Advice on pressure sore on withers please!

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pegasus999

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My sisters high withered pony has many old scars along his withers ( he is 21 ) & despite taking care, we have got caught out by his under-rug, & the first sign that anything was wrong was a loss of performance. Eventually, he started to shudder with pressure to his withers, & a sore appeared. We are mortified to have subjected him to this! The vet pulled off ( or tried to) a deep scab that was around 3mm thick with hair on it, like a scalp! This made him really sore & worse, & we now have to wash the area with Hibiscrub, & apply multi- derm twice daily, which is a fish based ointment. He has not been ridden for a fortnight, the guilty rug has been removed, & we let the fresh air get to it as much as possible. Today, it looked so pink & healthy, & he was not bothered by it at all, we decided to ride him to see how it went. He was fine until my neice came to jump about the 5th fence with him, we he just ground to a halt on the corner, which is his way of telling you its not right. He is now as sore as ever( the saddle goes nowhere near & he has been free lunged most days ) & we are in despair! Can anyone advise please? Or is this just a matter of time?
 
This can take months to resolve. i took on a neglected TB with this problem and had to sew layers of padding into his rugs to make a 'bridge' to go over the wither as anything even touching it would set him back.

Give it time and be very careful with saddlecloths too
 
There could be a chance he has made his back sore by trying to move in a way so that his withers don't hurt. Maybe worth getting your vet to recommend someone to look at him?

Also this won't heal overnight, it's going to be a long time before he is completely comfortable, so I'd advise gentle riding in the mean time - making sure saddle and numnahs are well fitted.
 
i would be keeping his back free of anything touching it until its completely healed for a few weeks, then gradually start building up the work
be really careful his saddle fits really well and the cloth is pulled right up into the gullet
 
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