Dry patches under the saddle...

[flyingfeet]

Going through real saddle worries at the moment.

On every horse I seem to have dry patches (veriety of shapes & saddles)

They look like this

So is it me or the saddles?

 

[rrose]

my horse has them too. but her saddle does not fit so i dont use it any moe. it could be beacuse of that.

 

[flyingfeet]

See I would agree with that if this wasn't a highly expensive saddle fitted to the horse 2 weeks ago....

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Contact your saddler with your concerns & get him to come back and take a look.

 

[Rambo]

That is a sign of an ill-fitting saddle i'm afraid. The pressure on his back is not even. Get the saddle fitter back right away.

 

[flyingfeet]

Well there you go you can spend £1,500 on a modular WOW saddle with flair and it still doesn't fit!

 

[Rambo]

Oh dear

 

[lillie07]

Hmmm I would get some chalk powder, sprinkle it onto the panels of the saddle and place it on your horses back (girt it up). When you remove the saddle take a look and see if it leaves the same marks- if it does then the reason for the dry bits is that there is no contact between the horse and saddle at that point. If the chalk covers over the area where it is normally free from sweat then the problem is not likey to be the saddle (if that all makes sense!!!)

 

[Rambo]

Hmmmm...I suspect you will still get a contact between saddle and back, but that doesn't mean it is an even contact, and thus even pressure.

If you've spent that much on the saddle though, i'd definitely get the fitter back for a double check.

 

[PapaFrita]

Bummer!! how infuriating to go to all the expense and trouble of getting a saddle fitter and expensive saddle for something like that to happen. I'd get them back out sharpish (and quite crossly too!)

 

[PoppyPony]

I agree that it's probably an ill-fitting saddle (although for that much money - eek!), but could it be to do with the materials of either saddle or numnah? ie in places more absorbent. Probably not but worth a thought.

 

[eohippus]

Email the picture to the fitter and say you are worried about this. But as mentioned above check to see what the underside of the saddle looks like after use, it might show you where there is more pressure or if the saddle is bridging at all.? ask your instructor to ascertain whether you are sitting with your weight in the centre of the saddle and not towards the back as this may cause the pressure to be behind, seems funny that it is happening to all the horses with different saddles?

hope this helps
Dawn.

 

[flyingfeet]

That was a WOW over a poly pad (fairly old one that isn't very thick). The saddle doesn't appear to have any bridging.

You can see from the pic that the spine is perfectly dry which is obviously very good. However I am not liking the patches (same on both sides).

Saddle fitter has come back with Francis Whittingtons saddle doing the same and it being from being in close contact and sitting still rather than pressure / lack of contact.

Now very confused!

 

[Rambo]

Why, if the saddle has been correctly fitted are you using the polypad ? Is this not altering the fit of the saddle slightly

 

[flyingfeet]

It is doing the same with a very thin numnah!

However I haven't quite figured out what to do with the front girth loops on a WOW saddle, so the poly pad was closet thing easy to use to hand. This is an old single thickness poly pad, so thinner than most of my other numnahs.

 

[keeley]

You have to use the numnahs that they make for treeless saddles - the loops that attach to the saddle are alot shorter and attach to the D rings.

Like this one by Nuumed...

numnah

 

[OliveOyl]

Dry patches, apparently, are from too much pressure, rather than not enough/bridging. so maybe it's sitting too tight on the dry areas?

You say this is happening with all your horses/saddles though?

I have noticed "swirling" in similar areas on my horses tbh, both horses, both in different saddles - 1 horse in 2 different saddle and another horse in a totally different saddle, so I'm now wondering if they've always done this to an extent but I haven't noticed?????

I hate saddles!!!!

 

[rosedewar]

You can apparently get numnahs from First Thought Equine (makers of WoW) if you phone them up. A friend has got one and they fit very well. However when I tried, they were about to change numnah suppliers and I haven't heard back from them yet. So I did a bit of sewing (shortened tie loops and moved velcro) on the nu-med dressage square, which works for me (mine is a dressage saddle). If yours is a GP or VSD then that treeless one looks like it'd fit well.

Re the dry patches, not sure whether it's not enough or too much contact that's causing them, but agree with everyone that the saddle fitter should be consulted.

Have to say that IMO WoW saddles are great, but not all the fitters are as good as the saddles...

The other option, of course, is that your horse has changed shape already and needs a new (wider) headplate in the saddle - but the fitter can advise on that.

Also confused by the fact that you find this on other horses as well (presumably with different saddles). Do other riders find this on your horse or the same other horses?

Sorry not offering much help, hope you get it sorted.

 

[ads1984]

Try a pad such as thinline. I know the distributor for the UK and some of the reps working for wow may be starting to carry them www.maddocks-saddlers.co.uk Or try ebay, they eliminate pressure points give an even contact and draw heat away from the horses back.