White hairs on back - old or new saddle damage?

ladywiththebaby

ladywiththebaby

Active Member
Mar 6, 2007
2,356
0
36
Cambridge
Two people have told me contradictory things so I thought I'd ask the gospel - you lot! :biggrin:

If a horse has white hairs either side of her withers (so presumably damage from an ill fitting saddle) does that mean that the damage is old? One person tells me it takes a long time for the hair to get damaged and grow white and another told me its the opposite??

I am going to get her saddle checked anyway but I just wondered which was right. Say a new saddle doesn't fit, what is the process that takes place that turns the hair white? Would the back be bloody and scabby and then regrows white or is it much more subtle than that? And does it happen fairly quickly or over months and months??
 
When you say 'grow back' does that mean that hair would have been worn away by the saddle first and then regrown or do you just mean grow back as in when hair just regrows when the seasons change?

Should have also said that I'm not talking about one or two white hairs but a patch the size of my palm one side and about half that size on the other side.
 
ladywiththebaby said:
When you say 'grow back' does that mean that hair would have been worn away by the saddle first and then regrown or do you just mean grow back as in when hair just regrows when the seasons change?
Click to expand...

As the seasons change...

For example, my horse has (a few) white marks. He has some on his face under his chin that are lots of white marks, these are from old wounds/cuts and looks like the hair grew back when hair grew back on the healed wound, eg turned white straight away.

He also had severe muscle wastage when I bought him, the hair there grew back his normal chestnut colour but 18 months on there are flecks of white hairs showing in a few parts. They are flecks rather then a solid white patch though.

On his bum since I bought him he has had two big bald spots, over the last 18 months these have started to fill in with chestnut hair and are not white at all at the moment. I assume these will fleck in white hairs after a year or two though.

A cut is more likely to grow back as white hair where as a bald patch is more likely to grow back the normal hair colour but 'might' fleck out white a few years later.

Besides all of these we do still do quite well showing, because his saddle and bridle hide most of them :redface:
 
Also back to your original post, it is possible that pressure from the saddle may 'cause' white hairs. White hairs are basically damage to the hair follicle.

You are also likely to tell from the shape of her back if the saddle is causing a problem and from the fit of the saddle.

Does she have any hollows either side of her shoulder? Is her wither well defined? a pic of her back would be helpful.
 
here's harvey's back for you to see...

when i got him, he had been ridden in a saddle that was far too narrow for him so he had muscle wastage that made his back look like this

012-17.jpg


After a few months of replacing saddle and padding out new saddle to help repair damage

002-1-1.jpg


A bit later on he looked like this

001-13-1.jpg


and late this summer

004-1-1.jpg
 
Wow thats really interesting and amazing to see the improvement. Has that come about simply by having a new saddle and allowing the muscle space to develop? Have these new muscles changed his way of going at all

I am really bad at looking at horses condition but I am told that there is some slight muscle wastage either side of the withers. But she doesn't look as bad as Harveys first picture.

I did take some pictures but I'm struggling to get my head round Photobucket!
 
annie has a patch of baldness with a few white hairs on her nose, its been like this since we got her 18 months ago and hasn't changed at all, we think its from her headcollar being left on her to tightly for a long time, not the most flattering pic of her but its shows her nose
 

Attachments

  • 05092010390.jpg
    05092010390.jpg
    28.8 KB · Views: 8
lol, photobucket can be a bit tempermental. Be good to see some pics if you work it out though.

Yes, he had a new saddle and we worked on building the muscle up. Bareback riding helped a lot too. His new saddle was fitted a little wide to to encourage the muscle to grow, just had several types/thickness of saddle cloth. I bought him a thorowgood T6 3D saddle which meant I could change the gullet as needed as well.

Other things that helped was lots of in-hand walking, especially up and down hills. We also did some lunging and lateral groundwork I don't know if they helped scientifically but they definitely seemed to.

The new muscles have made things a lot easier for him. We used to find right rein canter almost impossible but now we can (just about!) canter 20m circles. He finds laterals easier and holds himself/uses his back end more. He just generally finds work easier and is less tense/stilted. His paces are more flowing and less bunched up. He is also more forward in the sense that he will now go forwards rather then nap or evade. He is also less spooky.
 
Here are Harvey's marks under his chin, he has two both equal lengths on both sides of the underside of his jaw. Would love to know what had caused them!

010-1.jpg


And his bum, taken when I first got him which has since almost completely gone back chestnut colour

013.jpg
 
newrider.com
Top Bottom