Girth sores, white hairs, saddle fit

[FjordBCRF]

Hi COTH community!

Looking for advice again. Just as it seems like we have our barefoot transition with trail boots under control, I am back to having girth issues. Charlie is a 3.5 year old (April baby) Fjord, and as Fjords are, he is quite stout. I ride in a Wintec wide all purpose saddle and started with a neoprene girth back in July when I got him. That did not end up working for us and was causing the starts of girth galls; just puffy spots, nothing that had hair rubbed off or an open sore. I just rode bareback for 3 weeks until they were all clear (plus I like riding bareback so no rush) and iced him daily to see if that would help reduce the swelling for the first week.

I ordered him a Total Saddle Fit girth with fleece for try number two. We’ve now been riding in that for about two weeks more regularly; nothing crazy time, distance or exertion wise as we’ve been just a couple weeks now with being barefoot/trail boots.Today after my ride, I noticed a girth rub on his right side…the previous ones were on the left. And this one has some hair rubbed and you could see the skin. Didn’t look like it was rubbed open, but I put some ointment on it none-the-less.

I also have noticed now with more riding in my saddle, he is getting patches where there are some white hairs in spots where his saddle sits! I have read that it could be caused by trauma which I hope I am not causing!! Nothing seems to be rubbing and he is not sore anywhere or cranky about grooming or the saddle going on. My trainer and a couple experiences friends checked the saddle fit when I got him and nothing was obviously awry.

A couple notes, my girth/saddle shouldn’t be too overly tight. I keep it tight enough I can get on from the ground but I have to be smooth and quick otherwise it will shift but I usually use a mounting block to not shift things too bad. It’s not loose enough though that it shifts under me while I ride. Maybe it needs to be a hole tighter? I don’t know. Prior to Charlie coming to me, he was used lighting cart driving and light trail riding. With him being young, is there a conditioning period for the skin in the girth area that just needs time to get tougher? We will be back to bareback again until it’s all cleared up, but my next attempt was going to be to try a mohair string girth as that was a consideration as well when I got the Total Saddle Fit (found a good deal on eBay so I went that route first).

I keep all things riding light due to him being a young draft pony, mostly trail riding at the walk, with little trots and canters sometimes. Training wise, again, lots of walk and some trot, mainly working on shoulder control and being responsive to transitions, standing and relaxing etc. Lots of good citizen type work. Any thoughts?

[RedHorses]

Your saddle doesn’t fit as is. If you stop using it now (at least until it’s fitted) there’s a good chance those white patches will disappear with his next coat change.

I know because I had a horse who was sensitive enough to develop white hairs in three weeks of three 20min rides a week and stoic enough to not object. I owned him for fifteen years and he didn’t have any white hairs from saddle issues at the end. He taught me a lot about saddle fit.

Young horses’ backs can change very quickly, both through growth and through muscle development from work. My younger horse was a nightmare to fit a saddle to as his back changed so much in a matter of a couple of months. He is super sensitive to saddle fit but in a more immediate (and dramatic) way than getting white hairs. He’s not forgiving enough of poor fit to tolerate a saddle long enough to get white hairs. :lol:

Good luck! You’ve got a fantastic early warning of saddle fit issues if you don’t ignore it. Remember your horse has the only opinion on saddle fit that matters. :yes:

[Renn_aissance]

He’s awfully cute.

I agree with @RedHorses that he might be telling you something about your saddle. I’d enlist a professional fitter here to help you figure out how to suit your growing boy. I would make this your first avenue of exploration.

Failing that, it’s possible he’s a bit of a delicate flower and your pad is shifting or irritating his skin. I’ve seen this with thin-skinned horses (particularly chestnuts) on occasion- especially during coat change season their skin is terribly reactive to many fibers. It would be an annoyance to clean, but a sheepskin pad would put an end to that.

[FjordBCRF]

Thanks all for the input! I will def be getting the fitter out before I put my saddle back on him. I have to pay a ton of attention as he is so willing and forgiving that I’m starting to think he would have to be in a tremendous amount of discomfort to get an attitude let alone try and buck me off (been there done that with a horse showing early signs of arthritis). I feel awful that he has another sore and these white hairs are popping up. Since July, I’ve put more miles on him bareback than I have with a saddle (thankfully) so we’ll keep going with that for now lol.

[SuzieQNutter]

When you do get a saddle that fits, start slowly, the same as you wearing a wired bra the first time!

Start with say 15 minutes on the first day. The same with the bit in his mouth if he has time off.

Then slowly increase the time.

Don’t put it on the first day for a 5 hour trail ride.

[demidq]

Re girth- I have found that the slightly shaped Toklat fleece girths are thick and cushy enough not to wound my soft skinned princess. Leather (including special shaped ones), neoprene, cushioned, fleecy girth covers all made her sore. I am thinking of opening a store to sell all my very lightly used girths!
And yes, get that saddle fitter out.

[FjordBCRF]

@SuzieQNutter - Understood. That’s what I started doing with the new girth as the timing with that and his trail boots coincided, so I was hoping that would help on both ends, but here we are! I can totally relate to the wired bra comment…I have been working from home since mid-march, and as such have been wearing exclusively sports bras since. I figured I’d put my wired bra on a couple weeks ago to feel like I was actually getting dressed and that lasted all of about 5 minutes hahahaha.

@demidq - I am also considering opening a girth store! Im going to hold onto the total saddle fit one for now just in case and see how much the saddle fit is playing into the girth issue. It does give him more elbow space, but clearly we have a ways to go with the fit of everything. My knowledge about that is all pretty limited so I don’t know how much the saddle fit is impacting the girth fit.

