It's The Little Things.....

Welcome to the conscientious horse owners who follow my posts. By now you appreciate the importance of having your saddle correctly fitted and regularly checked, the changes in a horse's performance in different girths, that fitting the bit and choosing one suitable for the anatomy of your horses mouth and also how bridle fits can be hugely influential in your horses way of going. I am delighted that more and more people are taking note and action to give their horse maximum comfort and therefore enhanced performance.  

All of this is excellent, but sometimes,  by only looking at the bigger picture, it's the little things that get missed. Let’s start with putting the bridle on. I am always careful to ensure that all of the mane and forelock are pulled through evenly so that no hairs are caught up that might pull and cause discomfort.  Personally, I like to clip a bridle path in the mane to make this easier to achieve but I know that some don't like this, whilst others can’t because of showing requirements such as in M & M classes. In such cases extra care must be taken over this. Also, as it becomes less acceptable to trim a horse's whiskers, please make sure that any straps from nose bands around the muzzle are not catching or pulling any of the whiskers.  If this area and the whiskers are considered so sensitive that it is sometimes considered cruelty to remove them, surely it is doubly important to check this!

Whilst we are on the subject of bridles, please double check that the browband is big enough.  So often they are not, and this just pulls the headpiece into the bulbs of the ears. Also, some of the modern, fashionable bridles seem to have a very strange shape in the headpiece,  the cut away is above the ears and the leather then comes forward directly into the back of the ear! ?? Anyone worked out why? Me neither, but do have a very good look at your latest purchase, to check that the shaping actually follows the shape of your horse’s head. Look at symmetry as well; all buckles to sit as level as possible and ideally you want twin fastening on nosebands to ensure even, symmetrical fastening.  

Despite my advising that elastic-ended girths really aren't very good for your horse I know that many people still use them. Some of these girths have a pad behind the elastic, which can get wrinkled up when the girth is tightened.  Often, in the initial fastening this is smoothed out, but so often the rider will then get on and tighten the girth.  No smoothing out now. Just a block of pressure under the girth in an area where the skin is quite thin and there is little covering to the ribs. There is also a lot of movement here. Ouch!

Whilst talking of girths, for many years it was thought to be good practice to pull your horse's front legs right forward ‘to remove any wrinkles in the skin under the girth.’ We now know that this just pulls flesh in front of the girth, blocking it there. This actually causes girth galls in many cases rather than preventing them. The first few steps once you are on board will remove any creases in the skin but, if you want to be sure, just lead the horse for a minute or so before mounting.

Please try to girth up as evenly as possible, no more than one hole different side to side. We are becoming more and more aware of the effect of symmetry on the horse's way of going. Of course, girths with elastic one end can never give a symmetrical hold. I rest my case.

Back to girthing up the saddle. The saddle cloth or numnah will have been lifted into the gullet of the saddle and the cloth beneath the girth smoothed out (I hope), but again, once the rider is on and tightens the girth the cloth can ruck up causing an area of excessive pressure. I am assuming that our C.R. (conscientious rider) has already made sure that any decorative piping does not run beneath the girth and that there is a gap in such piping to allow for this. I am also assuming that they have checked that the saddle doesn't sit on such piping at the back, nor that it is under the saddle at the front by the knee rolls. Also, it will have been checked that the cloth, pad or numnah is big enough, so that at no point do the outer edges of the cloth come beneath the bearing area of the saddle.  If you have sheepskin saddle pads, also check that they haven't shrunk a bit so that the sheepskin roll at the back of the pad is actually under the bearing area of the saddle.  Pressure points again.

Mounting. Has everyone seen the film on YouTube of someone mounting their rather tall horse from the ground, with a mounting block and with a leg up? Well worth a look as it shows the pressures exerted by each method, and some of the readings are pretty horrific. Please train your horses to stand by a block to let you mount. Whilst the pressures are still high, they are for a much shorter duration.  The young and athletic amongst us can just step onto the horse from the block without putting a foot in the stirrup.  This gave by far the best reading but few of us would be nimble or brave enough to do it this way. 

So there you have it. Even if our C.R. has taken great pains to ensure that all of their tack fits, lack of attention whilst tacking up and mounting can still cause harm or discomfort to your horse. Please bear this in mind.