Saddle pad rub

[mariaandefe]

Hi all,

As if I haven’t got enough problems already, I have one more

As many of you know my horse had/has a suspensory injury and also had chronic hives. Got to the bottom of everything, he’s now trotting for 15 mins. Everything was fine, until yesterday I spot a raw rub on his spine from the back of the saddle cloth. He lost a lot of top line, so the saddle is now a bit too wide for him and it slips a bit backwards but not awfully.

The wound initially started in March I think when he was rolling on his rubber mat and due to him having no top line managed to caused a small wound.

It heals, then when I ride again it opens. Everything was fine for a week, yesterday it opened again…

What can I do with this?

I have a lot of saddle pads, I will check the pad that I used and compare it with the rest as maybe it’s getting old and the seams are rubbing him.

I also have around 7 different half pads (Acavallo gel pad, Gel-eze gel pad with sheepskin lining, Oglivy foam pad, Equiman gel pad, Nuumed corrective pad, Kentucky impact equaliser and a Christ sheepskin pad).

 

[sportsmansB]

Do you have a fully sheepskin lined saddle cloth? One that is essentially too long for the saddle will keep any seams away from pressure areas if the saddle is moving, and maybe a half pad to fill the space if the saddle has gone wider?
Its not ideal and I am sure lots of people will say to get the saddle refitted but for a short period of time that may not be possible.
Or can you borrow another saddle for a bit while you build him back up?

 

[mariaandefe]

Do you have a fully sheepskin lined saddle cloth? One that is essentially too long for the saddle will keep any seams away from pressure areas if the saddle is moving, and maybe a half pad to fill the space if the saddle has gone wider?
Its not ideal and I am sure lots of people will say to get the saddle refitted but for a short period of time that may not be possible.
Or can you borrow another saddle for a bit while you build him back up?

I don’t have a fully sheepskin lined cloth unfortunately. I have a shaped pad that doesn’t touch the raw rub, it’s just a matter of seeing which half pad fits the saddle. I will try on a couple of different saddles today too.

We don’t have a saddle fitter in this country unfortunately, we try to fit the saddles as best as possible to our horses as we can

 

[sportsmansB]

I don’t have a fully sheepskin lined cloth unfortunately. I have a shaped pad that doesn’t touch the raw rub, it’s just a matter of seeing which half pad fits the saddle. I will try on a couple of different saddles today too.

We don’t have a saddle fitter in this country unfortunately, we try to fit the saddles as best as possible to our horses as we can

I think the key is probably that when you think it is healed up, leave it even longer... which again isn't ideal if you are trying to rehab- and even after that, put some vaseline or something on the area to reduce friction? . Can you lead him from another horse to continue the rehab plan? Not all horses are good at this but if he would do it it would mean you could continue exercise

 

[mariaandefe]

I think the key is probably that when you think it is healed up, leave it even longer... which again isn't ideal if you are trying to rehab- and even after that, put some vaseline or something on the area to reduce friction? . Can you lead him from another horse to continue the rehab plan? Not all horses are good at this but if he would do it it would mean you could continue exercise

I use sudocream on it, i’ll try vaseline too thanks! I think I most likely didn’t let tissue strengthen

 

[sbloom]

A horse with that prominent a spine likely doesn't have the muscle to support a saddle and rider in my opinion (saddle fitter doing a lot of remedial fits). On horses with healthy isle.the rubbing is spread across a wider area when this happens.

If the saddle is sliding backwards it's likely too wide and/or too low in front, not always the same thing.

Is there anyone you can work with remotely?

 

[mariaandefe]

A horse with that prominent a spine likely doesn't have the muscle to support a saddle and rider in my opinion (saddle fitter doing a lot of remedial fits). On horses with healthy isle.the rubbing is spread across a wider area when this happens.

If the saddle is sliding backwards it's likely too wide and/or too low in front, not always the same thing.

Is there anyone you can work with remotely?

It slides back yes. It used to be fine, I had it checked last November with a professional from abroad, she said it was fine just still a little too wide (he had more muscle then but still not ideal). Now he has much less muscle, I found a narrower saddle which doesn’t slide back. Will be testing it from now on, I paired it with a Kentucky correction pad seems to do the job ok so far. Will be using it until he gains adequate muscle for our old saddle

 

[mariaandefe]

This is the rub, it’s very minimal but it’s a cause of concern for me. (White stuff around the rub is Sudocream)

 

[sbloom]

It slides back yes. It used to be fine, I had it checked last November with a professional from abroad, she said it was fine just still a little too wide (he had more muscle then but still not ideal). Now he has much less muscle, I found a narrower saddle which doesn’t slide back. Will be testing it from now on, I paired it with a Kentucky correction pad seems to do the job ok so far. Will be using it until he gains adequate muscle for our old saddle

Be really careful, there is so much more to saddle fit than just tree width and balance and, obviously without seeing actual photos I'm making assumptions,.but I'd not be riding him until there's more muscle and likely better posture (they get really go together).

If you'd like to learn more yourself (I'd still recommend using a fitter remotely if you can) the course by Holly Barnett/August Equine is the one I'd recommend, I THINK it's s online (she's in Canada).