throwaway567
New User
This is a bit long, TL;DR at the bottom. I wanted to include as much info as possible rather than have to add many clarifications later.
Horse (happy hacker in light work) was in a heather moffett flexee saddle, fitted by qualified saddle fitter. However I had moved yards right at start of covid and then struggled to get any fitter to come and check it, but was also riding a lot less. After some online advice (perhaps misguided) I got a treeless saddle for him, he seemed happy for a while but then his behaviour while grooming deteriorated - nothing extreme, but definitely irritated. At first I thought it was due to winter + mud (he gets irritable when grooming mud from sensitive areas such as face and ears), but I suspected saddle as he was worse around his back/flank. A friend recommended her saddle fitter who came and determined the treeless was not a good fit for him (que me feeling terrible) and swapped back to HM, adjusted flocking and said was ok but not ideal, so we'd review in a few months. Had vet physio come see him, who left us with some groundwork exercises.
Saddle fitter came back out and was pleased with his muscle development, and swapped to a thorowgood saddle. Horse was happier, and his topline continued to improve. However he still held tension in his back, physio came again, horse was imo reactive to back treatment (fidgety and nibbling at lead rope, but not ears back or aggressive), physio said behaviour was not unusual, overall feedback was he's not too bad (paraphrasing). Saddle fitter came to check again a couple months ago, slightly adjusted the flocking and was happy with the fit. Unfortunately since then I think his topline has decreased slightly, however this could be due to time of year, less ridden work and I've not been keeping up the physio exercises as much. He had a few weeks off over Christmas but otherwise is hacked for up to an hour 1-2 times a week at the moment.
He started being a bit girthy (tight face and tense neck) before Christmas. The girth I had was too short and I was struggling to get it on, so have tried a longer girth but he's still girthy and started getting irritable having back/shoulder groomed again, he's rugged so it's not due to mud. He fidgets, tugs at his leadrope with his teeth, and generally looks tense and unhappy. When I get on he pulls his head down and/or tosses head up, and is more keen to get going than usual. But again it's not an extreme reaction, and once you set off he's happy. He not a fan of having to wait around if you have to stop for anything though.
I feel like it would be unusual to need saddle fitter back less than 2 months since the last visit. Maybe I need a second opinion? Or I could skip that and go to vet. If I do get the vet out, I'm not really sure what to ask for or expect them to suggest, other than maybe X-rays of back and hind limbs? If anyone has any advice on a recommended sequence of investigations I'd be very grateful. I don't have any facilities, but could take him to the vets if that would potentially be better for diagnosing the issue (if there is one, which I have a niggling feeling there is).
Argh. Don't you wish horses could just tell you exactly what the problem is!?
TL;DR - horse has displayed on and off irritation at being groomed/tacked up/mounted, poorly fitting saddle was identified and assumed to be the cause, however horse hasn't improved despite improvements in saddle fit and topline musculature. Think I need vet now, but what should I expect from vet and where would be a good place to start investigations?
Horse (happy hacker in light work) was in a heather moffett flexee saddle, fitted by qualified saddle fitter. However I had moved yards right at start of covid and then struggled to get any fitter to come and check it, but was also riding a lot less. After some online advice (perhaps misguided) I got a treeless saddle for him, he seemed happy for a while but then his behaviour while grooming deteriorated - nothing extreme, but definitely irritated. At first I thought it was due to winter + mud (he gets irritable when grooming mud from sensitive areas such as face and ears), but I suspected saddle as he was worse around his back/flank. A friend recommended her saddle fitter who came and determined the treeless was not a good fit for him (que me feeling terrible) and swapped back to HM, adjusted flocking and said was ok but not ideal, so we'd review in a few months. Had vet physio come see him, who left us with some groundwork exercises.
Saddle fitter came back out and was pleased with his muscle development, and swapped to a thorowgood saddle. Horse was happier, and his topline continued to improve. However he still held tension in his back, physio came again, horse was imo reactive to back treatment (fidgety and nibbling at lead rope, but not ears back or aggressive), physio said behaviour was not unusual, overall feedback was he's not too bad (paraphrasing). Saddle fitter came to check again a couple months ago, slightly adjusted the flocking and was happy with the fit. Unfortunately since then I think his topline has decreased slightly, however this could be due to time of year, less ridden work and I've not been keeping up the physio exercises as much. He had a few weeks off over Christmas but otherwise is hacked for up to an hour 1-2 times a week at the moment.
He started being a bit girthy (tight face and tense neck) before Christmas. The girth I had was too short and I was struggling to get it on, so have tried a longer girth but he's still girthy and started getting irritable having back/shoulder groomed again, he's rugged so it's not due to mud. He fidgets, tugs at his leadrope with his teeth, and generally looks tense and unhappy. When I get on he pulls his head down and/or tosses head up, and is more keen to get going than usual. But again it's not an extreme reaction, and once you set off he's happy. He not a fan of having to wait around if you have to stop for anything though.
I feel like it would be unusual to need saddle fitter back less than 2 months since the last visit. Maybe I need a second opinion? Or I could skip that and go to vet. If I do get the vet out, I'm not really sure what to ask for or expect them to suggest, other than maybe X-rays of back and hind limbs? If anyone has any advice on a recommended sequence of investigations I'd be very grateful. I don't have any facilities, but could take him to the vets if that would potentially be better for diagnosing the issue (if there is one, which I have a niggling feeling there is).
Argh. Don't you wish horses could just tell you exactly what the problem is!?
TL;DR - horse has displayed on and off irritation at being groomed/tacked up/mounted, poorly fitting saddle was identified and assumed to be the cause, however horse hasn't improved despite improvements in saddle fit and topline musculature. Think I need vet now, but what should I expect from vet and where would be a good place to start investigations?
