Soreness around girth area?

Birker2020

Birker2020

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I have a 11 year old warmblood gelding who is coming back into work following mild bone spavin treatment. The vet visited last week for the final time to give me the all clear to start competing again and in actual fact we have a dressage competition this weekend. However over the last couple of weeks my horse has been bucking on occasion (I suppose he has bucked once three or four times out of 15 times he’s been ridden). At first I put it down to the bone spavin, but after receiving the all clear from the vet I am beginning to wonder. Last night he bucked but this was after he had spooked at something in the school and he was very excited prior to this point anyway (all the horses seem to be full of the joys) at the moment and very much on their toes. As soon as he had bucked I brought him in and I felt him all over and got a positive pain response from behind the elbow around where the girth would lie but his back is sound. I have done a quick google search this morning and I have found that the problem with this girth area appears to originate from dysfunction of the costovertebral joints with referred pain that follows the path of the intercostal nerves which go down to the girth area. He is a bit funny to girth up and swishes his tail and wont stand still to mount but is fine to ride and seems to enjoy being ridden, the only anomaly in all this is that he bucks on the very odd occassion.

I am obviously going to consult someone but my question is would you consult a physio or a chiropractor first given the information off the internet?
 
I would consult a physio or sports massage therapist first.

The area you mention behind the elbow can be from a number of reasons, not just the intercostal area. The pectoral muscles run from the main chest area in between the legs to approximately 10 inches behind the girth. The latissimus dorsi inserts just above the elbow & runs up under the saddle.

If it is a neural pathway issue, massage not skeletal adjustment would be needed.

Ask your vet to refer you to someone. Hope this helps.
 
Are you using an elasticated girth with the elastic at the buckles on one or both sides by any chance? And are you getting the pain response on one or both sides of the horse?
 
Thank you for your help. You sound like you know what you are talking about. Apparently we have a 'specialist deep muscle physiotherapist' or something similiar sounding coming out to a horse with a recurring problem next week so I may have her if she thinks Bails is a suitable candidate. It may be he is just feeling very full with himself as he is on limited turnout and not in hard work, but its funny how his attitude to tacking up is getting worse which in the view of the vet/me don't think can be attributed to the bone spavin anymore. I have spoken this morning to an excellent physio I have used previously with him and other horses called Maggie Turner and she was very kind and recommended I speak to my vet and then contact her if the problem is still there in a few days which I thought was very genuine of her. She didn't think it was a chiro matter either. Sometimes its more prudent to ask the advice of a total stranger as obviously experts have a vested interest although Maggie doesn't seem like that. Bless if only our equines could talk we wouldn't need to spend weeks fishing around for likely explanations!!
 
That is a very interesting point tbh. I have a dressage girth with only one side elasticated although I am careful to gradually increase both sides equally and progressively in the first few minutes before and after mounting.

I am only getting pain response on one side i.e off side. Incidentally this is also the side where the bone spavin is worse. The Y.O has offered me a well padded sheepskin sleeve which I may try on him tonight on the lunge with a girth that is elasticated both sides. i can then see what happens when I lunge with and without the saddle and then the saddle with the sheepskin. Thing is if it is high spirits he will have exhausted his bucking by the time he gets to the sheepskin and he doesn't buck every session anyway.
 
Hi Babybells.

No he doesn't have a girth gall. I have caught him bitting at this area the other day, trying to relieve an itch so I gave it a good scratch and he didn't seem to mind me doing that for him but last night I got more than one positive pain reaction (I tried it twice just in case it was a fluke) - poor boy! His back has been checked about three times in the four and a half years I've had him but I am going to consult a physio instead of a chiro for this I think.
 
That doesn't surprise me at all then. I'm going to pm you!
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Just a thought but our warmblood was tender behind the girth and when the girth was done up for months. After other symptoms emerged we finally had the vet diagnose stomach ulcers. Now he is on the mend and the problem is going, if slowly as it seems to have become a habit.
 
Have a squeeze around the wither area and you may just get a response where the whle shoulder area shakes (like they do when they have a fly on them). Squeeze firmly but not enough to cause pain from squeezing i.e. not too hard!! If you get a reaction try one side of the withers then the other and let me know what happens.
 
