A recent Holistic Horse Help Helpful Hint stated "Does your horse have a dip in the muscle bulk just in front of or just behind his withers? This could indicate muscle tension and weakness."
Following a query from a reader of the HHH newsletter (you can get your weekly copy for free by signing up at www.holistichorsehelp.com), this is an expansion of that comment.
The area that I'm talking about here is the area that the front of the saddle sits on / in, commonly known as the 'wither pocket'. It's just behind the back of the top of the shoulder blade. If you look at a 2 or 3 year old horse who hasn't been ridden, they won't have dips in this area, and they shouldn't. Look at older horses, and you'll see a more variable pattern. There certainly shouldn't be a dip there, ideally the horses' back should look similar to the back of a 2 or 3yr old (unless they are an older horse - more to follow).
The reason for the dip, if there is one there, is muscle wastage (or muscle atrophy) - literally the muscle has died away. The most common reason for this, in my experience, is poor saddle fit. This could be current poor saddle fit, or it could be poor saddle fit in the past - it takes a long time for muscle to rebuild, and sometimes it never does, depending on the age of your horse and the damage that has been done.
Imagine the blood vessels running through the muscles under the saddle. The blood can keep flowing if up to a certain amount of pressure is applied, but if more pressure than that is applied then the blood supply is literally cut off temporarily. So if the saddle is putting too much pressure through the wither pockets, then literally the muscle will die because the blood supply is cut off for the length of time that you are are sitting in the saddle.
Add to this that most saddles continually move just fractionally, allowing areas where too much pressure is being applied to free off temporarily and the blood to keep flowing. If for some reason the saddle doesn't do that, again there is the potential for muscle wastage in the areas where the pressure is a problem.
Older horses who have general muscle wastage will often have these dips in the muscle, even if they are no longer ridden.
The other area that I commonly see muscle wastage from poorly fitting saddles is under the back of the saddle. This is often assumed to be 'fat lumps', because the horse looks like he has lumps of fat behind the saddle. In my experience this is far more likely to be that the muscle under the back of the saddle has wasted away, rather than that the fat behind the saddle has expanded. This most commonly happens as we come into Spring and Summer and the horse puts weight on, causing the front of the saddle to be lifted as the withers widen, and the riders weight to be tipped further back in the saddle.
If your horse has muscle wastage due to poor saddle fit, he is likely to be quite tight and sore in that area. Physio can help to relieve this, but obviously the most important thing is to make sure your saddle fits the best it can. You can find your local Chartered Physiotherapist at www.acpat.co.uk, and your local Master Saddler at www.mastersaddlers.co.uk.
Following a query from a reader of the HHH newsletter (you can get your weekly copy for free by signing up at www.holistichorsehelp.com), this is an expansion of that comment.
The area that I'm talking about here is the area that the front of the saddle sits on / in, commonly known as the 'wither pocket'. It's just behind the back of the top of the shoulder blade. If you look at a 2 or 3 year old horse who hasn't been ridden, they won't have dips in this area, and they shouldn't. Look at older horses, and you'll see a more variable pattern. There certainly shouldn't be a dip there, ideally the horses' back should look similar to the back of a 2 or 3yr old (unless they are an older horse - more to follow).
The reason for the dip, if there is one there, is muscle wastage (or muscle atrophy) - literally the muscle has died away. The most common reason for this, in my experience, is poor saddle fit. This could be current poor saddle fit, or it could be poor saddle fit in the past - it takes a long time for muscle to rebuild, and sometimes it never does, depending on the age of your horse and the damage that has been done.
Imagine the blood vessels running through the muscles under the saddle. The blood can keep flowing if up to a certain amount of pressure is applied, but if more pressure than that is applied then the blood supply is literally cut off temporarily. So if the saddle is putting too much pressure through the wither pockets, then literally the muscle will die because the blood supply is cut off for the length of time that you are are sitting in the saddle.
Add to this that most saddles continually move just fractionally, allowing areas where too much pressure is being applied to free off temporarily and the blood to keep flowing. If for some reason the saddle doesn't do that, again there is the potential for muscle wastage in the areas where the pressure is a problem.
Older horses who have general muscle wastage will often have these dips in the muscle, even if they are no longer ridden.
The other area that I commonly see muscle wastage from poorly fitting saddles is under the back of the saddle. This is often assumed to be 'fat lumps', because the horse looks like he has lumps of fat behind the saddle. In my experience this is far more likely to be that the muscle under the back of the saddle has wasted away, rather than that the fat behind the saddle has expanded. This most commonly happens as we come into Spring and Summer and the horse puts weight on, causing the front of the saddle to be lifted as the withers widen, and the riders weight to be tipped further back in the saddle.
If your horse has muscle wastage due to poor saddle fit, he is likely to be quite tight and sore in that area. Physio can help to relieve this, but obviously the most important thing is to make sure your saddle fits the best it can. You can find your local Chartered Physiotherapist at www.acpat.co.uk, and your local Master Saddler at www.mastersaddlers.co.uk.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.