Signs of Poor Saddle Fit

Equisearch.com - Full Article

In the April 2010 issue of EQUUS magazine, Dr. Deb Bennett discusses back shape and saddle fit. Here are unmistakable signs of a mismatch.

By Christine Barakat

White spots on a horse’s otherwise dark withers are a telltale and unfortunately irreversible sign of an ill-fitting saddle. They appear because intense, localized pressure has so damaged the hair follicles that pigment no longer can be dispersed throughout the hair shaft.

Pressure spots can become apparent in a matter of days on particularly sensitive horses or it may take weeks of repeated trauma for them to emerge. They may become sharper as the hairs that were subjected to less pressure on the perimeter recover, but to some degree they always will remain.

Gray horses may develop black spots as a result of pressure injuries...

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