The results of the study are pretty amazing -- here's a quick summary:
The saddle consistently slipped to one side in 54% of horses with hind limb lameness, compared with 4% of horses with fore limb lameness, 0% with back pain and/or sacroiliac joint region pain and 0% of non-lame horses. Diagnostic analgesia was subsequently used to abolish the hind limb lameness and this eliminated the saddle slip in 97% of cases.
Hard to argue with that kind of data, isn't it? Boy, if they can replicate this in future studies it'll give new significance to saddle instability. We won't be turning to catalogs for a new saddle pad, we'll be dialing the phone to call our vet.
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I know my Chance has an issue with his one hind leg, and sure enough, the saddle slips on him. My vet believes getting him fit keeps him sound and once again, the more he works the less slippage I have.
ReplyDeleteNote here that with a treeless saddle these issues are much more quickly noticed. Makes me wonder if some of the saddle fit issues people have are a result of slippage, but the tree catches the wither and makes the saddle press there making the horse sore someplace else besides where its lameness is. (Hope that made sense.)
Hmm, that is really interesting. When my friend and I are riding her horses, her saddle always slips horribly on her little QH. I always figured it was due to rider imbalance as he's never seemed the least bit off. Now I will have reassess the situation, and maybe say something to her. Thanks for info!
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