer 5

Make sure her to keep her feet trimmed.  The angle for the trimming may also be incorrect.  Many horses trip when their feet get too long, or if just the tow gets too long because of an incorrect angle.  In other words her feet may need to be set upright a little more.  Can you send a picture of her feet?

Another reason for tripping is poor eyesight.  Horses that can not see up close are liable to trip quite often.  I road one once that tripped over a 6 inch stick about the size of your first finger.  It could see fine away but up close everything was a blur.

If the problem is not picking up their feet (which is a third possibility) then you can put on weighted shoes to get them to lift their feet.  You do not have to leave them on.  Put them on for a month and then pull them off.  I am not talking about the 5 lb shoes that were put on the big l**k Tennessee Walkers, I am just talking toe weight shoes.  Diamond makes a set.

Answer 6

Horses are not really "clumsy" animals unless there is a health or physical problem.  Has the horse been checked out by a vet?  Does she have problems in her legs or feet or with her sight?  About 99% of the stumbling I see is caused by bad shoeing and/or bad trimming.  If she has a neurological problem, this could cause the falling and makes it unsafe for her and anyone to ride her, especially jumping.  Has she ever had any kind of injury or nerve block?  Horses do not have depth perception like humans because their eyes are on the side of their heads.  They see two different areas all the time and see them separately.  That is why you have to train the left side and the right side independently.  Also, when horses jump, they jump blind as soon as their nose come up because they can't see anything directly in front of them. I think you need to get her some help (you didn't give her age) or just let her retire to the pasture and get another horse.  Do what is best for her.  There is obviously a problem here and it doesn't have anything to do with her intelligence level or being clumsy.  Does her owner know of these problems and does nothing to help her or address the situation?  continues to lease her?  how sad.

Answer 7

the neurological problem is called E.P.M. You asked this same question 2 days ago and got good answers then. Get your horse checked by a vet........Use some common sense here, stumbling and falling down are NOT NORMAL!!!!! Do your horse a favor call the VET!

Answer 8

Anytime you have a horse that "stumbles" a lot, you really need to have a vet check it out.  You may not notice things that can happen like navicular, ringbone and the lot.  Your vet can check her out and see what's going on.  You should have him check her eyes as well.

I used to have a gelding who would get so preoccupied with trying to figure out HOW to buck that he would trip on the forehand and I'd giggle at him, 'cause I could see what he was trying to do then he'd get embarrassed.  (He finally figured it out at a standstill, 4-5 years later.).

Answer 9

This is rather worrying.  I think either the vet or the farrier can help.  It may be she needs remedial shoeing or there may be a muscular or nervous problem which needs sorting with the vet.

You do not say how old she is so it could be that she is not yet mature.  Possibly would need turning away or feeding extra supplements to build her up.

Also schooling on the flat might help with long sweeping turns, lots of trotting pole work.  The idea of the trotting poles is to keep moving around the school and then over the poles at intervals to gain a steady stride, both around the school and then over the poles without breaking rhythm.  Keep plenty of leg on and a good mouth contact at all times.

Do you have an instructor available on the yard to have a look at what she is doing on the ground?  You could try videoing her and then posting it on YouTube and then posting the question again.  It would certainly help to see what is going on and advise accordingly.  It could be part physical and part riding errors.

Answer 10

There are several reasons why your horse could be acting this way\:

#1   He could be pulling himself along with is front end, instead of using the impulsion from his rear end, this will cause him to get tired quicker and stumble, and eventually lead to unsoundnesses that need not be.

#2   His farrier should be on a regular schedule, that is very important.

#3   His eyesight might not be as it used to be, maybe should be checked out by your vet.

#4    He may just have his mind wandering and his rider might not be keeping his attention...(this would get my first vote)

Answer 11

you could walk trot and canter her over some poles on the ground so that she picks up her feet that is what we had to do with my sisters horse or try putting splint boots and bell boots on her so that she picks them up and even she doesnt she will be more protected

Answer 12

Impulsion.

You need to push her on and get her working an a correct contact. that way she will be concentrating on what she is doing and less likely to trip.