Unlevel Horse/saddle issues - new horse update etc

[Magicmillbrook]

Hi everyone - We were delighted three weeks ago when we finaly found a new horse. Had a weeks trial period, flew through vetting, however first week home we began to hit problems under saddle - cow kicking, resistance, little bucks. Thought it may be saddle as the vendor had found us out a 2nd hand one. My daughter rode in it the last two days of the trial, and with hindsight thinks that she did not go so well. Decided to halt all riding until sadle fitter had been - she is lungeing beautifully, has no tender or warm spots on palpation and is behaving well in all other respects.

Saddle fitter came out yesterday and condemmed the old saddle! It appears that our horse has an unusualy small saddle area (typical) and of all the 75 saddles only two were short enough for her whilst being suitable for my leggy daughter. Poor Fleur was also very unhappy having the saddles put on and off.

I have absolute confidence in the fitter (she also fits for the ILPH and works closely with physio etc). Even with new saddle in place Fleur was a bit nappy and kicked, though this did decrease when she realised it wasn't going to hurt. The fitter also noted that she is unlevel behind in that her right hip swings a little higher - something neither I nor the vet noticed, I was too busy looking at her legs!.

So - questions -

Is it likely that wearing a poor saddle even for a short time could have caused such an extreme reaction

How do you think the best way to get her over her obvious concern regarding saddles, bearing in mind the fitter is confident that with her new saddle is an excellent fit and there will be no further saddle induced pain.

And finaly what about the unlevelness - is this something that can be rectified with excersise, should I be concerned, could this be related to the saddle issue?

I will be contacting our osteopath ASAP, however like all good therapists she is in great demand so I envisage a bit of a wait - so your thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated - I have also posted this on the stable yard bit of the forum - so sorry if you end up reading this lenghty post twice.

 

[spaniel]

Well done on doing all the right things!! Yep, get a therapist in to assist with the muscling up and leveling of the hinds and ensure that both saddling girthing and mounting are done with due regard to the horses worries. After a while Im sure she will come to realise that the saddle pain isnt there any more although you may have times, during seasons, when you find she is a little more touchy. Sypathetic handling should do the job.

Good luck with her.

 

[0ldmare]

Hi, your experience sounds very similar to mine! (See post, bucking new horse). In my case - so far - we went from bucking everytime we hit canter to no bucking in the new saddle (although not been able to ride much as she now has mud fever!) I think its more than possible that the uncomfortable saddle is the cause and hopefully she will settle down when she realises it no longer hurts. It might take a little time though so might be best to avoid cantering until she is settled.

I think its hard to say about the unlevelness, but I would have thought you would have noticed it when lunging? I do know when I was buying a new saddle for another horse a while back that it went completely lame in one of the saddles I tried, but was 100% sound in any other saddle. I would be tempted to call the vet or osteopath and talk it over on the phone with him.

You have my utmost sympathy, this horse buying lark is really horrible!!

 

[TarrSteps]

Do you mean "unlevel" as in stepping different lengths with her hind legs, or "unlevel" as in if you draw a straight line between the points of her hips it is not horizontal, or do you mean the shape of her quarters is not the same on both sides? How does she feel to ride? Or look to longe? Have there been any other changes? Work load, footing, shoeing?

Function is the definitive test for me. If a horse looks right but feels wrong it's wrong. I've never had one look wrong and not be at least marginally wrong somewhere but what that actually means for function has to be judged in context. However if you horse looks odd but feels as close to perfect as a living thing can be then it is possible what you are seeing is some sort of structural abnormality, say as the result of an injury, which does not actually affect performance at the level you are working her.

By the way, if the horse just looks mildly not the same behind don't rule out an optical illusion caused by leg markings. A particularly deconstructionist trainer I used to ride with became obsessed with this and literally was out quizzing people whilst they watched horses go, then raking sand and measuring stride length to see if what they thought they saw was really what was going on. (Too bad it was before common use of video.) It's generally considered VERY difficult to judge complete equality of flight pattern if the legs are different colours. (One option is to put matching polos over any white. I wouldn't wrap in white to do it because that makes most horses look jerky anyway.)

I had an old horse vetted for sale as a schoolmaster once who was clearly not level to ride. Much to EVERYONE's amazment - rider (me), seller, buyer and vet - the horse passed his vetting with flying colours. Go figure. And I know more than one unlevel horse who has had every test in the book only to be pronounced sound. Except they were not. Horses are such complex systems they have to be taken as a whole, not just a collection of parts.

If she was fine before and now has altered the way she moves it might very well be lingering discomfort from the tack. Usually, if it's the saddle, the horse is fine once it's removed but if she has been travelling in an incorrect way because of the saddle there might be lingering discomfort. Or it might well be the first sign of trouble in which case having a professional opinion is obviously essential. More likely it's a sign of a weakness or imperfection in the horse which can be addressed in any of number of ways, depending on the cause and extent. It may be something easily addressed with correct, therapeutic riding. It may just be something to watch.

I understand the use of NSAID's is far more controlled in the UK, is that correct? Here, in our pharmaceutical glorifying culture, probably the first diagnostic choice would be to medicate the horse lightly for a couple of days, first with Bute and then, if that had no affect, with a muscle relaxant. The horse would be assessed before, during and after treatment to see what, if any changes, took place. Obviously a horse which miraculously comes right on analgesics has a discomfort issue, which at least gives you a clue what to look for.

 

[Magicmillbrook]

The horse is unlevel in that one hip is higher than the other in walk and trot. Its something that we did not notice and the vet didnt notice. As far as the feel or changes, we have only had her three weeks. During the initial trial week she was fine, the problem with bucking and kicking statrted a few days after we got her home with the different saddle.