OMG- update and lots of questions and your thoughts!!!

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clairefeekerry1

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okay, some of you may have been following my ongoing random lameness/shall i pts/retire saga. well i got a refferal to a major hospital as a last chance saloon. he had previously been seen by 2 different vet practices and had all sorts of dianostics with no outcome. so..... the hospital has had him for a couple of days and to my horror have reported his saddle is a bad fit!! alot of movement and is too long. this is a new saddle that ive had fitted and checked by a master saddler!! they then x rayed his spine and found 2 vertabrate quite close to touching. the vet did say that this is not wholly unsual in alot of horses but this plus the saddle could be my problem. also, they belive he is in pain and showing classical signs of back and saddle pain!! they have also noted a small amount of inflamtion to his back where the saddle fits and they x rayed his hock after he showed a slight improvement to a nerve block in his TNT or metatarsil??? on that x ray they found very slight bony changes. so, they are going to inject his hock and spine and advised i do not even consider riding him in my current saddle and have put me in touch with a specialist saddler. my head is spinning- i'm not sure what to think, they feel that there is a chance we can get him sound and that maybe a different type of saddle may be enough.plus i'm so upset he's been in pain, poor poor sole. should i be angry at the saddlers, the original vets????? i just dont know what to think. they dont think its quite kissing spine as very very mild but might just be a combanation of things. dont know what to think!!!
 
Yes lets hope its the saddle.
Blooming disgusting a master saddler cant fit a saddle properly and has probably caused all these problems, shame you cant sue them!
 
i must add the saddler came very highly recomended to me and lots of folk round here use him, he has a very good reputation, not heard a bad word said about him. thats what makes it difficult. there is also the issue of the 'close' vertabrate which could be adding or part of the problem. we are going to go for a three pronged approach of injecting his hock, vertabrate and getting a specialst saddler out, though i suppose if that works we wont really know what action has worked. i still find it hard to accept a saddle can cause the severe and prolonged issues we have had....
 
God how awful and frustrating for you! However, I would wait until they try the treatment before you jump on the saddler just yet. I can't imagine that a master saddler could fit a saddle that would cause the problems although it may be the saddle has exasberated the physical issue. Still, a saddler you'd have thought would have been able to see if a saddle was pressing on a particular area?

Mind you, you wouldn't be the first person to have a saddler fitted badly by a 'master saddler'. It is very difficult to know who is right and whose word to take on these ssues.

I hope you get it sorted and the horse does come sound enough again.
 
ladyt25 said:
God how awful and frustrating for you! However, I would wait until they try the treatment before you jump on the saddler just yet. I can't imagine that a master saddler could fit a saddle that would cause the problems although it may be the saddle has exasberated the physical issue. Still, a saddler you'd have thought would have been able to see if a saddle was pressing on a particular area?

Mind you, you wouldn't be the first person to have a saddler fitted badly by a 'master saddler'. It is very difficult to know who is right and whose word to take on these ssues.

I hope you get it sorted and the horse does come sound enough again.
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yes thats right, it is more likely that the saddle is contributing to an issue rather than the primary cause, however, the hospital have looked at it and said it is just not right on him. they are of course keeping quiet about the saddle advice i have had but the amount of movement they measured in it was huge, really banging on his back
 
i dont trust saddlers any more would always get a second opinion, my so called master saddler fitted a saddle to my horse which was far too long, by a good 2.5 inches!!! poor horse was in agony and when i asked him to come out and see the prob he said nothing was wrong with the horse ( she tried to bite him,ears pinned back, tail swishing and stamping her feet) and that it was me that was the prob. need i say i sent him packing once i got my money back for the saddle he supplied.
 
i still find it hard to accept a saddle can cause the severe and prolonged issues we have had
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So would I had I not had a badly fitting saddle on my pony. Again a "master saddler" fitted it, I knew it was wrong but didn't have the guts to say anything. One two hour ride later and I had a pony with a very sore back. 4 lots of physio, 3 lots of chiro, remedial shoeing and a year and a half later and she's only just recovering properly and starting to use herself and gain muscle. She dropped lots of weight, was lame, wore away so much of her left hind on the outside that she needed support shoeing and totally changed her way of going, and remember this was all from ONE ride in this saddle. Turned out the fit was wrong for her body shape which in itself is bad but wouldn't have caused all those problems, the key was there was a bolt missing in the head plate and the saddler that came out to check the fit for me (2nd hand) never noticed, it was the first thing new saddler noticed.

I really really hope your boy comes right. It's going to take alot of time and he may well have memory pain. Best of luck and keep us updated.
 
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