REFLOCK SADDLE PROBLEMS - UPDATE

[bailey14]

You may remember I put a post on here on Friday about the trouble I was having with my leather saddle which I had reflocked the Saturday before. My horse seems to have changed charachter somewhat since it was reflocked, and seems to be changing his legs several times on a circle and on a straight line in canter! Well now I am even more confused. Friday night I took him to the local riding club for half an hour hire and found him to be fine to ride, I walked, trotted and cantered in circles (on our own) without a problem, and even had a little jump on him too. He's in a pelham for jumping and sometimes he is a little sensitive in the mouth and backs off so you have to be concious to use more leg and less hand, so ocassionaly he does jog a little in canter. A friend from the yard arrived and watched me ride and thought he was sound and didn't look 'funny' at all, he was a little tail swishy again. However I rang the saddle fitter and he still agreed to come out Sunday and take a look at the saddle. On the Saturday I went for an hours hack and he was fine (no canter). Sunday the saddle fitter came and looked at the saddle, confirmed it was a perfect fit, explained that he'd put flocking in the front of the saddle (explained the reasons why) and sat on the saddle on the horse and wiggled around a little and confirmed the saddle was fine. He did think that if he was a little sore on the saddle area then because the saddle was now 'balanced' it might be shifting my weight towards the back of the saddle a little more. A couple of hours later I took him into the school as myself and a few others had arranged a grid work session, and he started getting all het up again, continually swapping legs on a circle, jumped really well up to about 3ft 3" grid but was funny when landing trying to buck a little. Eventually I gave up and a friend got on him who has ridden him many times before, in order to give me a perspective on what he looked like from the ground. She felt he'd just wound himself up too much, but again he was changing his hind legs only in canter on a circle again. He is a very sensitive (to the leg and aids) type of horse and she felt he was confused by the possible shift in weight aids and maybe the fact that the legs lies in a different position now.

I don't feel as if I can get the saddle fitter out a third time, I think he is probably correct in saying that the saddle is now fitting correctly and the horse is resentful of the new fit (for some reason) and that he will get used to it in time.

I am going to give him today off, take off the pelham and ride him in a snaffle for the rest of the week and see how we get on. We have jumping on Saturday and dressage on sunday but I am going to def the jumping and just concentrate on getting to the dressage, but obviously I will have to assess the situation.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to proceed? I would like to give him more time in the snaffle/saddle to see if it makes any difference before calling in the vet/chiro.

 

[kerilli]

i'd definitely get a chiro out if he's changing legs behind in canter, personally.
have a good feel of the underside of the saddle, flip it over, (and it helps if you shut your eyes) and just concentrate on how both sides feel as you run both hands up and down the panels simultaneously, make sure there are no lumps, bumps etc. if there aren't, saddler is prob right and horse is reacting to it feeling different. i'd prob put a prolite under it too (if there's room, check with saddler) as they really are excellent.

 

[chestnut cob]

I'd get a good physio out personally to look for any sore areas. They will also have a look at your saddle. You might also need to consider getting a different saddler out for a second opinion...

 

[noblesteed]

I had the chiro out to mine who kept swapping legs in canter. She said his back was out in the lumbar region and fixed him up.

He still swaps legs though not as much! The chiro said it's probably cos he's expecting to feel a certain way and changing leg in anticipation. Once he realises it doesn't hurt he'll stop doing it...

So maybe your horse is just reacting to a memory of pain and expecting it to hurt? I'd give him a bit longer to adjust to the saddle before calling a chiro out.

 

[bailey14]

I can't understand it, as I rode him last night for 20 mins in his snaffle and he went like a dream. So confused.

 

[CBAnglo]

are you riding him the same way in both bits, i.e. is he working more rounded in the pelham and therefore forced to use his back and backend more?

What about on the lunge without the saddle - is he working freely across his back and able to canter on both reins with the correct bend? I find that they swap legs when they cannot get the inside bend (usually inside hind leg problem) hence they try to turn to the outside rein and then they have to swap legs to be able to canter.

If he cannot work properly on the lunge then I agree with Kerilli - if he is swapping legs in canter then I would get the chiro and/or vet depending on what the chiro says.

 

[unicornleather]

Horses can and do take time to adjust to the new feel of a freshly flocked up saddle. They have learnt to balance themselves in a different way to compensate a saddle that needed flocking, then suddenly it is rectified but they still carry themselves in the same way to compensate the saddle as it was before the flock up. As others have said, give it time and stay with the snaffle. If in 2 weeks he still is not working right then have a re think, hope this helps, Oz