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‘How Saddle Fit Affects Performance, Lameness And Shoeing’ Webinar Presented By Cornell Equine

Horse owners and farriers are very aware that poor fitting horseshoes can cause discomfort and lameness in horses. Unfortunately, many do not realize that poor fitting saddles can cause lameness, gait faults, shoeing problems and even personality problems. Ways to assure a reasonable saddle fit to prevent complications with your horse will be presented during the College of Veterinary Medicine's Equine Seminar Series, on Tuesday, September 21, from 6 to 7 p.m. via Zoom.

Steve Kraus is an American Farriers Association, Certified Journeyman Farrier who has been the head of Farrier Services and a Sr. Lecturer of Large Animal Surgery, at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, and the instructor of the Farrier School there since 2010. Prior to that, he worked for over 40 years in his own farrier business in Central New York. He is known for troubleshooting lame, injured and underperforming horses and has shod horses of practically every breed and discipline. He has lectured to farriers, veterinarians and horse owners all over the US, Canada, South America and Europe. He has been a featured speaker at the International Hoof Care Summit, Laminitis Conference, Equine Affaire and the American Farriers Association Convention. Steve has written many articles published in the American Farriers Journal, The Horse Journal and The Professional Farrier. In 2016, he was inducted into the International Farriers Hall of Fame.

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The Cornell Equine Seminar Series is presented by the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine's Equine Hospital, the New York State 4-H Horse Program and Cornell Cooperative Extension. Held monthly, equine experts present on important equine health and management topics. The event is free and open to the public. Register here.

Study: Majority of Horses Considered ‘Lefties’

Wither measurements of 490 horses taken with a flexible tracing tool have shown that the majority of horses have larger measurements on the left side of their withers as compared to their right, suggesting they are “lefties.” Dr. Katrina Merkies, with the University of Guelph, and a team of undergraduate students digitized and compared years of measurement data to come to this conclusion.

The study included a variety of breeds, including finer-boned breeds like Thoroughbreds and Arabians to heavier breeds like Warmbloods and draft horses. Overall, 60 percent of study horses had larger muscles on the left sides of their withers.

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Merkies and her team considered laterality as a possibility for why horses have a tendency to build muscle on the left. Laterality refers to a horse's preference for using one side of his body. The right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and this is where fearful stimuli are processed, the team reported. Merkies noted that horses will often look at an object they are afraid of out of their left eye or step off trailers with their left front leg first, both of which reinforce the notion that these horses are “lefties.”

While examining differences in body sizes and shapes, the scientists also found that horses of medium height were more likely to have more-curved backs than their brethren of other sizes. The team hypothesize that this is because medium-sized horses are often ridden by adults, whose saddle might not properly fit, being too long in the seat and applying pressure to the lumbar region.

Pressure from an ill-fitting saddle can cause pain and affect performance, as well as prevent the muscles from building in a symmetrical way. Merkies stated that proper and twice-yearly saddle fittings are imperative for equine comfort and the development of balanced muscles.

Non-Uniform Saddle Sweat Patterns May Indicate An Issue

The way a horse sweats under his saddle can indicate if he's wearing well-fitting or ill-fitting tack. If the horse has his saddle and pad removed after exercising and his coat has odd-shaped sweat patterns, something may be amiss.

A horse wearing a saddle that has too-tight tree points will often have less sweat or dry spots over his withers where the saddle is pinching him. Sweat glands are unable to function normally if too much pressure is placed on then.

A horse wearing a saddle that has a too-narrow gullet may experience significant saddle shifting, causing it to wobble from side to side. When the saddle wiggles or slips, the gullet can sit too close to the back and spine, increasing the pressure on a horse's back. This pressure can cause edema or transient, fibrous nodules around thoracic vertebrae 13 and 14.

To determine if a saddle fits, it can be helpful to watch a tacked horse move both with and without a rider. A saddle may slip because of the way a horse's back is shaped or because the saddle has uneven flocking. Another common reason for saddle slipping is hind-end lameness that affects how the horse's axial skeleton moves, reports Dr. Sue Dyson.

Dyson estimates that 87 percent of horses with hind-end lameness also experience saddle slippage, often to the side of the lame leg. Once the lameness is addressed, saddle slippage significantly decreases.

It's easier to see if a saddle is slipping if the horse is working on a circle, rather than a straight line. Saddle slipping is not always caused by a crooked rider, but a rider often becomes crooked when riding an uneven horse.

More Than Ulcers? Girthiness May Be Coming From More Than One Cause

Even the most pleasant horse may act cranky when his girth is tightened, and it's not because you're telling him he's chubby. Some horses will gnash their teeth, snake their heads, swish their tails and try to move away when their girth is being tightened, telling their owners and riders that something is amiss.

Veterinarians often become involved in the issue when a normally stoic horse becomes opposed to being girthed. Drs. Esther Millares-Ramirez and Sarah Le Jeune completed a retrospective study of 37 horses who had been referred to the University of California-Davis Veterinary Teaching Hospital for girth aversion.

The horses in the study were of various breeds and ridden in a range of disciplines. Upon referral, each horse had a physical exam that included recording of vital signs and a musculoskeletal exam that included palpation and flexion tests. The horses worked in straight lines and circled on hard and soft ground and were also lunged. Thirteen horses had a gastroscopy, seven had their saddles examined, and three had abdominal radiographs performed.

Of the 13 horses that were scoped, 12 had gastric ulcers. The horses were prescribed omeprazole and the owners said the girthiness resolved with the ulcer treatment. Ten of the horses had orthopedic issues. All 10 horses became less girthy when their musculoskeletal issues were addressed. Three horses had poorly-fitted saddles; once this was addressed and the horses received chiropractic and acupuncture treatments, the angst at being girthed resolved.

The other study horses with aversions to being girthed had a variety of issues, including ovarian tumor, urinary tract infection, girth mass, sand impaction and more.

The team determined that the primary reasons horses exhibit an unwillingness to be girthed include gastric ulcers, orthopedic issues and poor saddle fit.