Before we bought my horse, she was being ridden with a saddle that was too narrow (being a Haflinger, that isn't hard to do!), and now she has two white spots on either side of her withers, because that is where the pressure was. It's more like a lot of white hairs, so it looks kinda like a tiny patch of strawberry roan. They look really bad, especially since she is flaxen chestnut, they just stand out. Is there anyway I can get rid of them? Like, clipping there, or a lot of grooming, or what? She is loosing her winter coat now, so will that help? Or are they there forever? Thanks!
Well, there is way if you could find someone with the ability and willing to do it. But would you really want to spend the money and is it really worth it.
As everyone has pointed out, it's the damage done to the skin and hair follicles at those points. It is possible to remove that section of skin and stitch the none damage sections together, but you'll be left with scars. The other option isn't much better. You can have the "now" white follicles individually removed and replaced with follicles of the normal color hair harvested from another location.
Neither would be something to recommend. The damage to the follicles is done. Just don't add any more and the horse will be ok. Look at it as constant reminder of why a proper saddle fit is important.
They're there forever. My mare has them as well on the sides of her wither from an old synthetic saddle that stretched out during her pregnancy and on her girth-area from an allergic reaction to a girth.
Just get used to them, lol... They really aren't -that- bad...
They could possibly, and this is rare, go away IF they are not severe. I have a stallion here that had two on his back, just behind the withers, from a ill fitting harness and they did go away after the harness was no longer being used. These were something that showed up in a very short period of time and the harness was used a lot but not for a lengthy period of time. They went away by the next summer when we clipped him again.
This is not common for the skin to repair itself, but it is possible. They are no big deal if they do not go away.
They MIGHT go away if the spots aren't that bad and haven't been caused for a huge period of time. The reason I know is that I had a heck of a time getting a western saddle to fit my short backed wide mustang. (In a lot of ways he is built like a Haflinger). Every 6 months to a year I would get a new saddle, think it's a good fit, and by the end of the riding season white "roaning" would start showing up in various places. One saddle would cause hairs at the back of the tree, the other at the withers, one at the rigging, etc.
But the cool thing is, when I got rid of the offending saddle and his summer/winter coat shed out, the white hairs would shed out with it. The only white marks that stayed were there when I bought him, from a cinch gall. But his back is fine.
So, no promises, but if the damage isn't too bad you might be pleasantly surprised this summer when he sheds out.
However, I do have a friend whose saddles caused permanent marks. :-(
My dark bay horse got white rings underneath the cinch rings. I changed saddles and cinches and sprayed the area with Schreiner's after every ride and rubbed it in hard. The rings went away leaving only a few white hairs. Nobody believed it would happen.
Hmmm I have been wondering this too. I got a new saddle for Hunter last June and the pad I was using wasn't thick enough. White areas showed up on his sides and back in August/September. I have since started using an awesome theraputic pad and he is hairy as a yak right now so will be interesting to see if they go away or not. At least you cant see them when he is tacked up.
My horse has had them for over 8 years. Since the day I met him.
His old owners said they were from an ill fitting saddle.
I had an old friend tell me that they could be shaved down to the skin during fall when their winter coat was growing in, then with help of some vitamin E oil they should grow back it's normal color.
Personally, I would not do this to mine. We ride too much and shaved spots would make riding uncomfortable. However, it may be something to look into if they bother you that much.
It seems that some horses get them extremely easy. My colt is a little odd colored with a beautiful sorrel coat and a perfectly roan hind leg. He had a spot on his nose and a perfect white spot on his cinch line when I bought him. Any bit of damage on him seems to come back either roan or white.
I rode him bareback with his winter coat and he developed large white spots. Then I really wanted to try one of those tacky reinsman pads and I noticed a little pulling so I bought a different pad. He has really dramatic white and roan spots now from that pad. My daughters horse has used the pad since and it hasn't even pulled a hair. I worry that there will always be something marking him up, but I don't think of him as any less for the spots. I just worry people will see them when he is old and think he was rode to death. Lol Or maybe I could do like the previous poster said and call him a paint. Lol
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