I've got a similar problem with my pony as in that he has Bone Spavin and girth issues. However, he had girth / saddle problems when I had him, well before the Bone Spavin so I don't think they are connected.

He too hates the girth being done up but is okay ridden. I find him lots better if I walk him round with girth done up before getting on - he stands better then.

He too bucks occasionaly but this is when he has a strop when I stop him tanking off - I'm quite sure this isn't connected either
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I've hopefully sorted the saddle issue and a McTimoney session this week showed that his back was okay but girth area still sore - she did lots of massage there and has given me some stretching exercises to do. I usually use a Stubben string girth (good wide girths with no elastic) and I am just about to try a Wintec Elastic Girth (elastic in the middle) to see if this is any better - I may try a sheepskin cover with this, I'll see how we get on. I used to use a leather one elastic one-side - he is lots worse with that.

Hope you can get to the bottom of it - yes, I wish they could talk too, it would save so much time and money. Let me know how you get on trying different girths.

Solseb - my pony was slightly sore in the wither area too - is this connected to the girth?
 
Any tightness in the wither area will basically be pinching a nerve that exits the spine in the wither area and runs down through the girth area. If your pony is still sore in that area try squeezing the withers (gently if you know he might be sore) and he might just react by the shoulder and girth area twitching. An adjustment in this area from a chiropractor/osteopath/McTimoney should alleviate the issue providing they are aware of this situation.
This link explains it better than i can.
http://nicholnl.wcp.muohio.edu/dingosbreakfastclub/BioMech/BioMechSaddling2.html
 
Thanks for link, really interesting, will send this to my McTimoney lady for when she comes to see him again. She did do some work on his withers and when I squeezed them yesterday there was no reaction.

I rode him for the first time yesterday since session. He was a lot better to tack up, he didn't mind me brushing his girth area, he still tensed when girthing up (with new Wintec girth) but no looking round at me or threatening teeth. He did start trotting as usual when I tried to tighten girth when on him so not an instant cure but a marked improvement
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Sorry to hijack thread
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but I hope my experiences might be of benefit, I would defo recommend some physio/chiro treatment of some sort as well as changing girth.
 
Hey thanks you guys for all your help. My friend who is staff at the yard where I keep my horse rode him for me on Saturday and popped him over a few jumps as he was given the all clear by the vet to start jumping and he hadn't jumped over anything since October due to the bone spavin. She had absolutely no problem riding him, he was a little angel for her and didn't put a foot wrong for the 30 mins she rode him for. I then decided I would get him out of his stable and have a sit on him so I got on him about two hours after he'd been away and he shied violently and tried to buck again with me. I was wondering if he was taking the mickey out of me as he hadn't misbehaved for my friend but I felt around his girth area after I had untacked him and he is definetely sore there and he flung his head and ears back in protest when I pressed there again. There are no marks that I can see but there must be sore muscle which I believe may be coming from the withers area. I have booked the physio for Thursday evening now and she seems to agree with my vet saying that it could be overcompensating muscle soreness due to the bone spavin he has. My dressage was cancelled yesterday so I didn't go in the end anyway which I was quite relieved about what with the bucking and the weather. Thanks for all your suggestions I will keep you posted!! x
 
I've got to admit that I have always used a chiropractor and used to have great faith in them using a Mc Timoney Chiro for years with my horses until my last horse when he was in the late stages of Wobblers Syndrome and the chiro could not detect his wobblers although his hind leg was swinging to his outside when he turned in a cirlce and he couldn't cross his hind properly. You could even pull him over to the side by holding onto his tail and pulling it as he walked but she just kept saying that he'd put his pelvis out and the sudden brushig together of the inside hind fetlocks was to do with his pelvis which even to me as a layman knew was wrong. Unfortunatley it wasn't the boss of the Chiropractic clinic who I had seen who has an excellent reputation but one of his assistants as he was still recovering from a near fatal accident (uninvolved with horses). My friends doing a 2 year physio course at the moment and they only covered Wobblers Syndrome for about an hour which I think is really sad as it is more common than people think. I have always dismissed Physio's before thinking that they are a waste of time compared with a chiro but now that my faith in chiros (or this particular one anyway) has been shattered I am looking to the physio for the answer.
 
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