We have/had (out on lease) a mare
with similar withers. We had a friend who is a saddle fitter,
and my being a nut for saddle fit, had her check out the mare when we bought
her.
According to the saddle fitter it turns out the
"divots" are from having a saddle that pinched her withers. It caused
the muscles to atrophy and so you end up with a divot. We bought a saddle
for her and they went away (combined with Susan getting sick and not being able
to ride her).
I can't find my copy of "For the Good of the
Horse" but I seem to remember two saddlemakers/riders in England fitted their
horses with extra room at the withers by using the next size tree up or
something (or some similar location). At first they had pads take up
the space, but eventually the saddles became too small at that spot. So
they went to a wider tree and the same thing happened again. This
kept happening no matter how large they went. I think they concluded
that all saddles had a problem with this area and so designed a "better"
saddle.
I don't remember their website,
or names. I'll try to remember to give more info when I find
the book (I'm certain it's in "for the good of the horse" a great
book).
I've got a 3yr old Quarter Horse with a fair amount of TB in
him. I normally ride him hunt seat. This wkend we went trail
riding and I noticed he had white hairs where the tree of my saddle would sit
on his back. So I borrowed my friends western saddle... I noticed
it looked like it was pinching him behind his whithers so I put 2 pads on him
and a different western saddle. When we got back he had a small pressure
sore on the side of his whithers. I guess if I had to describe him, I'd
say he was shallow whithered because he has "dips" on either side of his
whithers. Either I need to find a new saddle or saddle pads to protect
his whithers and back. Any suggestions?
Buffy Spellcaster Miniature
Horses Beware... They'll cast a spell on your
heart!
