Physical Signs of Damage Caused by Ill-Fitting Saddles

Cartilage chipping, nerve pinching, subluxated vertebrae, tongue problems – to mention only a few – can result in further behavioural and even psychological damage to the horse, which will make it almost impossible for horse and rider to find harmony. So please: listen to what your horse is trying to tell you! If you train the horse fairly and kindly the horse will accept you as the alpha horse. Once the horse accepts you as the alpha or leader, they can’t help but try to please you; it is in their nature for the last 50 million years. It is in the horse’s instinct to do want you want them to do, as long as you follow the natural and classical training methods. Be aware of potential saddle fit issues if behavioural changes or issues crop up over a longer period (a couple of days!) and do your due diligence to avoid the results shown in these photos.

The following pictures demonstrate clearly some of the often-irreparable long-term damage, which can result from a badly fitting saddle.

Uneven rump – subluxation of the lumbar vertebrae as a result of pressure at CN11 – causing the horse to block its movement instinctively, yet responding to the rider’s impulse to move forward. The subluxation can be likened to the result of trying to drive a car while the hand brake is on; it will move forward reluctantly with resulting damage that may show up later.

Sweat Marks – these sweat marks come from damaged sweat glands, resulting from inappropriate girthing and an incorrect billet system.

Damage to Vertebrae – Vertebral and spinal ligament damage caused by too much pressure on the spinal processes.

Abnormal muscle development – a saddle which was too long coupled with incorrect training results in an abnormal development of the loin muscle area.

Dip at the Croup – The muscular development at the loins here was due to a gullet channel that was too narrow. You don’t want this “dip” at the croup but rather a nice, evenly rounded rump.

White Hair Marks – white marks as the result of either a saddle pad which was too thick or made using manmade materials that has no ability to “breathe”.

Stress Lines – constant muscular contraction resulting in incorrect definition at the flank. This can be caused by a saddle sitting on the withers or one that presses down on the spinal column.

Hunter’s Bump – visible results from a saddle which was too long and exerted too much pressure at and behind the 18th lumbar vertebra.

What is muscle atrophy?

When a muscle has been trained for more than it would have been used naturally and then is not used or trained anymore, the muscle will atrophy back to its shape as determined by nature. The other muscle atrophy we speak of appears when an unbalanced saddle puts too much pressure on a particular muscle and the horse will tries to remove or avoid this pressure. As a result, it will go into defensive mode, contracting the area and possibly surrounding muscles and altering its gaits. Especially under the point of pressure, where circulation is impacted reducing nutrients and oxygen to the area, the muscle will develop “back” or atrophy. This will only be stopped and reversed when the culprit is removed or adjusted to fit properly. A properly fitted saddle and proper training, will usually allow the muscle area to regenerate.

White Hairs – the natural asymmetry of this horse’s stronger left shoulder was not taken into consideration during saddle fitting, resulting in white hairs from pressure at the gullet plate.

Stress Lines – an incorrectly fitted gullet plate putting constant pressure on the side of the withers can result in the formation of a stress line as well as a constant contraction of the trapezius.

Kissing Spine – this visibly subluxated back all along its length is the result of poor riding over many years compounded with an ill-fitting saddle.

Inflamed Withers – the trapezius muscle can be inflamed this bulge under the saddle if the tree angle is too wide or the tree width is too narrow.

What is muscle definition?

Muscle definition refers to the generally positive development and growth of a muscle or muscle groups. It can also be negative, however, depending on whether the horse develops its muscular conformation as expected during proper training methods, or whether the muscles are defined incorrectly because of defensive contraction to counteract incorrect riding or a poorly fitting saddle. The negative muscle definition is often considered to be ‘hypertonic’ which means that the contraction phase of these muscles is often unnaturally long and in a state of abnormally high tension. This will often result in tight, cramped, and painful muscle development.

Treeless Saddle Damage – Damage to the dorsal ligament system is often the result of using treeless saddles or from a gullet channel that is too narrow. The rider’s weight will not be equally or optimally distributed over the weight bearing surface of the horse’s saddle support area and sits mainly on the spine.

White spots – Saddle pads or horse blankets should be anatomically correct and show a wither relief area at the front to avoid pressure spots manifested in the appearance of white hairs.

Blisters can result from incorrect tree width or angle, a fall by the horse with the saddle still on it, or sliding saddle pads (among other possible causes including poor riding).

Horses may show us visually that there are problematic issues with their saddles by the following observations: gait abnormalities, a 4-beat canter, refusing jumps, toe dragging, head nodding, tail swishing, a poor work attitude, a hollow tense back, sore back, bad behaviour, resistance to move forward, a lack of engagement, abnormal muscle definition and/or atrophy, lameness, kissing spine, spondylosis, and may seemingly need ongoing hock and stifle injections.

This article originally appeared on SaddleFit4Life and is published here with permssion.

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