Hair rubbing on one side of horse at the back of the saddle

[chatterbox]

Hi I havnt been on here for sometime. Feeling really fed up my horse who I have only had 4 months has a rub on her back more on 1 side where the back of the panel sits. I have had my saddler out and he said the saddle had settled and needed reflocking so had that done. I usualy used lambskin numnahs but have swapped to a cotton one to see if any improvement. I do have a slight scoliosis so sit one sided and I'm convinced this is causing the rubbing and that I should give up riding. Has anyone had any experiences of such things please. I do go to a chiropractor every 8 weeks and I do have my horses back done every 3 months and my saddles checked regularly and have a fab instructor

[kristine]

Years ago, I rode in a clinic with Daniel Stewart. His whole approach centers around correcting OUR crookedness to straighten out our horses performance. It was fascinating! His work might be worth a look for you His Ride Right book is on Amazon very reasonably priced.

[jen526]

Firstly, what a lovely considerate owner you are, looking at all the possible reasons including yourself.
Does your saddler know you are not even with your weight? Does your physio know the affect its having on your riding?
Following an accident I too have my weight to the right, still ongoing with the physio, working our way through various things that may help. No magic wand, but showing yr physio a photo of you on board will help him/her understand and likewise, your saddler may be able yo help your horse whilst you work your way through x this.

[antares]

Rubs can happen very easily, if the horse is having physio often and they haven't found any sore points then I doubt you're causing too much damage. I'd keep my eye on things after the saddle reflock and see what happens.

We are all at least a little one sided even without scoliosis or bad injuries. My instructor tells me to sit on my left seatbone and I struggle to find it! In addition, the horse is one sided too so there may be something to work on with the horse 's flexibility which might also help

Good idea to take photos or videos and show them to your chiro as sometimes our real crooked moments only show up at times when we put strain on our bodies.

[chatterbox]

Thank you for your advice. I will keep an eye on the saddle now it has been reflocked to be honest I feel it moves to much and I don't really like it but as the sadler I went to only had it to fit my horse I was a little stuck. But think I will lok into changing the saddle. I have also booked on a rider assessment session but not till February as that is when the lady will be back in Lincolnshire. Its such a shame as ive only had her four months and was just getting used to her but feel I don't want to ride her a lot now incase she gets rubbed raw

[mjcssjw2]

mmm, what does your instructor say? many riders sit to in side and the horses seem unaffected - when I have been judging dressage i have positively cringed at how bad some people are.
I have a bit of a problem with my left side - but know about it - I regularly see a chiro as does the horse - have bought my horse one of those equilibrium massage pads , try to keep my weight down.
I would think that your horse would be better able to deal with this in a fitter state, so I would think it would be better to keep on with some work.
I think its a good idea to do the video and then you can see how it looks.
Sally Swift is another person who i think had scoliosis and was an instructor - her books are really good with regards to trying to right straighter.
I would expect the sheepskin would be better for the hair that cotton, but you will have to see.
Hope some of that helps

[chatterbox]

Thank you I have done dressage for years and I have not been commented on for sitting too badly. I usually get a 7 for my position and gain decent scores.

[kristine]

The really hard thing to learn with Daniel Stewart was just HOW crooked we all are. He was able to show us how our horses compensate for it and how confusing it must be for them to have to work it out. Mind blowing amount of information... good luck!