saddling

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Helyn Marie Cornille on December 3, 2009 at 3:13pm

Hi Margaret

I would suggest to look deeper into the horse's changes. If I understand what you describe, the weight is greater on one shoulder. This might result from unevenness in lateral bending or transversal rotation, or both. In equine, Lateral bending of the vertebral column is always associated with a movement of transversal rotation and vice versa. At the walk and at the trot, there are two lateral bending and therefore two transversal rotations per stride. If lateral bending or transversal rotation is greater in one side, the thrust generated by the hind leg will load one shoulder more than the other. The horse does not work a problem but rather protects it. There is therefore an evolving process which does not hamper the horse's gaits or create pain in the back until the day it does. This day may not be the result of what happened the day before but rather an evolution that started months or even years earlier.
Jean Luc

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Margaret Kunz on December 4, 2009 at 1:51am

The weight is indeed greater into the left forearm and the muscling behind the left scapula is greater than the right. The horse has trouble adducting with the left forearm. His tendency is to trot right with the right hind quarter slightly right and his head and neck bent left. Recently canter right(with a rider but not without) has become more difficult to get into and quite difficult to maintain.
I tried two different saddles today...one much wider and one the same size the horse is used to but with a different weight distribution and each enabled him to move slightly better with greater willingness to canter right. I will 'buy more time' with a more comfortable saddle for him while I work out the imbalances and get back to you on how we are doing. Thank you for your input.

▶ Reply to This