bexandspooky
Well-Known Member
Well I have been concious for a little while now that Spooks hasn't been happy on occasions when i have saddled him.
He was very occasionally hunching when I was doing his girth up, but only seemed to do it when he was in a mood about me being a bit later then normal in the morning or if it was really windy etc. Spooks is notorious for being a bit of an actor and a drama queen, which we kept in mind when investigating. (Trust me - he is a very good actor)It is also woth noting that if you ride in the evening and he has been in the field all day he doesn't even flick an ear when you tack him up.
He had to go to the vet for another reason, so while we were there, I asked the vet about a little lump just infront of his girth area which I had noticed a few days before. The vet said it is a melanoma (
) but it doesnt look to be affecting him at all. He had a quick check of his back and got no reaction from him so we thought all clear.
I have had a very experienced friend come and look at his saddle (I know you will prob all say not a professional saddle fitter, but i respect her opinion more than the saddlers round here!!) and the only thing that we could come up with was that his girth was quite wide, and may be bothering the melanoma slightly, so we changed back from one of those shaped wintec comfort girths to a cottage craft one with a fleece sleeve. At the same time I clipped him, and we havent really had any problem since.
Well last weekend he was bouncing round like an idiot when I got to the stables and his eyes were on stalks (he takes a few weeks to chill out when work load changes going into winter even though i do it as gently as possible!) so i tacked him up, and he hunched a bit, but soon relaxed when he had something else to goggle at, So i decided to hop on and see how he felt. He had a little moment when i got on - more about not wanting to stand still but once moving was walking out freely, striding out happily.
During the week I spoke to a McTimmoney practitioner about coming to check him over and see what she can find.
This morning I decided to tack him up and see what happens, and as soon as i reached under him to get the girth, he hunched up, so I let it drop again, double check that nothing is amiss with saddle and leave him for a few mins and he relaxes (doesn't bat an eye when I put saddle on his back) so reach under again and he is already tensing up, so I bucked girth on loosest hole, so it is barely touching his skin and he stays hunched (by hunching, imagine he is lifing his belly to avoid being prodded from below or something), and gradually let himself relax - and every time i put my hand near or in his girth, he hunched right up again, so I took saddle off, and felt under him, and he was hunching up when I put my hands where the girth sits under him.
(sorry - I am going on a bit now!!)
The only things that I can think are that
a) the melanoma is bothering him and needs to be removed
b) he has a rib out of line or something like that which the McTimmoney lady can hopefully fix when she comes out
c) (and this may be a bit of a random one!) he seems to have had a sudden sprout of hair growth and has a change in hair direction around his girth area, which when sweaty seems to form a bit of a whorl - last year when he wasn't clipped til late, he used to get a clump in the hair (his coat is like a yak in the winter), so i gave him a small clip and found him to have a sore there (imagine how bad I felt when i found that!) I cannot find anything and have been checking very carefully, but as his hair is growing out a little - this may be worrying him.
So - my fingers have worn out now although I am sure I have missed out many important facts - so please ask! (I e-mailed back lady to see if there is any chance she could bring the appointment forward)
So.....What do you think?!?!
He was very occasionally hunching when I was doing his girth up, but only seemed to do it when he was in a mood about me being a bit later then normal in the morning or if it was really windy etc. Spooks is notorious for being a bit of an actor and a drama queen, which we kept in mind when investigating. (Trust me - he is a very good actor)It is also woth noting that if you ride in the evening and he has been in the field all day he doesn't even flick an ear when you tack him up.
He had to go to the vet for another reason, so while we were there, I asked the vet about a little lump just infront of his girth area which I had noticed a few days before. The vet said it is a melanoma (
I have had a very experienced friend come and look at his saddle (I know you will prob all say not a professional saddle fitter, but i respect her opinion more than the saddlers round here!!) and the only thing that we could come up with was that his girth was quite wide, and may be bothering the melanoma slightly, so we changed back from one of those shaped wintec comfort girths to a cottage craft one with a fleece sleeve. At the same time I clipped him, and we havent really had any problem since.
Well last weekend he was bouncing round like an idiot when I got to the stables and his eyes were on stalks (he takes a few weeks to chill out when work load changes going into winter even though i do it as gently as possible!) so i tacked him up, and he hunched a bit, but soon relaxed when he had something else to goggle at, So i decided to hop on and see how he felt. He had a little moment when i got on - more about not wanting to stand still but once moving was walking out freely, striding out happily.
During the week I spoke to a McTimmoney practitioner about coming to check him over and see what she can find.
This morning I decided to tack him up and see what happens, and as soon as i reached under him to get the girth, he hunched up, so I let it drop again, double check that nothing is amiss with saddle and leave him for a few mins and he relaxes (doesn't bat an eye when I put saddle on his back) so reach under again and he is already tensing up, so I bucked girth on loosest hole, so it is barely touching his skin and he stays hunched (by hunching, imagine he is lifing his belly to avoid being prodded from below or something), and gradually let himself relax - and every time i put my hand near or in his girth, he hunched right up again, so I took saddle off, and felt under him, and he was hunching up when I put my hands where the girth sits under him.
(sorry - I am going on a bit now!!)
The only things that I can think are that
a) the melanoma is bothering him and needs to be removed
b) he has a rib out of line or something like that which the McTimmoney lady can hopefully fix when she comes out
c) (and this may be a bit of a random one!) he seems to have had a sudden sprout of hair growth and has a change in hair direction around his girth area, which when sweaty seems to form a bit of a whorl - last year when he wasn't clipped til late, he used to get a clump in the hair (his coat is like a yak in the winter), so i gave him a small clip and found him to have a sore there (imagine how bad I felt when i found that!) I cannot find anything and have been checking very carefully, but as his hair is growing out a little - this may be worrying him.
So - my fingers have worn out now although I am sure I have missed out many important facts - so please ask! (I e-mailed back lady to see if there is any chance she could bring the appointment forward)
So.....What do you think?!?!
