Numnah sweat pattern

[hock]

Im just wondering what people think about this sweat pattern. Like genuinely not politely if you follow me! And how difficult is it to attach photos into this group?

 

[Roxylola]

Looks like your saddle is bridging to me - hardly any sweat along the panels makes me think they're sitting off the horses back a bit and causing pressure points. On a positive it looks very symmetrical

 

[hock]

My concern is bridging too. It’s an old photo and it would have had a vip pad as well but bridging was my main concern.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Yeah bridging

 

[Fieldlife]

My concern is bridging too. It’s an old photo and it would have had a vip pad as well but bridging was my main concern.

Agree bridging. Was the VIP full length of saddle cloth? Or possibly short and going some way to explain pattern?

I think good sweat marks should run whole length of back.

 

[Red-1]

I don't think this is necessarily a bad sweat pattern. Sometimes the pressured areas are the ones with no sweat. I suspect here is one of those times.

If you are saying that the sweat is where there is pressure, that would make me wonder what was pressing on the top right, and also why the rider had 2 legs on each side! ?

If you look, you can see where the rider's leg was, where it was dry. If the dry areas are the pressured areas, then there is a fair spread of pressure, fairly even both sides.

Obviously, where there was no pressure at all, that is also dry, as the horse wouldn't be touching the cloth, or be barely touching.

 

[sbloom]

Looks like your saddle is bridging to me - hardly any sweat along the panels makes me think they're sitting off the horses back a bit and causing pressure points. On a positive it looks very symmetrical

Agree bridging. Was the VIP full length of saddle cloth? Or possibly short and going some way to explain pattern?

I think good sweat marks should run whole length of back.

No, definitely not bridging. The lack of sweat almost anywhere under the saddle does concern me slightly, you'd normally see a fair bit of sweat under the rear of the saddle, but the pressure under the front can be enough to occlude sweat glands. Here it looks like the overall load, and especially to the rear of the saddle, may be preventing sweating.

I don't think this is necessarily a bad sweat pattern. Sometimes the pressured areas are the ones with no sweat. I suspect here is one of those times.

Exactly, and this is usually the case, though everyone thinks it's bridging. Sweat patterns are not a great way to assess fit.

In this case I would say that the rider has more contact with the right leg, the saddle could be slipping to the left (look closely, count squares, the patterns definitely aren't straight on the pad) or the pad may not have been put on straight. That's about all I'd want to say categorically, there is no short cut to evaluating saddle fit, no matter what people say.

And as an addition the dirty areas are areas of movement, a slight lack of contact allowing the two surfaces to move against each other - the opposite of bridging. You would usually expect to see this around the edges, though I'd expect them to come a little more under the rear of the saddle. There is a big dirt patch under the flaps/rider's knees which might indicate an issue with the horse's shoulders and the saddle/rider's legs, but again it's hard to say.

 

[MuddyMonster]

No, definitely not bridging. The lack of sweat almost anywhere under the saddle does concern me slightly, you'd normally see a fair bit of sweat under the rear of the saddle, but the pressure under the front can be enough to occlude sweat glands. Here it looks like the overall load, and especially to the rear of the saddle, may be preventing sweating.



Exactly, and this is usually the case, though everyone thinks it's bridging. Sweat patterns are not a great way to assess fit.

In this case I would say that the rider has more contact with the right leg, the saddle could be slipping to the left or the pad may not have been put on straight. That's about all I'd want to say categorically, there is no short cut to evaluating saddle fit, no matter what people say.

And as an addition the dirty areas are areas of movement, a slight lack of contact allowing the two surfaces to move against each other - the opposite of bridging. You would usually expect to see this around the edges, though I'd expect them to come a little more under the rear of the saddle. There is a big dirt patch under the flaps/rider's knees which might indicate an issue with the horse's shoulders and the saddle/rider's legs, but again it's hard to say.

I'm in awe you have been able to take so much from a sweaty saddle cloth!

 

[sbloom]

I'm in awe you have been able to take so much from a sweaty saddle cloth!

I'm sure you have things you're good at after 14 years in the job

 

[hock]

Totally fascinating the replies, thank you everyone for taking the time to reply.

So saddle has been upgraded and the vip pad was just I believe too short - it’s an 18” but I was forever fussing with it’s it never felt long enough. The horse has had atrophy on his right shoulder. I am also overweight and although I have a very good back person who has never found any issues (he’s 17 I’ve had him since he was 2 never any lameness issues just the start of arthritis in his right hock interestingly - not ready for injections we’ve put him on a supplement 12 months ago - he’s a 17hh shire x hano) I am of course fastidious in having him checked regularly as I’m paranoid about him carrying the weight. So the pressure causing the bone sweating could easily be me. I also agree the pad wasn’t on straight and it makes my teeth itch looking at it. I also agree that a photo of sweat marks isn’t a great way of saddle fitting but the comments and discussion is very interesting. Please excuse the colour of the numnah btw we get through a lot of them so I pick up bargains when I find them although the colour has grown on me ?.

 

[sbloom]

The VIP pad being short would make sense, and yes, you do have high pressure under the saddle in all likelihood (heavier rider in smaller than ideal seat) but it's good he's not shown any direct issues. I'm really hot on compensatory movement patterns, so the shoulder and hock are likely related and will affect the saddle fit, and you.

It does show that saddles don't always fall into atrophy, often they don't drop down, they roll in towards the spine, hence drifting left. This can also mean that your right leg comes up and is gripping more than your left, trying to hang on, and the ribcage likely pushes out more into your leg on the right, hence he extra sweat (bone sweating? Just checking that's a typo )

Definitely not bridging, but the pad is an issue IMO.

 

[J&S]

When we were doing long distance my friend and i used to compare sweat patterns afterwards. Very interesting and educational.