swollen sore withers!

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showjump123

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Hi everyone. I have a 15.2 sports horse. Ive had him for about 4 months and hes amazing never been sick or sorry never put a foot wrong. He does however have very bad saddle sores (very bad i.e bald patches) but these are old. Now has a perfect fit saddle and back been checked.
I clipped him last week so hes gone into a heavy weight with a neck.
I bought him in tonight and his withers are swollen and very very sore to touch. He quivers whenever i touch them. And is very itchy along his neck. This has only occurd since having a heavy neck rug on.
Has anyone has experience with this? Ive now put in rug with no neck cover as i think its this thats causing it. But i dont want him to get cold when the weather gets bad!!!! Any suggestions comments much appreiciated........
 
Does the rug fit? My old TB had very sensitive skin, and got rubs from rugs, especially if all her fur was clipped out. I used to leave a lot of hair on - TBs don't usually get much coat anyway. Also, could it be too hot - its pretty warm this week - not sure why you would need a heavyweight - what would you then put on in January when its -17 degrees..?
 
Badly fitting tack could have caused FISTULOUS WITHERS (though suspect you may have noticed before, but could be the HW rug has aggravated an already damaged area).

Dunno where you are, but surprised if UK you need a HW yet.
 
Yes the rug fits fine, he isnt sensitive and did have a thick coat hes not a tb. He has a heavyy on as hes fully clipped and lives out.
 
Don't want to worry you unduly but I had this earlier this year with my ex-racer and it turned out he'd fractured his withers (3 vertebrae). I guess he'd gone over in the field ar**ng about & hit the only stone as ground was pretty soft.

The only symptoms were swollen and hot to touch withers. Keep an eye and if not improved in the morning, I'd get the vet out.
 
piebaldsparkle said:
Oh right so what is he going to wear when it gets cold?:confused:
Click to expand...

You can put more than one rug on a horse - it's been pretty cold the last couple of nights, mine are in reasonably thick rugs the last few nights and when it gets colder they'll have several rugs on to keep them warm. I go off how cold they feel, if chilly they get more rugs:D
 
Jeeez! What is this HHO obsession with what rugs people put on their horses....I bloody hate hate the 'but if its wearing x rug now what will it wear when it gets REALLY cold'....urm 2 rugs :)
This evening my husband was pottering outside in a T.shirt but I was wearing a hoody, a coat & my fleece headband. Horses like people are individual & feel cold differently.
OP I have a very sensitive TB with prominent withers & his get rubbed & sore quite easily.i've found using a Bossy Bib has stopped it.
 
Keep your hair on Glamourpuss, it was actually a serious question!!

Mine are lucky if they end up in heavyweights in the pennines in January. I've only ever had one horse that needed them in 35 years of horses, and the piles of rugs all slid about, so not good for the horse...
 
Stuff two old socks with rolled up foam and sew to the cover one on each side of the centre seam but quite close to it to remove the weight of the cover from the wither.

Keep an eye on the swollen area and hope that it is just bruising. Should it become hot as well as tender then you need to get the vet. If it opens into a sore apply some dilute Hydrogen Peroxide to it.

I used to make witherpads to put inside heavy covers. They are easy to make. Buy a piece of foam about the size of an A4 piece of paper and about 1½-2" thick. Cover with Parka nylon, and sew the hook strip of velcro onto one side about one third of the way back on the long edge. Place the pad where it will cushion the wither area from the rug the hooks will catch the wool lining and stay in place. If you are3 using a synthetic rug then you may need to sew in the loop piece of the Velcro into the cover. You can also use it to apply a poultice to a sore wither.
Picture
Witherpad-1.jpg
 
Ooh Tnavas that is a really helpful post. Thank you.

Honey08 it gets my goat that there seems to be a constant questioning about whether a horse is rugged appropriately. Your post asking what the OP will use when it gets cold came across that way & seemed challenging [shrug]
Oh & I've never had a problem with rugs sliding around when they are layered up :)
 
After you clipped him did you wipe him down with a damp cloth? Are there lots of little hairs on the inside of the rug? I knew someone who didn't wipe their horse down after clipping and when they put a rug on the little loose hairs dug into his skin and created sores and swellings! I would still get a vet out though!
 
showjump123 said:
Hi everyone. I have a 15.2 sports horse. Ive had him for about 4 months and hes amazing never been sick or sorry never put a foot wrong. He does however have very bad saddle sores (very bad i.e bald patches) but these are old. Now has a perfect fit saddle and back been checked.
I clipped him last week so hes gone into a heavy weight with a neck.
I bought him in tonight and his withers are swollen and very very sore to touch. He quivers whenever i touch them. And is very itchy along his neck. This has only occurd since having a heavy neck rug on.
Has anyone has experience with this? Ive now put in rug with no neck cover as i think its this thats causing it. But i dont want him to get cold when the weather gets bad!!!! Any suggestions comments much appreiciated........
Click to expand...

Sounds to me like he's too hot !! Swollen, sore, itchy, Would be rugging according to weather, so changing from a lightweight - to medium etc....

If you don't want him to get cold when the weather gets bad put his heavy weight on then !!
 
My old horse fractured his withers way b4 I had him, but he has an obvious 'step' in his withers. This didnt cause a problem when he was younger, we were just ultra aware with saddle fitting. Now he's an old man he has arthritic-y swelling of his withers, and I have to be ultra careful with rug fitting. I know your boy is young, so not exactly the same as mine, but i'd definitely be getting withers x-rayed, if he's that sore, it's the only way to rule out fracture, or diagnose it and give it appropriate treatment/time to heal.
 
Thanks, im sure you are sll aware off the terrible weather weve been having. If he was clipped and i only put a sheet on him or a med he would drop weigt. He is a poor doer.
I am thinking due to the rain the rug is to heavy on his withers. Its an older type rug one that holds the water. He has very very prominant withers so when the rug is wet his withers are taking the whole wight off it. I left him in today with a dry rug on and it wasnt so bad this evening.
 
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