[Clementine]

Ugh, another issue. I've had Jazz on lease for a little over a month now. In the past three days, I noticed something odd. On Saturday, after I rode him, I removed his tack, and started to brush him down, and that's when I noticed it. 'It' is a small bump, about the diameter of a penny, somewhere around 6" down his back from the withers, and to the left of his spine. It is not squishy, but does not seem hard enough to be a bone either. I poked and prodded and put pressure on it, and his expression didn't change, nor did he flinch, so I don't think it is painful for him, so I decided that it was probably no big deal, but to keep an eye on it. When I went back today (Monday), I felt all along his back, looked at it from every angle, and the offending lump seemed to be completely gone. I was very pleased. We went for a short ride (about 30 minutes) of light jumping, cooled out, and came back in. I untacked him, and there 'It' was again - the lump. Same size, same location.

The saddle that I have been borrowing from his owner does not fit him. It is two wide in front, and fits completely weird - I bought a half pad for it, which I thought had resolved most of the issues, but I'm pretty sure that this has to do with saddle fit, since it is only appearing after I ride him, and then resolving itself before the next ride. Now, the saddle doesn't fit, but it's problem is that it is too wide, particularly in front - and it does not come anywhere near touching his spine (or just next to it) in any way, shape, or form. I have two hypothesis' about this. #1 is that it is a pocket of liquid in response to a pressure point (perhaps even next to the lump, pushing it over, who knows), #2 is that it is a muscle misplaced by the pressure of the saddle.

I just bought a new saddle (got a like-new, name brand cheap off of ebay), and I'm praying it will fit him. I won't find out until next week though, because that's how long it takes to ship the saddle from Florida, to Ohio. So, in the meantime, I'm obviously not going to ride him in that saddle. We'll do some lunge line work, maybe take some walks (weather permitting), and I'll spend the rest of my allotted time with him giving him massages and generally spoiling him. I don't really mind not riding, I just love to spend time with him - my first and foremost concerns are his health and comfort. All of my local horse people that I have asked so far agree it's probably the saddle, but have no idea what exactly is going on - this forum has never failed me yet, so, does anyone know what this could be???

 

[riccil0ve]

I'm really not sure, but I'm interested to see what other people say.

I do just want to throw in this little tid-bit. Extra padding will very rarely make a saddle fit better or feel more comfortable and more often than not just moves the pressure point to a different part of the saddle. Just some food for thought. =]

 

[smrobs]

What you have already suggested sounds pretty reasonable to me. I hope the new saddle fits him better. Have you considered doing a bit of bareback work just to see if it might be something to do with the way he is carrying himself or just the work of being ridden in general that could be raising the bump?

 

[Clementine]

Have you considered doing a bit of bareback work just to see if it might be something to do with the way he is carrying himself or just the work of being ridden in general that could be raising the bump?

I haven't done that yet, and though I was planning to do something along those lines, it looks like I won't get a chance for another week or two - Jazz came in today with a huge scrape on his front leg (we think one of his pasturemates kicked him), and he's a little lame on it.

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[horsesroqke]

Not good

Anyway, im not sure either, (lol), just curious to see what others say.
Sorry about Jazz, and good luck with the new saddle

 

[Mare in foal]

I'm very curious to what other people have to say! My horse has the same problem, exept he gets two or tree always in the same spot and they go away after a few hours. I've poked them before too and he didnt even notice... hmmm

 

[Clementine]

Update: I rode him yesterday in a super-wide borrowed saddle, and a (also borrowed) Parelli Theraflex Self-Inflating Pad - and there was no bump after our ride! I hadn't ridden him in a week and a half because I refused to put that **** saddle (which I did not buy BTW, it's his saddle that his owner let me borrow) back on him. So either it sort of resolved itself in the last week, or it was just the saddle.