feel terrible... such and honest, genuine horse

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Arniebear

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i feel absolutly horrible atm :( im not after sympathy i need a slap!

had my lad 6 months and since ive had him his jumping hasnt been right, he jumps very downhill and on his forehand, all the instruction ive had hasnt seemed to help, we've taken him back to basics with small fences trying to get him to jump off his hocks, hasnt helped. people have been commenting saying he scared of jumping and i should sell him etc etc generally not nice stuff so i got a bit disheatened stuck him under the competition radar and decided to sort out this issue before he competes again (he only went to 1 clear round sj!!), we were getting to the stage of not knowing what else to try and perhaps this was just the way he jumped :confused:

i emailed an advanced eventer who takes in schooling issues hoping to get a set of fresh eyes on the situation and he told me to free school him to see if its the way he jumps or tack/ rider influence..... y i didnt think of this i dont not know! - how stupid can i be???

anyway free schooled him yesterday and he jumped amazingly so we thought we would try him with his saddle on to see if its tack or rider.... well he resorted back to jumping downhill and on his forehand on landing he galloped off bronching (never done this before) brought him round again and he was bronching before he even got to the fence, jumped hurrendously and galloped off bronching again, we decided to try my sisters saddle which is exactly the same as mine but 1 size bigger...... he jumped amzingly

so answer is his saddle.

i just feel terrible because hes been wearing it for 6 months and it doesnt fit and is obviously causing him pain, when ridden under saddle he has never put a foot wrong so i completely missed any signals :( i wish he'd have dropped me or something but he hasnt even bucked..... what an honest genuine horse, if it had been me i would have buried my rider :rolleyes:

so obviously hes getting a new saddle prefessionally fitted by someone else, as the first people clearly got it wrong.

basically this is a post to apoligise to my boy so 'luke' im sorry :(
 
Arhh, bless you.
Getting the problem sorted now is as good as an apology to any horse. 6 months in the grand scheme of things is nothing, many other owners miss signals for years!!
 
My friend went through the same....professional saddle fitter...then lots of issues...called in an event rider who put a bungee on the mare....she was trully knackered by the time that the owner realised it was the saddle...but she had got it checked....its so hard when you cannot trust saddle fitters.
 
(((hugs)))

I think something has probably happened to all of us that's bad us feel "**** I am a bad mum". I know I have.:o. But the main thin is that you now know, are putting it right, and that your horse will still love you !!

You didn't do anything deliberately, it's one of those things mums of horses (and kids ??) go thru. nobody is perfect, the very least of all me *lol*.

xxx
 
You don't need a kick up the bum! You're dealing with it now. You could have taken the advice of those who said to sell him and lost a perfectly good horse but you didn't. We all make mistakes and I know exactly how you feel. I went one worse and let a loan home shoe my boy so badly they damaged his collateral ligaments! Still feel horrendous about that one, even though he's getting better now!

All I'd say now is be very careful about who fits the new saddle as not all saddlers are equal! I've recently ordered an LM saddle for my boy because I like the way they get the horse to lift its back muscles before fitting (as it should when being worked correctly) plus the shims used give youan opportunity to make minor adjustments yourself when the horse changes shape. Couldn't believe how different my lad felt in one of their saddles!

So stop beating yourself up and concentrate on going forwards with your lovely genuine horse. Good luck and I hope you'll keep us up to date with your competition results! :) x
 
alex2601 said:
i feel absolutly horrible atm :( im not after sympathy i need a slap!

had my lad 6 months and since ive had him his jumping hasnt been right, he jumps very downhill and on his forehand, all the instruction ive had hasnt seemed to help, we've taken him back to basics with small fences trying to get him to jump off his hocks, hasnt helped. people have been commenting saying he scared of jumping and i should sell him etc etc generally not nice stuff so i got a bit disheatened stuck him under the competition radar and decided to sort out this issue before he competes again (he only went to 1 clear round sj!!), we were getting to the stage of not knowing what else to try and perhaps this was just the way he jumped :confused:

i emailed an advanced eventer who takes in schooling issues hoping to get a set of fresh eyes on the situation and he told me to free school him to see if its the way he jumps or tack/ rider influence..... y i didnt think of this i dont not know! - how stupid can i be???

anyway free schooled him yesterday and he jumped amazingly so we thought we would try him with his saddle on to see if its tack or rider.... well he resorted back to jumping downhill and on his forehand on landing he galloped off bronching (never done this before) brought him round again and he was bronching before he even got to the fence, jumped hurrendously and galloped off bronching again, we decided to try my sisters saddle which is exactly the same as mine but 1 size bigger...... he jumped amzingly

so answer is his saddle.

i just feel terrible because hes been wearing it for 6 months and it doesnt fit and is obviously causing him pain, when ridden under saddle he has never put a foot wrong so i completely missed any signals :( i wish he'd have dropped me or something but he hasnt even bucked..... what an honest genuine horse, if it had been me i would have buried my rider :rolleyes:

so obviously hes getting a new saddle prefessionally fitted by someone else, as the first people clearly got it wrong.

basically this is a post to apoligise to my boy so 'luke' im sorry :(
Click to expand...

