Rebuilding uneven muscle wastage / wither hollows?

metalmare

metalmare

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Hi,

Following back treatment my horse has atrophied muscles behind the wither. The right side is more 'scooped' than the left. I've been doing carrot stretches, lungeing when the ground permits, plenty of hacking and schooling occasionally (again when the ground permits). I can't see much improvement after a couple of months.

Is there anything else I can try or am I just being impatient? He is 13 years old.

If, after a period of time, he seems to be unable to develop the muscle evenly should I consider simply having the saddle altered to accommodate his shape, given the fact that he isn't a spring chicken and is only used for hacking?

Thanks!
 
I had a new saddle fitted after the back treatment and the saddler said it is the correct width for my horse's shape but it was sitting a little low at the pommel, which she said wasn't an issue as it wasn't rubbing (although I felt it put the seat out of balance). She said that as he filled out (he was slim coming out of winter) the saddle would sit an inch higher. I've been using a prolite wither pad just as back up, which has raised the pommel sufficiently to balance the seat and I thought would be forgiving in the wither area and fill the hollow so I feel less lop-sided riding. If he doesn't bulk up though I'm thinking of asking for some inserts in the saddle. It certainly isn't pressing into the wither area - dismounted, I can slide my hand under.
 
Well that sounds all okay and correct :) how long have you been trying to improve muscles? My horse had severe damage and took 6 months to notice a difference but is now completely filled out and equal a year and a bit later. Is he working correctly? Long, low, stretching over back and good movement from the withers to poll through neck? Not tight in shoulders? Moving freely?
 
I think it was about the end of Feb that he finished his treatment, so it's only been a couple of months. He works as well as I can persuade him, being quite upright in the shoulder and with quite a high set, short neck - not long and low in the conventional sense, but he has an active free walk, tracks up on a light rein with an uninterfered with head carriage and increasingly relaxes his head down. This is on a good day. On a bad day he is like a coiled spring, but the good days outweigh the bad. He is a typical, anxious welsh cob.

On the lunge he works in quite a natural, relaxed outline, once he has settled. I currently use no gadgets, but I'm considering an equi-ami.
 
You should be able to improve the muscle with a well fitted saddle and appropriate exercise. However, if the atrophy is due to poorly fitting tack previously, over a number of years then much of the damage may be irreparable.
 
Give it time, plenty of time. My boys has only just completely filled out after an old saddle damaged it. He is a new forest so similar sort of build and sort of action. Also I'd try a gadget when lungeing - pet hate is seeing horses just go round without anything to aid/guide them and doesn't really achieve anything.
 
The general consensus, from the back lady and the saddler, is that it is likely to have been caused by the previous (rather large for a 14hh pony) rider possibly riding crooked for the three years that she owned him. Be therefore ended up with an s shaped spine to compensate.

His spine has now been straightened and I'm hoping that with his new saddle and myself being a lightweight rider, that his back, at worst, won't deteriorate further and, at best, will rebuild.
 
rachaelstar said:
Give it time, plenty of time. My boys has only just completely filled out after an old saddle damaged it. He is a new forest so similar sort of build and sort of action. Also I'd try a gadget when lungeing - pet hate is seeing horses just go round without anything to aid/guide them and doesn't really achieve anything.
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Good advice, thank you. The equi-ami was highly recommended on here so I think I'll invest in one. I've been advised by my back lady he should predominantly do walk and trot on the right rein, canter on the left as this will work his weaker side. Although I guess as he evens out the work should be more even or he may develop unevenly the other way?

I guessed I was probably being impatient - but hearing that it takes time makes me feel optimistic. Now I know it's hopefully not anything I'm doing too wrong, just a case of time. Thank you!
 
I would look at massage work to increase the bloody flow to the atropied tissues, muscle stim may also benefit, working long and low (ie pessoa etc) to build up top line is good, a qualified physio would be able to help.
 
Haven't personally used an equi ami, I use a Pessoa but similar results it seems minus the back end bit on Pessoa. Obviously I'm no back lady/expert but I'd do lots of walk and trot to start and then slowly introduce canter and short spurts of it. If you rush things like this (I did - I must admit!) you end up with a sore horse and back to square one. Ooo and I also NEVER lunge on a circle, I use the whole arena and walk round with him just so he isn't on a constant circle. Yes you won't notice a difference till 6 months+ really depending on how bad it is. Also I get my saddle checked every 2-4 months to make sure everything is okay but I am slightly ocd lol :D if I can get on computer tomorrow I will post a before and after pic of my boy!
 
miss_wilson said:
I would look at massage work to increase the bloody flow to the atropied tissues, muscle stim may also benefit, working long and low (ie pessoa etc) to build up top line is good, a qualified physio would be able to help.
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Thank you. The lady who treated his back on two visits is a McTimoney practitioner and I was impressed with the work she did. She is coming back in a few months for a maintenance treatment. She starts off with massage - perhaps I should ask her in order to maintain the continuity in his treatment, rather than involving another person.
 
rachaelstar said:
Haven't personally used an equi ami, I use a Pessoa but similar results it seems minus the back end bit on Pessoa. Obviously I'm no back lady/expert but I'd do lots of walk and trot to start and then slowly introduce canter and short spurts of it. If you rush things like this (I did - I must admit!) you end up with a sore horse and back to square one. Ooo and I also NEVER lunge on a circle, I use the whole arena and walk round with him just so he isn't on a constant circle. Yes you won't notice a difference till 6 months+ really depending on how bad it is. Also I get my saddle checked every 2-4 months to make sure everything is okay but I am slightly ocd lol :D if I can get on computer tomorrow I will post a before and after pic of my boy!
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Brilliant advice, thank you. Under saddle we don't do too much canter anyway as we mostly hack but also my instructor and I have taken his limited level of schooling back to basics, so it's lots of work on rhythm and relaxation with plenty of transitions. I inherited an unbalanced pony who likes to tank off when he loses balance - not a great feeling.

But on the lunge I will be more mindful of the size of the circle and the work he is doing, as well as choosing a suitable training aid. I know I over did it one day in the lunge as when I rode the next day he tried to kill me, so he was obviously sore. I've been more careful since then!

My best equine mentor has advised me to make haste slowly :-)

I would love to see before and after pics.
 
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