An incorrectly fitted gullet plate puts constant pressure on the sides of the withers, resulting in the formation of this stress line due to the ‘defensive’ contraction of the trapezius muscle.
I often come across clients who complain that their saddle has caused muscle atrophy. I think there is some misunderstanding of what exactly muscle atrophy is and how is it different from good muscle definition.
When a muscle has been trained for more than it would have normally developed naturally, and then not used for a while, it will naturally ‘atrophy’ back to its shape as nature would have determined it. It takes four times longer to develop a muscle than it does to lose muscle, which is why illness resulting in bed rest can have such a drastic effect on your leg muscles when you start to move around again.
Muscle atrophy also occurs when an unbalanced saddle puts too much pressure on a particular muscle, and the horse tries to remove or avoid this pressure. He goes into ‘defensive mode’ by contracting the muscle in the area (as well as the surrounding muscles) and can even alter his gaits. Under the point of pressure where circulation is impacted (thus reducing nutrients and oxygen to the affected area) the muscle will ‘undevelop’ or atrophy. As explained by veterinarians, atrophy will occur under severe instances of constant pressure which will first damage the hair follicles (resulting in hair loss and/or white hair). This can be reversed only when the cause is addressed (i.e., the pinching saddle), which will allow the muscle to regrow although the white hairs remain. Muscle memory will help in the rebuilding of atrophied muscles if these were properly trained. It will take significantly longer to build up untrained muscles or incorrectly trained muscles.
Muscle definition can actually be a form of atrophy – but it is negative definition in this sense. Positive definition is development of muscular conformation as expected during proper training; negative definition happens when defensive contraction occurs to counteract a poorly fitting saddle. Read the full article here.
~ Jochen Schleese CMS, CSFT, CSE, courtesy of Saddlefit 4 Life
