Sweat

[C1airey]

Quick question: on a horse who has had an ill-fitting saddle which has marked the coat, would you expect the white patches to sweat as normal under a well-fitting saddle? I came across something online the other day to suggest that the dry patches might persist for as long as the hair remains white but I can't find it again now.

We started having issues with saddle fit towards the end of last summer and when his winter coat came in, it showed a faint mark behind the withers. He ended up off games for other reasons and when he came back into work, I rode him bareback. As his summer coat has come in, I'm horrified to see that the white patches have gotten more pronounced. He's now under a new saddle which we've had for a month. At first, all was well but having upped his work so that he's getting sweaty I'm noticing a void in the sweat patch where the white bits are - not exactly bone dry, but certainly not as soggy as the rest of him. Is this the ghost of the old saddle back to haunt us? Or does this saddle also not fit? Needless to say, we're back to bareback until the saddle-fitter cometh.

Horse hasn't complained at all and has just cracked on with whatever I've asked of him. I could weep with guilt and frustration

 

[Pinkvboots]

I was always under the impression once white hairs have appeared due to saddle damage that area of the back has had significant nerve damage, so I suppose it may not sweat like the normal healthy bits of his back.

I think I would be questioning the new saddle if it has got worse, where are the white hairs forming under the saddle?

 

[C1airey]

Patches are either side of his wither. What was a sprinkling of white hair in his winter coat is becoming a much more defined patch as he sheds his winter fluff. I'll be clipping him hopefully this weekend, and then I think it will be very obvious

 

[Pinkvboots]

That is a typical place for the saddle to be to tight, has he got muscle damage in that area as well?

only once they have got muscle loss it get very hard to fit a saddle because the saddle tends to just sit in the dips where the muscle has gone.

 

[jojo5]

Although possible further damage, bear in mind that white bits often do become more obvious in summer coat - e.g. My boy has a freeze mark which is white and is far more obvious in the summer coat.

 

[C1airey]

Yep. I brought him back into work bareback so that we wouldn't be fitting a saddle to a soft back. While there's still a dip at the withers, he has put on a lot more muscle behind since we got the saddle, so it's not inconceivable that he's grown out of it I suppose.

I think my credit card might spontaneously combust...

 

[C1airey]

Although possible further damage, bear in mind that white bits often do become more obvious in summer coat - e.g. My boy has a freeze mark which is white and is far more obvious in the summer coat.

That's interesting, I didn't know that!

I don't think this saddle is causing the extra white hairs - as you say, I think that's a characteristic of the summer coat for this year. I just wondered if the non-sweating was caused by this saddle or the old one. Does your freeze mark sweat, out of interest? Or is it not really possible to tell - I guess it'd need to be a blob rather than lettering to be able to see for sure...?

 

[be positive]

If it is fitted to allow him to build up muscle then it may still be a little wide therefore the slight lack of contact with his back is not causing him to sweat so obviously, if it is getting tight then it may need a tweak which I would expect after a month or so in the circumstances anyway, get the saddler back to see what they think, mine would have wanted to come back after 4-6 weeks and normally has a little to do then which he builds into the original cost.

 

[C1airey]

Thanks BP, hadn't thought of it like that. Saddler booked for a week on Friday, but trying to see if she can come sooner. We've had it exactly four weeks and looking back over the diary, we've done a lot in that time.

Fingers and toes crossed.