Winter saddle rubbs

[Century65]

I have a very thin skinned chestnut warmblood who seems to get saddle rubs under back of saddle only in the winter. Have changed nothing since the summer and have kept a longer saddle patch (horse fully clipped except saddle patch) to see if that helps. Already I can see the hair is getting shorter at back of saddle. Whether he changes shape slightly in winter which affects the saddle (it is regularly checked by a saddle fitter in spring) I'm scratching my head. Can anyone recommend a saddle pad that could help. Have tried putting a gel padd under(between numnah and saddle) but this makes no difference. Am going to try a prolite pad and see if that makes any difference. I don't want to make it any worse. So annoying when I'v changed nothing since summer.

 

[chillipup]

Would it be useful contacting your saddle fitter, to see what they could recommend ? or even for them to come out and see the problem?

 

[Mrs G]

This happens to my tb every winter too, I was concerned at first but I had a physio and a couple of saddlers check it and in our case it's just because the winter coat is longer/thicker/courser so more prone to breakage from the natural movement of the saddle/numnah as the horse moves. I do check that the rub mark is even/central as any uneven wear may be a sign of unlevelness elsewhere. It also gets worse for us if the saddle/numnah is moving around more because the horse has lost weight so the saddle isn't fitting quite as well as it did so I have to keep a very close eye on his weight in winter. Last year he really dropped off quickly and although the rubs were even, the hair was almost completely rubbed away so I rubbed cornucresin into the balding areas to keep the skin moisturised x

 

[Century65]

This happens to my tb every winter too, I was concerned at first but I had a physio and a couple of saddlers check it and in our case it's just because the winter coat is longer/thicker/courser so more prone to breakage from the natural movement of the saddle/numnah as the horse moves. I do check that the rub mark is even/central as any uneven wear may be a sign of unlevelness elsewhere. It also gets worse for us if the saddle/numnah is moving around more because the horse has lost weight so the saddle isn't fitting quite as well as it did so I have to keep a very close eye on his weight in winter. Last year he really dropped off quickly and although the rubs were even, the hair was almost completely rubbed away so I rubbed cornucresin into the balding areas to keep the skin moisturised x[/QUOT

 

[Century65]

Thks yr response. Will keep close eye on it. Will try & get saddle fitter out to check it but knowing how difficult she is to get hold of will prob b spring time anyway.

 

[sbloom]

Ouch that's a long time to wait for a fitter, would your fitter take a phone call to help you out with choice of pad? I only recommend Mattes pads, they make cotton or sheepskin pads in any of their standard shapes, with four shim pockets. The shims are 5mm felt which can be trimmed and layered up so you can get as much lift as you want without leaving a thick edge under the saddle which can cause a pivot and pressure point. Many shim pads only offer a thick or thin shim, and the former does leave that thick edge.

I suspect like most horses your horse is a fraction narrower than it was in the summer and the saddle is "waggling" - putting a thicker pad under doesn't just lift the front of the saddle of course but lifts the middle a fair bit and even the back, whereas a shim pad is much more specific. That lift in the middle isn't helping correct the pivot.