Little hard pea like bumps under saddle area.

poiuytrewq

poiuytrewq

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My mare has several little hard lumps under her saddle area. She came with some and a lot of dried sweat so put it down to not having been washed off particularly well.
They continued and I figured bites (Summer) so made sure she was covered both in and out.
Still had them. Showed vet, saddle fitter and chiro, all thought bites.

No though there are no bugs, she is very covered all the time. She is washed off If sweaty.
Saddle was checked recently.
Makes no difference how often she is ridden, she has been off quite a bit the past few weeks and they are unchanged
They don’t itch or scab or anything. Any idea what they are?
Only ever gets them saddle are and usually only off side.
I am going to ask my vet to have another proper look now I’m sure they are not fly bites
They don’t show up on a photo but are obvious on running a hand across her back.
 
My mare had these when she had a badly fitting saddle, which was sliding to the right. The saddle had been checked several times, but it was bridging her back, and she was trying to duck from under it if that makes sense, pushing it to the side. I changed saddler and saddle, and the lumps went almost straight away and have never returned. From what the vet and I could work out, the saddle was making little circular movements which either sort of trapped the dirt etc., or just made the area under the skin buckle up. It's hard to explain, but you can probably work out what I mean.
 
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I had one who had these. They were only under the saddle, he had uneven muscle development on his shoulders so may have been something to do with this, that there was more pressure on one side than the other. It did help putting a clean numnah on every time he was ridden and they went down if he had a few days off.
 
I’ll try using a clean pad every day. I don’t currently do that.
I really hope it’s not saddle, she came with some so from whatever she was ridden in then. First I had a cheap synthetic adjusted and flocked for her by one saddler and more recently she had her proper long term
Saddle flocked and adjusted by another saddle fitter (same company but different fitters)
We have had the issue with both.

Might also try a prolite and see if that makes any difference.
 
\Mine had several skin conditions when he was young including terrible ringworm. And one of those was something like you describe. Lots of little spots that didn't do anything or contain pus. Didn't seem to hurt or affect him in any way and they eventually disappeared never to return.

I always used a real sheepskin saddle pad, nothing synthetic and the saddle was flocked with soft wool.
 
I did once and only once try a sheepskin pad :oops: I'm not sure If I'd be brave enough to have another go at it. She was not a fan. We use a poly pad, I guess that gives a feel that she would be used to from her racing days.

I've looked at things like a VIP pad- Any opinions on them? They are ££ but sound pretty good.
I'd be happier if the bumps were evenly both sides, I prefer symmetry!
 
Ok, I think that's number one then. It's actually worsesned I think since she has been worked less, we have had a few really quiet weeks for one reason or another so have usesd the same pad for a few rides as its not been sweaty or obviously manky. However with a bit of time off also came slightly grubbier skin/coat as she wasnt being washed daily so perhaps this is my issue 🤞 🤞
 
Just to add to my previous post, I only ever use a pad once or twice before washing it. It definitely was the saddle in my case. Whatever it is with your mare, I would think it is definitely the saddle/pad set up, and I would tend towards the saddle if it is only on one side. I do use a VIP pad. But as my (new!) saddler points out, it is for extra comfort and not to compensate for a saddle issue. Hope you manage to get to the bottom of it.
 
irishdraft said:
It could be collagen granulomas, my mare has several that erupted under the saddle which got irritated/ ulcerated especially when she got hot , I changed to wool / sheepskin numnahs and thankfully they have all settled down.
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same.

a sheepskin half pad next to the skin stopped them getting rubbed/irritated
 
is she turned out with another horse? my gelding has these about 5 years ago when he was turned out with a really itchy cob! I had a skin scrap done by the vet and nothing came back! but I've not really thought any more of it! but he's not had them since that pony moved to a new field!

also make sure she's not too hot under her rugs?
 
The hooligan got these last year and they were little collagen lumps. I hadn't been washing him off after riding because it was cold & he wasn't that sweaty.

Clean numnah every time and a warm water wash. Vet suggested hibiscrub but I used plain water.
 
Some very well fitting saddles can get them underneath and I'm not sure they're really fully understood, still. I would not personally use a foam pad in these cases, keeping the skin cool and dry is going to be important. I have access to a highly rated synthetic fleece (ie like Nuumed wool sort of texture) which would be interesting to try on a sheepskin-averse horse to see how well it performed.

Hopefully one day soon it'll be more definitive but right now it's another of those downsides of sitting on an animal that is ill designed for it and it's not always solvable.
 
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My horse got these at one point, I think he came with a few and then had some that came and went. Never seemed sore or like they bothered him. At the point I thought hmmm and started researching what they might be they just disappeared on their own. It was around the time I switched to using equitex pads which might be a coincidence or maybe the new pads are better at wicking away moisture, or maybe they were a pressure thing 🤷🏼‍♀️ both his saddles were bought brand new and fitted to him and checked every 6 months though and he has physio every 3 months who never finds any soreness in his back. I’d rule out sweat/dirt first…I’ll be honest and admit I’m not as fastidious as I should be about washing saddle cloths 😳
 
Faran gets these if I don’t adequately remove sweat from him. Kia got them as well. It was like blocked pores. Some you can express like a spot but it’s not squishy. The inside just pops out like a little stone.
 
nikicb said:
Just to add to my previous post, I only ever use a pad once or twice before washing it. It definitely was the saddle in my case. Whatever it is with your mare, I would think it is definitely the saddle/pad set up, and I would tend towards the saddle if it is only on one side. I do use a VIP pad. But as my (new!) saddler points out, it is for extra comfort and not to compensate for a saddle issue. Hope you manage to get to the bottom of it.
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3 different saddles though? The last two fitted by two different fitters?
 
poiuytrewq said:
3 different saddles though? The last two fitted by two different fitters?
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Exactly. There IS the argument that how the horse moves may well have stayed the same (and I always argue the absolute hardest horses to fit always have postural compromise, the extreme version of the same thing, where it's not surprising saddles don't work) but this is why it's still not completely settled as to how/why/when these things do happen and why/when they don't happen...
 
Mine had these but i started using a Protechmasta saddlecloth and they've since disapeased and never returned. Not sure if coincidence or good numnahs, but I don't use anything else now x
 
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