I work with my friend Dr. Joanna Robson, DVM (Author of Recognizing the Horse in Pain and What You Can Do About It) occasionally and confer with her often on horse issues that arise due to poor saddle fit, so we exchange war stories. She is also one of the founding members of our HIPPOH Foundation (Horse Industry Professionals Protecting Our Horses – www.hippohfoundation.org). I thought this week I would share with you one of the stories she emailed to me recently (the names have been omitted to protect the innocent – or in this case, the guilty!).
Her client wrote her:
“I’ve emailed a couple people about saddle fitting. In 20 years of riding I’ve never heard of flocking…here is my situation and maybe you can tell me if there’s anything you can do to help. I’m taking driving lessons on an 11 year old Standardbred who was broke for the track (pacer) but never raced. Someone broke him under saddle at some point in his life but he has been ridden maybe a dozen times. The owner lets him sit in his stall 6 days a week. I needed a horse to ride and he needed to get out so I offered to ride him. She believes my saddle is making him sore due to his head tossing, pinning his ears back and bucking – which could very well be true, but personally I think it’s from me making him work and do things he doesn’t want to do. He has no muscle tone whatsoever and looks like a 30 year old horse. My saddle is a 20 year old C….. with a felt panel.”
I don’t think it’s fair to come across as judgemental – this lady is obviously ill-informed and the horse is suffering, but she was at least reaching out (well, maybe) to see if she could get some help. Read the full article here.
~ Jochen Schleese CMS, CSFT, CSE, courtesy of Saddlefit 4 Life
