Twitching but only when hot under saddle

Barton Bounty

Barton Bounty

Just simply loving life with Orbi 🥰
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This is it starting again! Just was out riding, half way and my boy starts rearing, spinning, reversing fast and spinning etc , you get the picture! One hour he did it for! I would not get off! He tried tho! He is very twitchy when hot under the numnah, tried riding without and its worse, twitchy at the scapula and twitchy where your thigh is under the saddle, its driving me nuts to the point that sometimes he is dangerous! Back lady said everything is good, and the saddle fits so im stumped
 
From your description it sounds like my mare when she doesn't want to go any further on a hack and 'naps'. She is quite nervous on her own so this is her reaction. Are you sure it is a reaction to the numnah? It sounds like napping to me. The reverse can also be a concern - there is a horse at the stables and that rears and goes backwards if she isn't in front on the way home.
 
We weren’t alone, its a route ive not been in a year but he got himself that sweated up reversing, moonwalking broncing, 🙄 got back to the yard and lunged him , hes fully sound, so changed saddles to my old wintec and he seemed loads better x
 
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Twitching is usually associated with discomfort, when you say 'back lady' what type of qualification does she have as I would definitely think something amiss in the areas of twitching and it may well be due to saddle fit or the numnah causing an issue, a good physio will check the saddle, watch you ride and find a solution of refer you back to the vet.
It does not sound as if it is behavioural and I would not want to sit it out for an hour on a distressed horse that does not sound as if he is simply napping in an attempt to go home the short route.
 
There is nothing , we were just toddling along then got to the open part and away he went like a tadger , its not like its an open field or anything its just a bit more green, i have a saddle fitter coming on Wednesday so hopefully after that we will be checked and good i pressed pretty firm on all parts of his back and nothing twinged just his normal twitching, if he was sore he would object to me getting on
 
Barton Bounty said:
There is nothing , we were just toddling along then got to the open part and away he went like a tadger , its not like its an open field or anything its just a bit more green, i have a saddle fitter coming on Wednesday so hopefully after that we will be checked and good i pressed pretty firm on all parts of his back and nothing twinged just his normal twitching, if he was sore he would object to me getting on
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Do you usually up the pace at that point? Just thinking that maybe the saddle pinches when he is doing more than a walk and he was anticipating it?
 
I have to use a high wither saddle cloth and must make sure it’s right up into the gullet and pommel. If it touches too tight then he twitches and bucks. He’s a hot horse. And hates working in warm temperatures.
 
Does he twitch there just in general or was it unusual for it to happen out today?

Just thinking that yes, the twitching is weird and probably means that there is something about the saddle and/or cloth that can bother him, but that might be unrelated to the episode out hacking?

The hacking episode sounds like he got really quite upset about something at that point on the route. The twitchy irritation probably wouldn't be helping and will lower his threshold for being able to deal with other things that stress him out, but I can't imagine that it would suddenly become enough to make him rear buck and spin for an hour straight.

Personally I wouldn't have stayed on a horse that was continually distressed for that period of time - I would have got off to calm them if I couldn't calm them down from on top. The quicker and more positively you can resolve a situation like that, the less likely it is to happen again
 
DabDab said:
Does he twitch there just in general or was it unusual for it to happen out today?

Just thinking that yes, the twitching is weird and probably means that there is something about the saddle and/or cloth that can bother him, but that might be unrelated to the episode out hacking?

The hacking episode sounds like he got really quite upset about something at that point on the route. The twitchy irritation probably wouldn't be helping and will lower his threshold for being able to deal with other things that stress him out, but I can't imagine that it would suddenly become enough to make him rear buck and spin for an hour straight.

Personally I wouldn't have stayed on a horse that was continually distressed for that period of time - I would have got off to calm them if I couldn't calm them down from on top. The quicker and more positively you can resolve a situation like that, the less likely it is to happen again
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He has done it before there, i have been hacking out loads before this, its not like hes not ridden regularly in the same saddle, 🤷🏼‍♀️ I stayed on cause at first i thought he was just being an arse, and we were quite close to home so stuck it out , the thing i dont understand is why there, the three/four times we have been that way he has created 🙄 although he has done it a few times on the main road as well thats why we dont go there now. Differing opinions from people are... just smack it out him ... i cant do that. I love my horse . I cant treat him like that.
So after Wednesday after the saddle fitter, hopefully we will be able to have a wee bit more of a clue. As i said this isnt a regular occurrence, it can happen 3/4 times a year but it is dangerous enough if your not a decent rider and couldnt sit it out.
 
Good luck with the saddle fitter - hopefully they can give a bit of help with his twitching. Make sure you've got all the saddle cloths you use to hand so that the saddle can be looked at with the cloth underneath

If it's that he's having a meltdown in the same sort of place on just a couple of hacking routes, then there probably is something there that bothers him. Horses can pick up on a lot of things that us numbskull humans wouldn't even notice. It might even be that there was only something there on that route the once, but he got himself into that much of a tizz that first time, that he gets a negative association memory when you take him that way now... Can you walk him out in hand to that spot to see how he reacts?
 
Hey, yeah im gonna so that on monday, hes got the weekend off cause im working so we will just walk there all next week, im also gonna ride on monday but with a nice little thin saddle cloth and the sheepskin half pad and see how we go.

Thanks everyone , i really appreciate your input 😘
 
My Mare, twitched under saddle, worse some days then others, had saddle checked, numerous physio treatments, a dozen different numnahs, it only ended when she was scoped and treated for ulcers.
 
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