(Untitled)

[summerhorse]

(x-posted)Question... it may be just my lack of western saddling experience so excuse my ignorance... but Jesse is getting rub marks on his hips where the saddle pad sits. It's only made itself noticable with his new summer coat, it seems, since all winter with the same saddle/pad there was no marks, but I remember him having rub marks last summer

Comments

[harnessphoto]

i'm an english rider, so i may be way off mark... is that how far the pad sits the whole time or does it slide and end up there? is there a way to keep it a few inches further forward? do they come in smaller sizes? maybe if it didn't go all the way back to his hips it wouldn't rub him? the saddle isn't at the end of the pad, so i assume it doesn't need to go that far back to protect him. am i wrong?

[candysgirl]

Try finding a saddle pad meant for Arabs. Arabs have shorter backs than other breeds so many people use shorter saddles/saddle pads pads for them. From my admittedly limited Western riding experience I'd say you just need a shorter saddle pad. For short backed Arabs the recommendation is a saddle that is no longer than 26". Not sure how long an Abetta is, but the Western Wintec I got fits the bill at 26". I did get a regular sized pad for it though. I'll have to see if the pad fits him okay when he's full grown.

Or here's another thought. Put a thin pad liner under it that is longer than the regular pad. They don't really add bulk and if the main saddle pad is rubbing on the liner instead of his hips it may solve the problem.

However, if all its doing is rubbing hair off it may not be causing any real problem. Does it interfere with his movement at all? Does it cause actual sores on the skin? Or does he just lose hair?

[penella22]

that was my first thought too...rub marks so far back says to me he needs something shorter. Pretty easily fixable at least.

[tabascokat]

I tend to say
1) the pad opnly needs to be a hair bigger than the saddle (yours is way bigger)
2) on the other hand, if it's jsut fur, and no worse, I'm not sure how quick I'd be to get a new one -not like a dire emergency type of thing.

[lantairvlea]

Generally you want a pad or saddle that stays in front of the hips. As the horse's hip sticks out it can create a pressure point and thus the rubbing. Do the hairs appear clipped or scrunched and abused? I know excessive crushing can destroy the pigment in hair, but I don't think you'll have the problem here.

I think you just need to find a short, possibly round pad, but one that is a good three, maybe four inches shorter as it appears you have a couple inches out front as well as behind. Of course you could try just cutting the pad shorter, but you'd have frayed ends and all that to deal with. I don't think it's imperative that you get a new one right this second, but when you can.