Help - horse suddenly not going forward, back or WOW saddle??

[Orchidia]

I've owned my horse for 6 years and he's never put a foot wrong, we've successfully gone up the levels BE and BSJA with no problems at all. However problems started about March last year. He'd been off on his annual winter break and when I started bringing him back into work I realised he'd changed shape to the point that his saddle didn't fit at all (very low on the withers). So I went to a local saddler who said it could never have been a good fit in the first place, he's very short coupled and a 17" is basically too long for him. I had had the saddle professionally fitted when I first got him and had had it checked by the same saddler since, so to be told by this new saddler that it was totally wrong was rather a shock! Anyway, we decided a WOW saddle was the way forward so he could have 16" panels that he needed and I could have the 17" seat I needed.

To cut a long story short - he's had 3 cases of a trapped nerve in his back since using this WOW which I've had sorted, however he'd never had back problems before that (except for being coldbacked when I first got him as a newly backed 5yo which he grew out of). During the summer and autumn of last year when I really got him out competing - he slowly got more and more tense in his canter to the point of small bucks (not like him at all), yet when he got in the ring he jumped and did XC as normal.

I figured I'd turn him away over this winter as usual, hoping it would help however I've recently brought him back into work just riding gently at weekends and its gone very pear-shaped. The last 3 times I've ridden him (including today), as soon as I've got on he'd been tense so I walk about for a bit and after a few minutes of tense-ness he then grinds to a halt and refuses to go forward or turn! His tail thrashes and he stands very tensely. If I ask him to move he just moves about a bit and if pushed, he begins small rears. His ears are forward, and it makes no difference as to where we are in the field or anything like that. He's not a badly behaved horse, in fact he's such a sweetie and has not a bad bone in his body! So this isnt napping or just naughtiness.

My gut feeling is that his back is sore, but I know when he has a trapped nerve and this isnt it. But I'm also wondering if the WOW is causing his back issues? Has anyone ever had a horse who's suddenly begun doing this, or had problems with a WOW?? He's a very sensitive horse so I dont want to push this and make it into an issue, so I don't intend to ride again until this is sorted. I plan to get a back person ASAP, but I dont know where to begin with replacing the WOW if I have to given that he is hell to fit! I just can't figure out what it might be!! Any ideas would be very gratefully recieved Gutted that my wonderful horse might be ruined and may never be the same again

 

[Daytona]

ive heard lots of bad things about wow, and basically what it boils down to is how good the fitter is who fits it, i heard if you get the guy who designed them they can be good.

I wanted to get one a while back but was warned well away from them...! Its a fine line i think to them fitting well problem free to being a absoulte nightmare..

Id try to take it back and get a "normal" saddle. - black country are very good.

 

[ScarlettLady]

whats he like on the lunge untacked? or would you try bareback? Might not give you any answers but maybe worth a try

 

[mrussell]

Can you borrow a few saddles from a saddler and see if the problem is eased by a change of saddle ? Thats what we did. We had a WOW saddle that was fineto start with but as the horse got fitter he started to leave his legs hanging over fences as he couldnt open his shoulders. We had our trainer bring out her Prestige and Butet saddles to try on him and he was like a new horse.

We couldnt stretch to a butet but found a 2nd hand Prestige (hes a full TB with a short back) and he is so much happier in it.

Good luck !

 

[Orchidia]

speighty79 - God, that's worrying with regard to WOW fitting. The person who fitted it is quite a new fitter I believe. I'd heard such good things about WOW's, hence deciding on one. My main issue is that I can't get just a "normal" saddle because of the fact he needs a 16" panel, I need a 17"! Unless I stick a pony (ie 16") saddle on him, which won't fit me but temporarily I could see if he was happier in it?

becca_norrey - On the lunge untacked, last year he did start bucking nown and again in canter on the lunge - which again looking back, is a bit strange as he never used to. I plan to lunge him next weekend to see how he goes (cant do it during week as its dark when I get home from work). Not a massive fan of riding bareback as he's very slim with high withers - not exactly comfy! Worries me a bit in case he starts acting up with me bareback (ie. no support if he begins faffing badly and spinning about), but hell worth a go I guess?

mrussell - That's a good idea. I'll look into some local saddlers - we don't have many about which is a big problem! All the saddlers I can think of are agents for one particular make (ie. WOW, Sue Carson etc.) which isn't much good! I dont care about the make, I just want one to fit and him to be happy in.

