Muscle wastage under saddle on one side

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CazD

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My welsh cob is 18. I've had her 14 years and she always been in fairly light work. I've noticed a sort of dip, like muscle wastage, on one side of her back only. Its towards the back of where the saddle sits. What would cause this and is there anything I can/should be doing?
 
I would firstly get her back thoroughly checked out and let whoever you get check the fit of the saddle.

Whatever the cause, you may need to either have your saddle fitted with a tempory corrective numnah, reflocked or replaced.
 
Don't neglect your own posture either! Make sure you get someone to check you are sitting correctly. When you get your horses back checked out, perhaps try and find someone that checks humans too :)

Trina x
 
My horse has slight muscle wastage on both sides of his back, both saddle and back (and my position) have been checked out, he is also slightly croup high with a big shoulder which seems to make his dip seem more defined. He is part Welsh D and looking at many of that breed they seem to have slightly more defined hollows than most other breeds. I stand corrected if I have stereotyped the Section Ds I apologise
 
We have a horse who had fairly bad muscle wastage behind his withers on both sides of his spine as the result of a badly fitted saddle. The next year when the hairs on this area grew through they were white from the damage caused confirming our thoughts. We had him fitted for a new saddle which has made a huge difference to his way of going and the muscle along his back.
So I would definately recommend checking the saddle.
 
Thanks for the replies. I've had the saddle checked and whilst the saddle fitter thought the saddle may be a little wide, his only recommendation was a thicker numnah, not a complete change of saddle. he also commented that the saddle would not have caused the muscle wastage. My main concern is that the dip is on one side only, not both sides of her back. I forgot to mention previously that she has a small, flat lump on the same side of her back, just above where the muscle wastage has appeared. The lump is about the size of a 50p, round and flat. It appeared about 2 years ago. The vet looked at it when he did the annual vaccinations but wasnt concerned. It doesnt seem to hurt and has never changed size since it appeared. Could it have any connection with the dipped area? Should I be calling my vet or a physio as my next port of call.
 
Vet as first port of call always. Physios/therapists of any type need vets permission before they can treat any animal.
 
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