Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Stacy,

 

     I have a horse who stumbles occasionally from inattention, but he used to do the "big trip" where we would almost go down.  There were actually two different things going on which were causing him to trip.  One - he had grown and his saddle no longer fit him.  It was pinching his shoulders.  He now has a new saddle that fits him.  Two - my farrier was shoeing him too upright - his angles were wrong.  This was fixed quite by accident when we got a new farrier, who does a marvelous job on him.  No more "big trips"!  He still stumbles occasionally from inattention, but almost every horse will do that.  It sounds to me like you have a lot more going on with your husband's horse than inattention.  You need to look closely at his shoeing and tack. 

 

     I also recommend having a saddle fitter look at you husband's saddle and also where he places the saddle on his horse.  I just did this and found out that I saddled too far forward.  My horse is 1/2 Saddlebred with a very laid back shoulder.  Placing the saddle too far forward interferes with shoulder action and can cause pain.  With your husband's horse being a Tennessee Walker, you may have the same problem.  I have rigged my saddle differently (started using the second girth ring on the back of the saddle as well as the first to place the girth farther back) and now ride with the saddle about 2 to 3 inches behind where I used to.  It took some getting used to, but my horse seems to like it. 

 

     My horse used to do 180's and trip.  Thank goodness both have stopped due to maturity and fixing the problems causing the tripping.  I never came off because of a trip, but I broke my helmet during a 180. 

 

     Oh, and I'm not a horse trainer, but I think you should give the horse his head when he stumbles.  He needs head freedom to be able to recover.  If you follow your trainer's advice, you may end up causing the horse to fall or making him shy of the bit.  Think about when you stumble - if someone was holding your head and not letting you move it so you could balance yourself when you stumble, would you be more likely to fall?  I would. 

 

Karen Lynd 


Stacy Baxter <baxterm13@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

My husband has a Tenn. Walker that trips.  Last ride the horse tripped so bad (while walking), when I looked back, both horse and husband were flat out on the ground.  This is the first time the horse has gone all the way down, but he skins his knees a good 2-3 times a year. 

 

When my horse trips, I tend to give him his head, so he is not slamming his mouth into the bit, my trainer suggests I keep pressure on the reins, that it will 'catch' him and also make him realize that tripping really does hurt and maybe he will be more careful.   Ideas????

 

Just curious, would you all rather have a horse that trips, or one that does 180s?  (This is the debate in our household.  Maybe we need different horses?...Life insurance?....Saddle seat belts?.....Velcro?....)

 

-Stacy

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