Anyone had this reaction when using wool numnah?

Holly Hocks

Holly Hocks

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I took my mare into the school tonight for a schooling session. She is very green and we are just working in walk and trot on straight lines and large circles. Although unbalanced she has been very quiet and never done anything to concern me. Tonight I was riding and after about 20 mins she started with some very extravagant airs above ground - front and back legs off the ground at the same time, humping her back in the air, throwing her head around and generally trying to put me on the floor. I managed to stop her and was a bit shaken up as she hasn't done anything like this before. The only thing I could think of was that I had used a thick saddlecloth under the saddle which has wool under the seat area. So trembling like a leaf, (I'm not ashamed to admit it!) I got off, took her to the stable and changed it for her usual cotton thin cloth as I knew I had to get back on. I took her back to the school, got on and just walked her round before asking for a bit of trot and a couple of circles. She was fine - she tried another extravagant punch of air with a front leg, but nothing like she had done before, so after a couple of minutes of quiet work, I called it a day while the going was good. Is it possible just for her to react so badly to a woollen saddlecloth?
She is currently having help from the physio, had a saddle fitter last week and has had her teeth done, although, I am going to get teeth checked again as I am aware that is could be a problem there.
Anyone else had a problem with a sheepskin numnah and a reaction like this? After the last year of her being ill and in hospital for several months, I was nearly crying after tonight. I have to stress, it isn't just high jinx with her. She has the temperament of an angel and would never do anything to deliberately hurt me which is why I am a bit concerned....
 
Yes my tb reacts in the same manner if I use a sheepskin on him, as soon as I put a normal polypad/numnah on him, normality resumes (well as much as it can for a tb)
 
Was the saddlecloth any thicker than normal so could make the saddle tighter? If she's sensitive it could easily make a difference! My horse didn't particularly like the sheepskin halfpad I had (advised to get by saddle fitter!) but was just quite tense with it.
 
Is it definitely wool not sheepskin? I recently discovered that sheepskin lined cloths are not one piece of sheepskin, and a cheap Roma one I bought off eBay is more than SEVENTY pieces sewn together and even I can feel the joins, never mind a sensitive horse with a rider on top of it. On the thread that I put up to tell people about it, someone posted that not even the most expensive sheepskin numnahs are only two pieces of sheepskin, they ALL have joins.

I have seen two horses react very violently to the same wool numnah and the rider never did find out why. We can only assume there was something almost invisible stuck in it pricking into them to cause them to throw themselves on the floor with a rider on their backs !!! He washed it and they never did it again.
 
Fiona C - yes she's a TB as well, and very thin skinned

Izzwizz - I wondered that as well, but she's not currently in season

I used the thicker one as the saddle fitter said that although the saddle fitted, she thought that it was slightly on the wide side so a thick numnah might be better, but yes it's a lot thicker than her usual cotton cloth

Cptrayes - definitely wool - it's a nuumed one and has the woolmark on it.

I am going to ring the vet tomorrow to come and check her teeth (He's an EDT as well as a vet) and also to do some nerve blocks in her back leg as I think there is a problem there. Physio has been trying to work on it, but I've been to hell and back with her the last 12 months, with illnesses and operations, so I don't want things to get out of hand again. Thanks for all the advice - keep it coming!
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Um, just a thought: but I know some people develop an allergy to lanolin (which is a component of wool) ...... soooooo, perhaps your mare is allergic to it also? Its perfectly possible I would think.
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I didn't think of that. And as I said it started after about 20 mins of riding, so possibly when she started to get a bit warm and started to sweat. So yes, it's perfectly possible. No lovely Newmarket wool rug for her this winter then!
 
From what I understand, when sheepskin/wool gets wet/damp as in under the saddle, it can become abrasive and hold in the resuting heat to the point of not far off scalding the horses back. Which in turn causes the horse to react in the manner the OP has described.
 
Thanks everyone. Today I found a photo of her doing a little dressage last year at a comp and she has this wool saddlecloth on in the photo, so I'm now starting to think it can't be that.....vet coming out tomorrow afternoon. My guess is possibly teeth now....
 
If she normally has a thin numnah, and the saddle is fitted without a pad and you put a massive thick wool numnah underneath she will kick off coz you made the saddle probably a width size smaller and made it hurt.
 
I use my sheepskin/wool half pad on top of another normal nummnah. Works fine like that.

She is a TB. Use the half pad as a shock absorber for dressage.
 
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