 

[Wagtail]

I've owned my horse for 6 years and he's never put a foot wrong, we've successfully gone up the levels BE and BSJA with no problems at all. However problems started about March last year. He'd been off on his annual winter break and when I started bringing him back into work I realised he'd changed shape to the point that his saddle didn't fit at all (very low on the withers). So I went to a local saddler who said it could never have been a good fit in the first place, he's very short coupled and a 17" is basically too long for him. I had had the saddle professionally fitted when I first got him and had had it checked by the same saddler since, so to be told by this new saddler that it was totally wrong was rather a shock! Anyway, we decided a WOW saddle was the way forward so he could have 16" panels that he needed and I could have the 17" seat I needed.

To cut a long story short - he's had 3 cases of a trapped nerve in his back since using this WOW which I've had sorted, however he'd never had back problems before that (except for being coldbacked when I first got him as a newly backed 5yo which he grew out of). During the summer and autumn of last year when I really got him out competing - he slowly got more and more tense in his canter to the point of small bucks (not like him at all), yet when he got in the ring he jumped and did XC as normal.

I figured I'd turn him away over this winter as usual, hoping it would help however I've recently brought him back into work just riding gently at weekends and its gone very pear-shaped. The last 3 times I've ridden him (including today), as soon as I've got on he'd been tense so I walk about for a bit and after a few minutes of tense-ness he then grinds to a halt and refuses to go forward or turn! His tail thrashes and he stands very tensely. If I ask him to move he just moves about a bit and if pushed, he begins small rears. His ears are forward, and it makes no difference as to where we are in the field or anything like that. He's not a badly behaved horse, in fact he's such a sweetie and has not a bad bone in his body! So this isnt napping or just naughtiness.

My gut feeling is that his back is sore, but I know when he has a trapped nerve and this isnt it. But I'm also wondering if the WOW is causing his back issues? Has anyone ever had a horse who's suddenly begun doing this, or had problems with a WOW?? He's a very sensitive horse so I dont want to push this and make it into an issue, so I don't intend to ride again until this is sorted. I plan to get a back person ASAP, but I dont know where to begin with replacing the WOW if I have to given that he is hell to fit! I just can't figure out what it might be!! Any ideas would be very gratefully recieved Gutted that my wonderful horse might be ruined and may never be the same again

Have you had his hocks checked? A horse at my yard is just like this and they found very small bone spavins. Injecting the hocks cured her temporarily but only for a few months and the symptoms are back. There is no lamenes, even after flexion but she just refuses to go forward ridden. Hock problems can also cause back pain and if both hocks are affected, lameness is often not detectable.

 

[hellywelly1]

just a thought but have you considered ks? my mare was like this and turned out to be ks. was tight in her back but only found out through x rays. she too bucked and reacted badly on lunge. of course id get my saddle checked but might be worth getting vet to check of ks.
do the horse tense when girthed or brushed?
i could be totally wrong but id swap the back person app for a vet app as loosing muscle in the winter off can lead to ks.

i dont mean to worry you and hope im wrong however just my thoughts

hope you sort it

 

[Orangehorse]

Could you try riding on a blanket to give you more grip? You would need a breast plate to stop the sursingle slipping back, but it might tell you if it is the saddle or not - but it does seem to point in that direction.

 

[dressagecrazy]

I'm not going to go into all the details on a Public forum but yes I had horrendous problems with a Wow saddle.
I had my saddle for 4 years & suffered problems from the start but it did culminate in damage to my horse, I had a good fitter & wow out to fit it also.

I personally would get your horse checked out then in a couple of weeks time try a different saddle. This is what I did & my horse went like a dream, I've still got the wow as I haven't got round to selling it but I'll never use it again.

