Hello folks. Need some advice and ideas here.
I ride in an Albion dressage saddle, which we have professionally re-fitted and re-flocked every year. The saddle fitter recommended that I use a Thinline pad when I use it with my Cloud Nine pad, since the Cloud Nine is often slippery when clean and dry. That's worked well, and we've logged hundreds of training miles and a 50 mile endurance ride in the heat with this ensemble without incident.
This spring, we headed south, did a bunch of conditioning miles in FL (hot!), then headed up to Leatherwood and after a week of conditioning in the mountains without incident, did 25 miles there. While my horse has very sensitive skin, his back was all As throughout. Looked great afterward, not sore at all. Unfortunately, about 6 hours after the ride, he got raised areas throughout his back area, and it felt "crusty", much like rain rot. He did NOT want it touched.
The sore areas, particularly the sorest and crustiest spot, wasn't in a location you'd expect to be a pressure point -- it was up closer to the spine (where the saddle gullet is) and forward of where the panels rest. Our vet took a look, figured an infection of some sort, and I did the Betadine wash, Panalog ointment routine.
That was three weeks ago. The sorest spot (about 1 inch diameter) lost it's hair, and is still pinkish, tho not sensitive. I tried riding with a bunch of Vaseline on the spot to keep it from getting rubbed, just for a quick 15 minutes, and while the spot didn't become raw, it felt a bit warmer the next morning, so I'm out of the saddle again. His back does not seem to be sore.
The worst part is that there is now some very slight crustiness, and a tiny bit of hair loss under the stirrup leather bars (where I would have expected it).
So, what is going on here? Ideas? Causes? (Heat, pressure, friction, reaction to the pad?) Treatments? Ways to exercise this rather fit horse without actually riding him? (Or ways I can ride him while this continues to heal?) Any way to toughen the back skin, if indeed this is just a reaction by sensitive skin? By nature, this horse has fairly lousy skin, so I'm all ears for ideas that you might have, or just emails indicating that you've "been there, done that" and how you got it resolved.
We have an appointment with the saddle fitter in less than a month, so will get the saddle fit checked, of course.
Ugh, saddles! (I guess I'm about due, have had two uneventful years riding in the same saddle. LOL)
Thanks much in advance.
--Patti (in western NY)
