Stumbling and tripping

Question
QUESTION: Hello,

I have a 13-year old Percheron who is in excellent health but who also stumbles and trips while I and others ride him. I've consulted with veterinarians and farriers and tried numerous things over the last two years to correct this issue and have so far not made much headway.  He does not stumble or trip in the pasture, but during riding he often shuffles his feet and has tripped and gone down to his knees a number of times.  I recently came across information about retraining horse to "ride from the hind quarters" and collect better for better balance and am wondering more about this and if this could be a potential answer.

Thank you for any advice!

ANSWER: Dear Sharon,
What your letter does not indicate is what vets and farriers have had to say about your horse's problem. ALL horses should "push from behind" and not be on their forehand and while being on the forehand can sometimes cause a horse to trip- it seems unlikely to be causing what you seem to be describing as a chronic and potentially dangerous condition. Case in point- because of the way they choose to have their horses travel- most stock horse breeds are VERY much on their forehands and are actually built very "bum-high" making it virtually impossible for them to get off of their forehands- yet they are not falling to their knees. Perhaps the antithesis of this is a high level (think level 4+) dressage horse- in order to be able to do the collected movements of passage and piaffe- these horses are built "uphill."
Without actually seeing your horse move- this is, of course a "best guess" scenario. I would suggest that being on his forehand is probably only part of he problem- at 13 this will be a difficult issue to address. I am thinking- considering that he is a Draft- that there is a conformation issue contributing to the problem.
Have the vets/farriers ever seen him stumble? If not- see if you can collect some video of this happening. If there is nothing neurological (which I doubt since you indicate that he does not stumble at liberty) I think you are looking at a combination of a long re-school to attempt to get him to elevate his shoulders (which most Draft horses do naturally- so this is peculiar), see if rockering the shoes will alter his break-over, and (potentially) accept that this may be a conformation issue that you cannot overcome. Did the horse's previous owner have the same issue? You might also consider consulting with some organizations who ride Drafts and see if any of them has had similar concerns or can offer suggestions.
Sincerely,
S. Evans


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your response. Vets and his farrier have pretty much ruled out medical conditions and even conformation problems for my Percheron, which, I agree, does make this a puzzling case.  His previous owners had a problem with the stumbling and he was removed from the girls' vaulting team for this reason.  

During his vet check the doctor thought he might have problems with mental laziness and/or simply not paying attention to his feet, which leads to stumbling and tripping occasionally.  I agree though that it is a potentially dangerous thing and hope to help him with this.  Is it possible that working with him on picking up his feet more could be a possible answer?

In the meantime I am looking into draft organizations to see if specialty resources for draft breeds are available to me.  I have heard of something called a "draft shuffle" and am wondering if this could be related.

Answer
Dear Sharon,
I wish I could be more encouraging- but given his age and that this was a pre-existing persistent problem- I am sensing that this is not likely to change significantly. Simply picking up his feet does not replicate the co-ordination required for forward momentum with balance. If he was stumbling on the lunge as a vaulting horse as well as under saddle- this could be a balance issue that is specific to this horse. I am not familiar enough with Draft breeds to venture speculation about the "draft shuffle" of which you write- but the drafts I have had experience with have all had exceptionally high movement- definitely not shufflers.
You are clearly aware of the significant potential for danger that this poses. I might try some on- the- lunge gymnastics over ground poles and low cavaletti to see if this helps his co-ordination. Possibly a toe weight - but with a Draft- this is an expensive venture.
How long did the previous owner have him? Was there an earlier owner who you might be able to contact to see if this has been a life-long issue- or might perhaps be something connected to aging or injury. Since your vet doesn't see any physical issue- I wonder if it might be neurological.
Again, I regret that I have no easy answers for you.
Best wishes and I hope that you find a solution. Drafts are lovely horses and I wish more people had them.
Sincerely,
S. Evans