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  Discussion on Bareback pads
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Posted on Thursday, Jun 13, 2002 - 2:49 pm:

My husband and I like to occasionally ride bareback. His horse has very, very tall withers and no pad he put on will stay in place. My horse is nice and round, so I don't usually even ride with a pad. His horse came to us very thin, and her back is very boney. Can anyone recommend a pad that will grip and stay put, and maybe has a cutout for the wither? Incidently, the last couple times he rode her bareback, she had a swelling right below her withers, and along her spine. The horse, a 3 1/2 year old mare also had what appeared to be a varicose vein in that area, probably from pressure. He has decided not to ride her bareback until he can solve this problem.

Posted on Thursday, Jun 13, 2002 - 9:45 pm:

Hi Katie,
I'd recommend not riding the mare bareback at all until and unless she gains more muscle and padding over her back. a three-year-old horse is still just a teenager, not finished growing to full height and strength, and it sounds like this mare has some catching up to do anyway.

I don't know how heavy your husband is, but I can be pretty certain that a well-fitted saddle will distribute his weight over her back much better than his own two seatbones. When you ride bareback, you're putting a lot of weight in a very small area of the horse's back -- and it's not tied down, so everything shifts around and the horse must constantly try to compensate for the unsteady load by shifting her own balance. A good saddle distributes the weight of the rider properly over a larger area of the back.

When you use a bareback pad, I hope it comes with a girth to keep it in place, but without stirrups so if it slips around you're not going to be trapped in a dangerous position.

Perhaps Dr. O can speak to the idea of a varicose vein. Fine-skinned horses like Arabs and Thoroughbreds often show visible blood vessels just under the surface of the skin -- it's a cooling mechanism during hot weather and exercise -- but I've never heard of varicose veins in horses. I would suspect some sort of traumatic injury.

Good for you for helping to bring the mare into better shape -- it sounds like she's a nice horse.

Sarah

Posted on Friday, Jun 14, 2002 - 12:14 am:

My wife Swentana does horse acupuncture training and professional services. She is not in town now (we are in Columbia, MD). However, she would say that the saddle area is a delicate part of the horse since two (the Bladder and Governing Vessel) of the 14 primary energy meridians pass under the rider. Horses have been known to go into depression or refuse to be ridden when these vital parts become sore--they are critical to the horse's stamina and well-being. Often stagnation and heat develop in these areas and the animal just needs the right kind of attention. My wife does "needleless" acupuncture whereby she is able to dissolve such stagnation without touching the annimal--it is something to witness! We can not be sure just what is happening here but your description sure sounds like this is a case of stagnation or blockage in one or both of these meridians and it is rather common and tends not to go away quickly.

Posted on Friday, Jun 14, 2002 - 7:58 am:

Hello All,
John's statements are certainly examples of "alternative medicine" with no basis that I know of in scientific fact. I just addressed some of this in, Care for Horses: Disease Prevention and Health Care: Forum for topics not covered in the articles and discussions above: Accupressure.

Katie, because of different body types I an having problems picturing your horse. Go to Care for Horses: Disease Prevention and Health Care: Weight, Condition, and Eventual Height Estimation and read the descriptions of body conditions and let me know which fits your horse.

Varicose veins are not likely to occur on the back and would probably represent a congenital malformation. Could you give a better description or a picture would be great.
DrO

Posted on Friday, Jun 14, 2002 - 9:09 am:

What has happened since the vein protruding on her back. My husband rode her a few more time then notice that the bulging vein had disappeared and there was now a swelling right up by her withers and back about 2 inches. It was warm to the touch and very sensitive. Yesterday we noticed that she had been bitten all over this area since we first noticed it, but it is not as sensitive. Perhaps that warm area attracted the flies, I don't know. I will try to get a picture in the next few days. Now she has a bad case of grease heel that we have to doctor. That is amazing because the ground has been bone dry for a week and she just came up with it yesterday. Thanks for all the advice everyone!

Posted on Sunday, Jun 16, 2002 - 7:18 pm:

Since the swelling appear after riding and disappear with rest, it sound more and more like the saddle is irritating your horses back.
DrO
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