Mounted search and rescue

[Karen Nesbitt <spanishequines@yahoo.com>]

Ill fitting tack can be a menace to the horse.  I have seen horses actually be lame from an illfitted saddle.  Think about it, if its rubbing your back wrong and its pinching your nerve or spine or shoulders, the fores or something corelating give out.  Those of you riders that have ever been to a good chiropractor know what I am talking about. 

 

Things to look for if your saddle might not fit...

 

When you remove the saddle from the horse check the wet spot on his back.  Is it evenly wet or are there dry areas?  Dry areas can indicate that the saddle has pressure spots and that can sore a horse.  A back that is totally dry and only few wet ares is not good either.  Spots are pressure points where the saddle rubs

 

When you remove the saddle from a ride dont just jerk it off.  Take time to release the cinch let the saddle ease up then wait a few moments to slide the saddle off.  By doing so you ease the pressure that has built under th saddle and it is not such a shock to the horse either when the air comes to his back.  Many horses can get what is called "cold backed" and then they are irritable at a saddle.

 

Does your horse have white hairs near the whithers?  This too could be an indication of an illfitted saddle.  Not always, but quite often it is.

Does the saddle cause actual sores that are bloody?  Thisd could indicate the tree has a nail rubbing and obviously a change is needed.

Alot of people neglect to check the area where the bback edge of the saddle sits towards the horses hips.  Often times a saddle that is too long rubs those areas.

 

Does the saddle slide to the side?  A good fitting saddle can actually be ridden without a cinch if the saddle fits the horse well.  Many riders I know ride with a loose cinch, however  obviously you do not want to be doing that if you are roping or dragging something.  The best sfitting saddle I bought from an expert saddle fitter was a saddle that I actually put on the hores back and rode without a cinch.  Yep, I stayed on and yep the horse was not sore.

 

Bridles and halters can rub bare hair spots on the checks or even the back of the head, and or nose.  Bits that do not fit are a menace.

 

Horses that have illfitting tack may bite, buck, kick, pin ears, ringtails and be just downright bitchy.

 

Shoes can be a menace to horses if they are not properly applied or sized. 

 

And of course, another sore spot on the horses back can be a rider that is not a good horseman or a good horsehusbandryman.

 

Clean and well oiled tack will also prevent sores. 

 

Custom made saddles are great.  But as long as the saddle fits, that is what is necessary.  Even the custom made saddle might not fit at times if your horse has lost or gained some weight.  You need to watch those changes.

 

Contrary to popular beleif putting more padding on under the saddle does not always make the saddle fit the horse better.

 

Dirty saddle pads and blankets can cause sores too.

 

One thing sometimes it might be hard to differentiate between a horse that has a well fitted saddle and is just sore from another reason.  Perhaps he got kicked in the pasture or rolled on a rock...you can palpate the horses back to feel for sore spots prior to saddling up.  You can ask your vetrinarian how.

 

Saddles today have springtrees, wooden trees, polymer trees and each work different on a horses back.  A spring tree has flex and will move to the rythm of the horse.  The wooden and polymar trees are fixed so they have no mobility tothe horse.  Those trees need to especially be fitted to the animal.

 

One thing I would be leary on is if I sent my horse to a trainer and they did not have a number of saddles to try to use if I did not send my saddle with.  While the saddle might fit that trainers keester...he would not be doing me any favors by putting that same saddle on my horse if it did not fit.  

        Karen

 

Some trust in chariots, and others in horses: but we will always remember the name of the Lord our God.  Psalms 20:7..and the bay went forth,  and sought to go to and fro that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth.  So they walked to and fro through the earth. Zec 6:7