 

[FanyDuChamp]

We tried a WOW with Cappy when he was being re-broken. It was awful, heavy and he found it very uncomfortable, hurt his back. Never would use one again. Changed to a Wintec Cair and have never had a moments problem with his back since.
FDC

 

[dozzie]

I agree it does depend on the fitter. I have a good fitter. Have you had the wow checked recently? If not then that would be my first action.

However there could easily be other problems too. Could be hock spavins, Sacroiliac injury, hind suspensories, Kissing spines...to name a few things. Things a saddle wont be able to put right. Any of these can cause the behaviour your horse is showing. Plus I am sure many other things too. So a chat with your vet may be the way to go too.

Apologies if you already knew this and have had these things investigated.

I have never had problems with my wow but did have problems with bates and albions. Just shows all horses are different!

 

[Hollyberry]

I had a dreadful experience with WOW. Fitter was an absolute con merchant and ruined my horse's back, she died eventually as it started a catalogue of problems for her. I tried to take it up with WOW and they were horrendous, didn't want to know, even though I had quite a few people willing to testify that this fitter (Dorset based) had ruined quite a few horses backs. Wouldn't touch with a bargepole. I lost a beautiful 7 year old ID mare and I will never forgive myself for letting this cretin near her.

 

[Tinypony]

Well, before you start worrying about kissing spine etc, I think the advice to get her checked over and try a different saddle is a good idea. I too have heard very mixed things about WOW saddles. One of my friends swears by hers, but another friend had her horse off work after a newly fitted WOW caused her mare horrible back problems.

 

[unicornleather]

Good advice from tiny pony

 

[Tiffany]

Might not be the WOW but after my experience with a WOW saddle I wouldn't have another one given me.

Sounds like you think it could be saddle so I'd get rid - they don't suit all horses, seem to need more checking than conventional saddles, First Thought customer service was questionable and I had trouble finding a good fitter in my area.

Having said that, there must be happy customers out there or they wouldn't still be in business - although I've yet to find one.

 

[dozzie]

The saddle is just one of many things it could be.

The op could spend £2k+ on a prestige saddle and be no further forward.

If she can borrow a saddle then fine. That would make sense, but she should not dismiss other possibilities.

 

[Piglet]

Thanks guys for the info on the wow saddle, I was thinking of getting a wow saddle but I think I will settle with my tree free panel saddle. Have you looked on the Enlightened Equitation Web site. There are so many options, I ride, show, jump and do dressage in mine.

 

[Rocky01]

I have a horse with a similar problem in that he is short where the saddle lies and I need a 17". However, what I found with my boy is very often horses throw out the rule book . He is in a 17" (well technically it's between 17"-171/2") kieffer and loves it. I too have heard about issues with wow saddles and certainly my boy did not like it when we tried one.

I use Jo Beavis from the national saddle centre as a saddler (though all the people there are really good) and would highly recommend her.

Personally I would get a good back person to come out and look at the horse (maybe ask for recommendations on here for one), don't ride just lunge then get Jo or one of the others out. It's what I did and have never looked back.

Please feel free to Pm me if you want and good luck.

(p.s. Maybe get his teeth looked at as well)

 

[MrsMozart]

Back person - chiro/physio/McTimmony - whichever you have should be able to give you at least a rough idea as to what is going on.

Vet - to work in conjunction with your back person.

Saddler - I'd strongly recommend Laura at Bridlepath International.



Saddle. Sell it. Or use it as a dust gatherer

 

[BeckyBoodle]

Where are you based? Can you get the main WoW fitter out?

I have a WOW saddle and so far am really pleased. Similar to you, I have a close coupled horse and needed a slightly larger seat size. Also, my horse is a youngster, and within the first six weeks of working her, her back built up so much that I needed a wider head plate - I wasn't even doing an awful lot of work with herr. Backs can change shape sooo quickly, depending on the work they are doing, whether they are loosing or gaining weight.

I know not everyone gets on with them, but I might try a different fitter before discarding the whole saddle.

Hope you get everything sorted - it is so worrying and frustrating when you know something is wrong but not what.

B