Stop beating yourself up, you knew something wasnt right and set about trying to get it sorted ..... And you have, its just taken a wee bit time because hes so honest and didnt give the "pick a window youre leaving "sign that some would give, you can go about building his confidence now, might be worth getting a physio or equine bodyworker to check him out, so you start fresh with back and tack sorted
 
Oh dear, dont feel too bad. Well done for getting it sorted now.
It took 3 saddle fitters to fit my boy, the first two told me that the saddle fit and was't a problem, the third fitter took one look ( literally, it wasn't even put on my horse yet ) and said, "well, thats not going to fit" turned out it was too wide for him.
I was so angry at the previous two "fitters" and upset that I'd been riding my horse in a saddle that didnt' fit...
Horses are very forgiving though, give your boy a hug for being such a star and enjoy riding him now you know its not hurting him.
Just one thing, it can take them a little while to forget the memory of the discomfort, so even when the saddle is fitting correctly, it might take a wk or two to get the best out of him.
Kx
 
:) thanks guys, hes having his back done tomorrow so will be all set for a new saddle.... im currently searching for a saddle fitter so he can have a few days off till i find a decent one!! :)
 
Ahh dont blame yourself! Its not your fault at all, atleast you've now found the problem, now onwards and upwards with your boy :)

P.S- Im sure he'll forgive you ;)
 
Aww!

Unfortunately animals cant talk to us, therefor please dont blame yourself. Just think of it this way, you solved the problem in 6 months, it could have taken you years to find the problem - and then how bad would you have felt.

Hopefully now you can both work well together and then show us all the photos!
 
Well done for getting to the bottom of it! When I bought my last horse he had a tight back and was very sensitive, turns out his previous owner was using the same saddle for 4 horses. She just used thick poly pads under the saddle, and they were very different shapes and types! Two chiro sessions and a properly fitting saddle later and he's a different horse!
 
Yet another c**p saddler. I'm afraid that I no longer automatically trust saddlers until I have watched them fit a saddle and can clearly see that it fits the horse. The amount of suffering a bad saddler can cause to many horses is unbelievable.
 
When we got our first horse it was the same- he came with a saddle that was supposed to fit, was riding him for about 3 months and we decided to get the saddler to just check it and it was so bad it had made his back sore and we hadn't noticed. He'd never once bucked or laid his ears back or resisted in any way, he just took it. Just be thankful that you are lucky enough to have such a wonderful horse, and remember that apples solve all evils!! ;)
 
You have nothing to feel guilty about.

You never blamed him. You kept trying and trying to find out what was wrong. And now you've solved it and are sorting it! You are a great owner.

And he sounds like a lovely lad. Horses don't hold grudges anyway.

(Try sending your 9 year old to school for three days with a fractured arm INCLUDING making him do sports day, then you'll know what guilt really feels like!)
 
Well I try to keep on top of things with mine and keep an eye on tack etc on between checks. So felt a complete prat when my back person, firstly checked UNDER my saddle and not just how it sat. Nice ridge from having it ona sadde rack with nothing underneath. Then made me look at my horse head on and not sideways. One eye was clearly lower than the other. In my defence I felt he wasn't comfortable but those were two things I should not have missed,

All my saddles sit on padding now and when I look at my horse I don't just look at his pelvis and sideways.. I stand in front of him as well
 
Luci07 said:
Well I try to keep on top of things with mine and keep an eye on tack etc on between checks. So felt a complete prat when my back person, firstly checked UNDER my saddle and not just how it sat. Nice ridge from having it ona sadde rack with nothing underneath. Then made me look at my horse head on and not sideways. One eye was clearly lower than the other. In my defence I felt he wasn't comfortable but those were two things I should not have missed,

All my saddles sit on padding now and when I look at my horse I don't just look at his pelvis and sideways.. I stand in front of him as well
Click to expand...

Your comment about one eye being lower than the other is interesting. Was his poll 'out' or did it relate to his back? I often see horses tilt their heads when being schooled. I can correct it when I am riding but often wonder what causes it?
 
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