A friends mare has a major girthing issue and goes dead lame up front when saddled and girthed up. This is not a problem if the mare is ridden bareback. Mare is in no way lame for the vet, trots out fine, has been checked out head to toe by vet, chiro and massage. We have done our due diligence.
Just bought new saddle and had saddle fitter out saddle fits perfectly. Also purchased TSF girth, has good pads under saddle, everything we can think of. Mare has also been on medication for ulcers for a month. We are at a loss as to what to do next. This is a resale horse and have put a year of training into this mare so need to find a solution to this. She has always been girthy but now it is to the point of being unrideable. Any insight would be appreciated.
Yikes. What type of medication is she on for the ulcers? Does she stay lame for the entire ride or does she work out of it? Does the lameness get worse, better, or stay the same with a rider in the saddle?
When the saddle fitter looked at the saddle - was the tight on and tightened to the degree one would use if riding?
How long has she been girthy-lame vs. just girthy?
Yes a proper saddle fitting has been done, with girthing. She is on omniprezole. Girthy-lame for about a month and a half, she has had the last month as a holiday with the trainers daughter hopping on her with a vaulting surcingle on and mare was same with just a surcingle and no saddle involved once. Same result. She did work out of it with surcingle only eventually but it was a long time. We are at a loss.
Are you sure that the chiropractor/massage person checked the deep pectoral area? I have a horse that was lame because of pulling deep pect. playing in the field. I imagine that an old injury in this area that healed tight could cause such symptoms. Targeted stretching exercises could help if that’s the case.
I had a horse that presented just as you describe years ago. Only lame when the girth was tightened. Dr. Brendan Furlong diagnosed it as a pinched nerve in his neck that caused pain to a nerve bundle under the girth. New Bolton Center didn’t diagnose the horse credibly. At that time chiropractic treatment was in the early stages. Dr. Marvin Cain treated the horse successfully with chiro. He confirmed Dr. Furlong’s diagnosis. The horse had been lame for months and was sound immediately after treatment. We had him treated three times a year and did exercises before riding. He stayed sound. I think you need a better chiropractor. Best of luck to you, please keep us informed.
I agree, try a good chiropractor and acupuncturist. A friend of mine had a horse rear while being girthed and she had success with the sure foot pads. http://www.murdochmethod.com/sure-foot-equine-stability-program/
She’s not a person who would normally be into this kind of stuff, but she has found it helped several horses. I just ordered it to try on my horses so I can keep you updated once it comes in.
Good luck and keep us updated.
First thing I’d try is a very fat/fluffy fleece girth cover. On a line (lead or lunge) put the saddle on with NO belly contact…lead off…tighten the girth one hole at a time until the lameness was exhibited…loosen the girth and continue to walk/jog horse. Repeat tightening process. Some horses are just cinchy and need time to adjust to their “girdle”. Just for kicks…try a western saddle and see what happens…again…girthing VERY gradually. How long has this gone on?? The mare’s idea of a comfortable saddle may not agree with the saddle fitter’s. Good luck.
I agree with crosscreek and with finding a better chiro, but have you tried giving her an anti-anxiety medication before tacking her up? Just to test if it is a mental issue rather than physical.
I had a mare that would refuse to bend her joints when you tacked her up. She had a ton of anxiety about being ridden. It was more of an all over stiffness then a head bobbing thing, which I would be more inclined to believe was a lameness and not a nerve thing.
Just lightly pinch all over the girth area. If she has a bruise you can’t see it because of the black skin.
Their are old remedies to toughen the girth area, some use method, some use brown vinegar.
In the case of our horse, the results were definitive. There is no way to take the pressure off of the nerve endings and bundles without high quality chiropractics. No amount of padding and saddle adjustment made any difference.
My boy Petey is/was very girthy. When I started him, he was very easy to do the flat/lunging training. But when I got on him!!! The first 2 times I rode him, I did not make the “eight second buzzer”. I ended up with 2 concussions, a broken arm and several bruised/broken ribs. I might have given up on him, but 1. he was incredibly fancy, and 2. As soon as he got me off, he would stand there shaking like a leaf. He was scared, not mean.
Vets/chiropractors thought he must have been kicked by a pasturemate when he was very young, and his ribs were broken. Since there was no outward sign of the problem, nothing was done about it.
After checking everything, doing everything (including that fancy new horsemanship stuff) I finally sent him to a cowboy. He came back rideable, but still very worried.
Even now (7 years later) if he has not had a girth on him for more than 1 week, he bronc bucks instead of walking out of the barn.
Things we did (which may or may not help):
– We made sure that the saddle was placed in back of his shoulder. – He has a nicely sloped shoulder, so the temptation was to put the saddle on right behind his withers. For him, that was too far forward.
– We did the girth up very slowly, one hole at a time. It might take 5 minutes to do up the girth.
– We cut tube socks (Walmart $5 for a pack of 6 pairs) and slipped them over the elastic part of the girth, so the elastic was not touching his skin.
– We tacked him up 30 minutes ahead of time (saddle only) and put him back in his stall with hay (so he would stretch down to eat).
– When he was brought out, he would either be lunged for 5 minutes or someone would jog him up and back until he was moving normally, before anyone got on him, so the saddle could find the “right” place to sit.
I now have a lovely horse, but he has his rules; if I play be his rules, everything is fine. God help me if I get in a hurry and treat him like a regular horse.
Good luck. Hope some of this helps.
I’d also get rads of her back just to rule out a problem with her spinous process. Could be a kissing spine issue and is just getting more and more protective of the area.
My solution for a very girth sensitive horse I had once upon a time was to do up the girth while in motion. Just at the walk, one hole at a time until it was snug enough to stay in place to mount. At first this took two people, one to lead, one to do the girth but, after a while I got very adept at walking along side him and doing the girth at the same time. Once mounted, a time or two around the arena usually allowed me to put the girth up the rest of the way. I think his issue was muscular because on very cold days he could still be a little short until a good warm up trot. (This was in the dark ages before chiro and acupuncture came into my horses lives.)
A cheap thing to try is a mohair girth. My girthy horse really liked his mohair girth when he was going through a particularly rough patch after a girth over tightening incident that left him with actual hematomas in the girth area (girth over tightening wasn’t done by me, btw).
