Getting the right saddle fit has changed our lives!

“Although I have been riding for over 30 years, I really did not understand how much damage an ill fitting saddle can do. However my recent experiences have given me a crash course on the importance of getting regular saddle fits as my horse constantly changes shape and condition.”

I recently purchased my dream horse from interstate who was a successful and well established dressage competition horse. Before purchasing the horse a very comprehensive vet check was done, however this failed to identify a major trauma to the shoulder and also serious back pain (next horse I'll get a check by a Chiropractic Vet who are trained to identify such issues). I went interstate to ride the horse before buying and it was not the easiest ride, however knowing I had a lot to learn, thought any issues were my riding and was looking forward to getting my horse home and getting riding lessons and learning a lot.

Three days after my horse arrived from QLD she went through the electric fence twice and I was forced to agist for a while I built a stable to contain the horse at night. Fortunately they were only surface wounds. Three months later I finally had my first ride at home, I had heaps of trouble getting my horse to work without resistance which was quite a different horse to the one I rode in QLD. I then discovered that my dream horse’s prior training was based around draw reins and being ridden in a double bridle and only knew how to go in False Collection, despite being successful in many dressage competitions. My horse had no mouth, was extremely resistant and clearly unhappy showing clear back soreness symptoms from turning to bite when doing up rugs and saddles through to constant swishing tail and ears pinned back and resisting any aids when riding. Despite the pain, my horse demonstrated a very tolerant temperament.

I had two choices. I could cut my loss and move my horse on however would lose significant money and would be concerned where my horse would end up, or I could go through the process of elimination and work to resolve the issues. I chose the later.

My first step was to get an ASFA Accredited Saddle Fitter to check my saddle fitted. Although I had only been riding in the saddle on my new horse for 6 weeks, my Accredited Saddle Fitter found the saddle was bridging and was hurting my horse and he made some adjustments to the saddle. My horse was very sore in the back, particularly around the wither area resulting from the ill fitting saddle. I then had a reputable Chiropractic Vet rehabilitate my horse’s back. I also had the Farrier do corrective shoeing. I also had the vet do some bloods on my horse after finding a tick on her and noticing sudden weight loss and loss of coat condition. My horse was treated for Stomach Ulcers as well. I also had my horse’s teeth done. I left no stone un-turned.

I ended up moving my old saddle on as it was not adjustable and I knew my horse’s back was going to change shape significantly and needed a saddle which could adjust with her. I chose a Bates Isabell and had my new saddle fitted by an Accredited ASFA Saddle Fitter and was pleasantly surprised to see the improvement in my horse’s topline from the in hand exercises we were doing. I could not believe the movement my horse gave in the new saddle.

I commenced riding lessons to help me to learn how to make my horse work correctly, as significant re-training was required. Previously, my horse did not know how to travel long and low and this is now how we warm up every day. We have had our first competition and scored 64.5% which I was reasonably happy with. Although we have a bad day now and then I reflect back on where we have come from and can see in the bigger picture that we are now moving forward in a positive direction.

Then a couple of weeks after my competition, I found my horse nearly dead in the paddock when I went to put her in the stable for the night. She nearly died from peritonitis. She was in hospital for a week and the vet prescribed antibiotics which were very effective in her recovery. My horse was expected to make a full recovery. However it was disconcerting not knowing what caused the illness, as my horse's worming was very up to date and my other horse who shared the paddocks, feed and water was fine. We could only put it down to water sitting on the ground resulting from such a wet Winter, mice and just one of those unfortunate things!

Three weeks after my horse was sick, I had Thermography images taken of her which showed clear hot areas around her wither, spine and girth and she had shut down over her rump. My Chiropractic Vet did some work on her focusing on these areas. Interestingly the Thermography images after the Chiropractic work showed an immediate improvement. It was quite amazing! I also had the saddle re-fitted by my ASFA Saddle Fitter and learned that my horse had lost nearly 2cm of weight either side of her withers which meant the saddle was not fitting correctly. This clearly reinforces the fact any change in horse's work, diet or illness/injury has a direct impact on saddle fit. I was riding her in an ill-fitting saddle for a few weeks not knowing that she was losing weight!

It's been a slow road (and expensive road) to recovery with 3 months off, Chiropractic Vet treatment, ulcer treatment, and supplements, however my horse has finally put all the weight back on and is looking the best she ever has since moving to Victoria and she has recovered from her Muscle Atrophy. To rehabilitate her back I focused on lunging over poles (without false aids) and stretches for her neck and legs. Overall, she's a lot happier with less ears being pinned back and tail swishing. I am looking forward to commence riding again in a week! With our history of issues, I will be checking the saddle still fits every week!

As a side note, my horse is still grumpy when doing up rugs and girths which will be a hard habit to break, however is improving with rewarding with licorice when she is good and tapping the back of her front legs with a whip on her boots to distract her when she is bad. I now know how to check whether she is in pain so I can confirm if the behaviour is genuine or not. Where it's genuine pain, it's a trip to my Chiropractic Vet.

I now understand there is rarely one single problem that needs to be addressed to achieve a good working relationship, it’s usually a combination of different factors and you just have to work through each issue. I now have an appreciation for how important saddle fit was in the overall picture.

Anonymous VIC

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