If a thoroughbred horse stumbles, or trips........?

Question

.....after running a hard race, could it be attributable to fatigue?

Answer 1

Why just a T.B. why not any horse?

YES they do trip and fall

Its not very easy but it happens

Not thu fatigue but just a misstep

I had A horse that I was pulling up after a SLOW GALLOP ,

SHE WAS A 3 YR OLD UN RACED +SOUND

I was in a trot almost ready to walk and boom she tripped

She tried to get up but she has crossed both front legs ,she went down again and fell I was under her she tried everything NOT to step on me

but she finally uncrossed her legs and her left foot hit my back she tried her best not to put pressure on me but she had to a bit

I still had the reins in my hand but she pulled back a bit to get up and I lost them

she starred at me for a second and made sure I was ok then trotted off Then stopped and came back to me I got the reins lowerd my stirrups and got back on

no problem she was fine so was I except for the foot print of a race shoe on my shoulder

She was sound

she just tripped period

it happens

if you ride it happens

But if you worry about it you will never ride again

So it happens in a walk, in a run ,any way and any how

JUST LIKE US

Answer 2

It could be anything really.  I've had a horse trip and fall completely over at the walk which I'd attribute to bad footing.  

A tired horse is more likely to be run a little off balance and not lift his feet as well.  Heart failure or another extreme case of fatigue would take a lot more than a mile and a half gallop.

To minimize the chances of falling a jockey/rider, should only ride on good footing, should keep the horse's head up, and should stay in the middle or behind the horse's center of gravity.

Answer 3

It could be a number of things including temporary fatigue, however it could be other things.  I would check the condition of the hooves.  Many times if the hooves are not filed short enough, it will cause the horse to stumble.  Look to see if the horse is tripping over his front hooves, almost like someone would trip UPSTAIRS, catching the TOP of their shoe and stumbling over it.  Also look to see if the top of the front hooves are scraping the ground or barely clearing when the horse walks.  If any of this is occurring, the hooves need to be filed shorter.    You can also look to see if the horse is shoed correctly.  Often times this is the problem.  Being shoed incorrectly can lead to pain in the hooves cracks in the hooves as well as infections.  Good luck!

Answer 4

It's a possible explanation, yes.  However, there's a lot of things that might cause a horse to stumble and it's hard to point to one explanation and say it's definately the reason for a specific horse's specific stumble.

In Eight Belles' case, yes, she just ran 10 furlongs so of course she's tired.  However, all those other 19 horses ran 10 furlongs and didn't fall down.  Horses run 10 furlongs safely everyday.  And Eight Belles crossed the finish line looking a lot stronger than most of the other horses in the field... she ran that race and beat 18 colts easily.  The only horses looking more refreshed were Big Brown (because he's just that good i guess) and the horses that finished 40 lengths behind who got a much slower trip.

Racehorses aren't paying the most attention when they're pulling up... they are very focused in the race, but as they gallop out, they're not thinking about running anymore... they're looking around at the crowd and the other horses.  Remember how Big Brown spooked after the Derby and Kent fell off?  It's because horses don't pay a lot of attention after the race.  So that's a possible reason for Eight Belles stumbling.

Horses will sometimes trip and stumble if they're unbalanced partly because they're not paying attention.  My horse has fallen down before.  When I ride her, she's stumbled a couple of times at the canter and I have to really sit back and balance us until she regains her stride.  I was teaching a riding lesson to an older lady who was riding my horse and my horse completely fell down at the canter... she was cantering to the right and going way too fast so I told the lady to slow her down and when she said whoa and pulled a little on the reins, my horse wasn't prepared because she wasn't round and collected and moving the way she should have been... so when she got the cue to slow down, she stumbled for a second and fell down.  

Another horse I was riding in a lesson fell down one time too...  she tends to stumble with me more than other people and I don't know why because I certainly sit back and balance the horses a lot more than the beginner riders... anyway, she had been pretty hard on her forehand that day and when I asked her to pick up her canter, she cantered one stride, then went down.

Sometimes a horse falls down because one of its legs are actually injured.  Sometimes its a hole in the surface that they accidentally step in.  There's a lot of reasons a horse can fall down.  Fatigue is certainly one of them.

Answer 5

the short answer is yes but i think its unlikely! as these animals are in peak condition when they race. it is prob more likely a horse trips or stumbles from either becoming unbalanced or the horse may trip or stumble in a divot in the race track

Answer 6

Can we please stop asking these stupid questions horses die and so do humans.

Answer 7

Sure, but probably not.  Those horses could run all day, after all they are beast of burden beneath their beauty.  The race stumbles are most likely due to the track surface.  Arlington Park for example had a horrible season where over 30 horses had to be put down on the track from injuries suffered.  They install Polytrack, which is a synthetic dirt like surface. Because of that the next season the number dropped down to the single digits.  Also be aware that there are usually at least 6 horses running in a race.  With so much going on a mis-step could become devastating.  But it seems like what you are getting at is whether or not horse racing is cruel?  Its really not, they run full out for 2 minutes maybe once every 40 days. It is corrupt and inexperienced people in the business that race their horses every 15 days and train them incorrectly that lead to the majority of horse problems, but the majority of the people are all well-intentioned.