[sheltona01]

Your girth is way too short. Ideally the buckles should be above the elbow area. This can cause girth galls. I would go up at least 2 sizes on your girth if not more.

[gypsymare]

Oh, near his elbows! Can your saddle go back any further? After girthing up, bend down and grab the girth as close to the center as possible and give it a good hard yank backwards to give him some more space behind the elbows.

[FjordBCRF]

@sheltona01 Do you have a photo of what you’re describing? It’s an AP saddle with dressage billets and a dressage girth. Granted the girth was not run up and VERY loose in both pictures but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dressage girth come up higher than mine is on a dressage or AP saddle, nor have I ever ridden like that when I was taking dressage lessons though my colleges equestrian program. My trainer competes in high level dressage as well and didn’t seem to think it was an issue. Much higher and it’s going to be in a bad spot with the saddle pad.

Im erring on the side that the saddle issue needs to be sorted first then we will see about the girth situation. If the saddle doesn’t fit properly, that makes sense why I’m having girth issues. The saddle fitter will be back in the area in October so we have a little bit of time to at least get that sore healed up before putting any tack back on him.

[FjordBCRF]

@gypsymare He has chubby elbows too which can’t help! If it goes much further back, then the saddle starts to slide too far back with the way his barrel is shaped 🤦🏻”â™€ï¸

We have a Gypsy Vanner at the barn and his owner offered her saddles to try on Charlie so once there no risk of making his girth sore worse, we are going to see how those compare.

[sheltona01]

I assumed the girth was tight in the pictures you posted. Ideally the girth should be just below the edge of the flaps, but not over the saddle pads. Most people have too short of a girth, but do not realize because they do not have issues. Your guy may not have enough room to get it above his elbows. I will see if I can post a picture.
This is me on my guy. The yellow blob is the area on a horse you want the buckets to be above. You can see how close the girth is the the bottom of the flap.

[CanteringCarrot]

I think a Mohair girth would be a fine option. For my “fleshy” PRE I use a Mattes asymmetrical girth. The longest size he can take. The girth, when tightened, ends just at the bottom of the saddle pad. It goes right to it. If I use anything shorter, he’s gotten rubs.

I do feel as though many use short girths (dressage girths) that are too short. I’m not saying you, OP, since yours was loosened, I can’t really tell. I suppose many horses can tolerate this, some can’t. So you cannot go based off of what your friend does, what your GP trainer does, or whomever. You have to just go with what works for the horse.

[FjordBCRF]

@sheltona01 - Thanks for the visual! That’s where mine hits when it’s run-up. @CanteringCarrot -I think mohair is going to be in our future regardless of getting my saddle adjusted or a new saddle. He just seems like he’s going to be a hard fit no matter what and those seemed to come really well recommended for those with the propensity for girth issues. Hopefully getting a better saddle fit, plus the mohair will get us on the right track.

[candyappy]

I would consider a Duett saddle if you are looking . I had used a Wintec wide on my mare and she did ok, but I just don’t think it fit nearly as well as the Duett which seems to hug her body. The difference could be felt on the first ride. Fitting a horse when is shaped like a barrel is really challenging.

Duetts are good quality and priced affordably and I find mine very comfortable to ride in ( more than the Wintec). When he sweats he should be wet everywhere the saddle is , except along the spine.

[FjordBCRF]

Thanks for the recommendation @candyappy, I will take a look! “Shaped like a barrel” is what we are working with haha.

[Gretasmom]

As a former breeder and owner of Fjords…he is lovely. You do a terrific job trimming his mane as well. As far as saddles go, you may consider a treeless saddle coming from a known , proven, brand. Many brands these days have panels attached to the bottom which provide spine clearance, but allow the saddle to move better and fit the horse. I might suggest a Nicker’s Saddlery Sensation, a Freeform, or possibly a Barefoot or EZ Fit.

[FjordBCRF]

@Gretasmom - thank you for the mane comments! That was my first try and it took me the better part of an hour…he was just free in his stall when I did it and wasn’t bothered at all. I turned into a Fjord convert within 24 hours of him arriving, he is such willing love bug. He is at a full care barn but I still see him everyday and could not imagine otherwise at this point.

Thank you for the saddle recommendations too, I will take a look! I know nothing about treeless saddles so this will be fun to learn more about.

[FjordBCRF]

I wanted to pop an update and also ask for any thoughts on the best way to ease him back into the saddle. I found a saddle fitter online that I have been working with via the past week + with photos and we are in a MUCH better place now than we started. We are now in the widest gullet that Wintec offers, but at least for now we have a much better fit. I am going to take him for a short ride this afternoon to see how he acts and alsoto get a sweat on him to see how the marks look. With the previous girth issues, I don’t want to just tack up and go out for hours. Is starting with some shorter rides a good way to get a better pulse on the comfort of the fit and testing out the girth comfort? I’ve been riding him bareback with a pad (more for him and my butt bones than me) so I am hoping any residual soreness should be gone and the girth sore is all healed up.

This has been such a good learning experience but I feel so bad that it was such an ill fit to start even with having several very experienced folks having checked too. Having the progression photos really tells the story.

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[shayaalliard]

The problem is that wintec gullet plates are shaped like the letter A. The wider plates have the same shape but the bottom of the letter is bent open. That means that it doesn’t hug a round back very well.

A duette or similar brand made for a round cob back is built on a hoop tree, which is shaped like an upside down letter U. The SHAPE makes the saddle much more stable, not really the width.

Hoop trees are a bit hard to find in the US but are very common in the UK. You can often buy a used one across the pond and have it shipped here for not a ton of $$.