Young horse broncking with dressage saddle

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Tracyann

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Hi everyone new on here but thought I would join as need to find out if anyone has or knows of someone who has experienced the same, my mare is now 6 years old and owned her from a foal, backed at 3 then turned away until she was almost 5 as she was just not mature enough so restarted her again, perfect to back and perfect to restart, I had a bad time with her last summer out the blue she just started broncking, she would go to the back of the stable when bringing tack into her rushing in and out of the stable and well just really tense, in October I sent her away for schooling with a good friend of mine and he sorted her out, she has been in a gp ever since previously tensing and broncking with a dressage saddle, my albion saddle fitter came out the other day and because I have the albion platinum (changeable gullet) he said she will be ready for this now as gp starting to become slightly tight, so had this fitted, yesterday I tacked her up ready to ride her for the first time in it she stood with it on for a few minutes and she just out the blue exploded bronking violenty snapped lead rope and broncked through barbed wire and ran off down a field!! luckily only few minor scratches and no one was hurt! Once this happens she remembers, I placed the gp on her today in the school bit of a bronk but she was fine after and was ridden. Last summer she got x rayed for kissing spine all clear, she has a regular saddle fitting checks, back done teeth done all the usual that you should do she has, she is a genuine mare and last year it was so unlike her, it also seems to be summer time not winter, but strange how I put a dressage saddle on her and she completely kicked off, so could it be possible my mare hates dressage style saddles ? cannot believe I am saying it really as its such an over reaction to a saddle she looked like an unbroken youngster!! Can anyone advise?
 
Do you use a different type of girth on the dressage saddle? It might be that rather than the actual saddle she is reacting to.
 
Does your dressage saddle sit in a different position on her?
If anything spinal has been ruled out, I would now be looking at Ulcers (so is it pressing differently on her sides, the girth pressure will be different etc) or Ovaries. If she's only doing it with your dressage saddle on and its not even when you're on you need to look at the different points its pressing on. Get some chalk, and outline the different fit of each saddle on her, it will give you a true guide to the differences of the two.
 
Its a lot heavier than my gp and the jeffries dressage saddle she was also the same which is why im thinking she hates them which is so bizarre to say!!! I have been thinking ovaries and last year we were also thinking ulcers but after having her xrayed and change of saddle to gp she went fine! It does sit differently on her and agin its a lots heavier will do that chalk around the saddle.

I have contacted hack up which is bespoke supplements and explained my issues maybe she is sensitive in and out of season in the summer it just seems so bizarre that 8 months she has been perfect and then dressage saddle on her boom she explodes!
 
She has never had my albion dsg saddle on her before only when saddle fitter came to sit it on her before that she had the jefferies which she hated too
 
I would try lunging her a bit with it on... She may just need some time to get used to it as it'll feel quite different and distribute the weight of her rider differently. Just give her a chance to come to terms with it herself from the ground, then try lunging with a rider sitting lightly and build to a deep seat and more control. Take your time with the process. You want to end short sessions on a good note and take a few days. I think she'll be fine pretty quickly - it sounds like you've taken steps to rule out pain or saddle fit issues.

Just a note but the weight of the saddle shouldn't be a problem. Saddles vary in weight but nowhere near as much as riders vary!
 
Tracyann said:
She has never had my albion dsg saddle on her before only when saddle fitter came to sit it on her before that she had the jefferies which she hated too
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So the saddle fitter did not fit it to her properly if they did not see her ridden in it, so it may not actually fit her correctly, I cannot see how a saddler can say something fits if they only sit it on and don't see the horse ridden, Albions do not suit every horse, the points on a dressage will sit differently behind her shoulder to a GP.
I would lunge her in it and see if it moves at all, put it on without a pad and check whether there is even contact, it may be moving too much which causes her discomfort, I wouldn't rule out using a dressage saddle possibly even the one you have but I would get in a fitter that sees you ride in something before saying it fits.
 
i would say more likely to be the dressage girth than change of saddle.

try a few diff ones, and some diff covers.

expensive but my 3yo will put his back up and tense up in a normal dressage girth but is fine in the fairfax, stands like a rock. he is round and wide with a forward girth groove so obv just needs the extra space the fair fax provdies.
 
We had a mare the same, was backed in an old jumping saddle, then the guy backing her used the Kieffer dressage saddle that was for my wider gelding (sent 2 for backing!) so when we out her Wintec Isabell on her that fitted her fine she bronked like a wild mustang. Absolutely fine in the wider saddle though so the saddler fitted it slightly wider to accommodate a sheepskin numnah and she was happy with that.

Some mares are very sensitive, especially if in season, so get your saddler to see her ridden and experiment with different saddle & girth combos.
 
If your fitter did not see you ride in it then it's not been fitted. It could be anything, get the fitter out again to take another look, but I'd only ride in it after any adjustment. It's rarely a girth that will cause that reaction, but the saddle being slightly off, can cause that kind of scale of reaction in a small minority of horses.
 
can you try her with a long girth so that the buckles are above the saddle flap and the straps cannot dig in her? or having stirrup leathers or similar as extensions on the saddle that she likes so you cam use a dressage girth and the straps will feel like the ones on a dressage saddle. that way you can see if its the saddle or the girth thats the cause
 
As someone has already mentioned, look into ovary problems.
My mare was a nightmare, and I mean nightmare this time last year... I'd just got a made to measure dressage saddle made and she was mental - bronking like a loon, not letting anyone get on her (kicking out) it was awful.
Took her to the vets for gastroscopey as suspected ulcers but they also did an ultrasound on her ovaries just in case... Would you believe it, clear of ulcers but incredible ovary problem!!!
One ovary 3x bigger than the other!
They put her onto Regumate and omg what a different horse.

Seriously, I'd have her ultrasounded as pressure in just the wrong place (possibly caused by the dressage saddle) could kick off some bad pain for them :(

I hope your problem gets sorted soon, I know the feeling, it's not an easy experience going through these problems
 
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