Has your horse got white patches on his/her back or withers?

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PapaFrita

PapaFrita

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I noticed the other day that PF, who has never had a saddle sore in her life, has a white patch on her withers. For a while I was baffled as even if her saddle pressed on the top of her withers, which is doesn't, the white patch is too far forward. Then it occured to me that her rug must've rubbed her there although I've never noticed any rubbing/soreness.
And THEN I realised that every horse on the yard has got white patches on various positions on their backs and wondered how common this was. None of my ex-racers had white patches, but then again they were all very young when they came to me, so am now wondering whether these are inevitable (although logic would suggest not)

so...
 
Chex is 24, and he definately doesn't have white patches on his back. Not sure about his withers because he's already white there! I imagine he would where his rug rubs the top of his withers, as I have a problem with rubbing rugs there.
 
Baron had white on withers, but think it was more from badly fitting driving tack than a saddle.

Saying that though, the saddle he had didn't fit him all that well either. Tried telling owner he wasn't happy but they weren't interested
 
my horse is nearly 21 and he has several white patches. he has some on his withers which look like they came from a numnah that wasn't pulled up into the gullet. he also has a line under his belly from a girth and some behind his ears and his nose where a bridle or tight headcollar would have sat. i only got him age 15 and i know he had them when his old owner got him at 8, so who put what on him to do that beforehand i dont know.
 
I have no idea if the two in work I own have white patches anywhere as they are greys! LOL

Have seen lots of horses with them though. Alot of owners think nothing of it, I'd be worried about tack/rugs/numnahs etc if it was me.
 
My horse has a few white hairs in him mane over his withers which i would assume come from a rug at some point, he is 12. Nothing else though a few yearsb ago i noticed some white hairs appearing under the saddle (which had been professionally fitted) , stopped using this saddle straight away and used a wider one with a prolite pad, the hairs moulted out and grew back bay! i fit my own saddles now!
 
My mare came up with a white band across her withers from a rug yet no sores ever appeared. stopped using rug and they eventually grew out back to the dark bay.
She also has some saddle patches that were there before I owned her. they have all ways stayed. there is even one on the girth line!
 
She is 11, and no patches at all.
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The horses I have here range in age from 6 months old through to the old one who is 21 years old. None of them have white patches on their withers. Sorry I don't have any theories about it.
 
Holz is grey and 14 but there are no marks or scars around that area, and its all fine to be touched, she is extra sensitive about scarred areas being touched though
 
Bomber has white patches over his withers and where the back of the saddle would be - the saddle fitter said that at some time he has probably been ridden in a saddle with a broken tree.
 
My 18 Arab does... I know one is from a bad saddle rub he got whilst competing in France a few years ago. None are recent
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Weirdly one of my dogs broke his leg earlier in the year. He had external pins drilled through his skin and bone to hold the break in place. After the pins were removed and the holes healed up the fur over where the holes were grew back black. His normal hair colour on his legs is white.
 
Monty is grey so you can't really see whether he has white patched or not but he has a small bold patch on his shoulder (which he had when we got him) which is probably an old rug rub, he is now 27 years old. Pug doesn't have any white patches and he is only 7.
 
Tilly is only 2 1/2 but has some strange roaning (despite having no grey parents/grandparents but 1 grey g.grandparent) on her quarters. Very odd but it makes her unique and helps me convince people that she is just an overgrown pony! She also has about 3 grey hairs in her mane but Im pretty sure its a rug rub last winter.
 
The mare I used to have on loan had a white band around her girth from where she had once been raced in poorly fitting harness. She had a tendency to show white patches anyway and had specks on her face and ears.There is definately a name for it. I think people can get it too.
 
That's it! Thank you - I would have been trying to remember that word all day. I knew it when I had her but then it slipped out of my vocab when she went, funnily enough
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not a word I use everyday. I have a scar from a shallow skin graze I did months ago and it is still livid white! looks like a shark attack! Perhaps I have a touch? It certainly baffled me - I have always healed well. Or perhaps I am simply more tanned this year? More likely.
 
Dan doesn't have any white patches on him - a few single grey hairs at random intervals in his mane but I think it's from the stress of having me as an owner!
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Taffi is grey (well white when he's clean, a muddy brown the rest of the time!) and as far as I know he has no white patches - he didn't when I got him as a dappled grey and seeing as he has a made to measure saddle hopefully I wont have given him any *crosses fingers*

I have to say if I can I really try and avoid white hairs on their withers/back etc. I know they can be useful if you know exactly what they look like and you ever have to identify your horse, but if they are there because of a rubbing saddle (I know there can be other reasons) I think I'd feel like a fundamentally rubbish horse owner for not noticing the saddle not fitting sooner
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I felt bad enough when Dan got fitter and went narrower and I knew something wasn't quite right but it wasn't until I went to get on and the saddle was underneath him that I knew
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I suppose you live and learn though; it's taught me to check these things at regular intervals
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Hänsel the 3.5yr old doesn't have any white oatches because he has never worn a rug and I've only just backed him. Bailey the 9yr old doesn't have any either.

Our other 3 horses who are all ages over 15 each have at least 2 white patches presumably from wrugs pressing on their withers which is why I only ever use rugs with half or full necks.
 
My 5yo tb has two, they are one after the other on the point of his withers. When I went to try him the saddle they had on him was an awful fit (he is incredibly narrow and with high withers) and I believed that caused it. I know the trainer who had him wehn he raced and none of the horses of his I have tacked up have had it so i dont think it has been from there.
 
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