Thoroughbred mare very sensitive around withers

[Sallyanna]

I just gave my girl a massage and found she's very sensitive with even a small amount of pressure applied at the sides of her withers,she's been out of work for over a year so has not had a saddle on,what could be causing this?

 

[Archiepoo]

i had a tb who went very sensitive on the wither and it was his rug pulling on it when his head was down eating, it was loose and a good fit when his head was up. or maybe shes rolled on something hard and bruised it?

 

[claribella]

It could be ulcers. The withers are one of pressure points for testing for them.

 

[pippixox]

could be rug pressure, if quite well rugged in the cold.

 

[fuzzle]

TOTALLY AGREE WITH THE ABOVE!!! mine had ulcers and hated been touched around the withers, also have a back check that i can also affect that area!! good luck xx

 

[Sallyanna]

I had considered her rugs may be causing pressure,I never knew that about ulcers...Ty guys,will get her checked

 

[Tnavas]

Several possibilities.

1 The weight of her covers could be beginning to chafe the wither - stuff two socks with rolled foam and sew each side of the wither of the bottom rug

2 Neck/back problem - Call the chiro in for a look

3 Ulcers - put horse on a very high fibre diet and feed a double handful of something like haylage 30 mins before working - stops the stomach acid splashing around when being worked.

 

[Nudibranch]

Talking about rugs, I always use high neck rugs as they don't seem to cause wither problems.

 

[Lucky Lady]

I have an amazing chiropractor called Neil Saunders if you go down that path and he is really reasonable with his pricing, travels up and down the country.