First Thought Equine Ltd
Soft Tissue Swellings on Horse'sSpines
We have heard of a handful of horses that develop soft swellings on their spines after being ridden. These cases have occurred with Flair and with flocked saddles. When we had the first report of one occurring with Flair we were obviously very concerned and spoke with numerous vets in the UK and with several leading physiotherapists. This “paper” is not concerned with hard swellings, only soft swellings that do not cause pain when palpated.
Later on we purchased a horse which in the first six months of our ownership occasionally showed the same problem. This horse actually gave us the chance to study (in a subjective and not very scientific manner) the problem.
As a result of our own findings and the discussions we have had with vets, other saddlers and physiotherapists the problem no longer worries us as itappears to be "one of those things " which no one can fully explain, but which usually goes away with the work/action suggested below.
On every occasion the horse appears not find the soft swelling painful if palpated. It is however worrying because as an owner one tends to think that it may lead to future problems and deteriorating performance due to pain and one worries that it is due to ill fitting saddles, rollers or rugs.
The theory which everyone seems to favour is as follows:
The problem tends to show itself in horses doing work of a longer duration than they are usually used to (i.e. a longer weekend ride rather than a weekday "around the block" fitness ride)or when they are starting work after a period without work, changing owner, change of saddle etc. It often happens with horse doing endurance work when the rider moves from doing say 20 mile rides up to 40 miles without having done sufficient preparation work for the longer distance and generally in summer (hotter weather), or with hunters being brought up off grass. It also tends to show itself on horses where the saddle appears, and does, fit very well.
It is thought that the horse has a very small cell wall weakness in the soft tissues along the bearing surface of the back. This weakness may have been caused originally by bruising i.e. rolling on a stone when in a field or a bite by another horse when self grooming or, the horse may just have been born with it. The weakness is not life threatening and would normally not manifest itself, cannot be felt and does create pain for the horse.
When one starts working the horse its blood pressure will rise proportionately to the fitness of the horse, the amount of work it is doing and the temperature of both the horse and the environment the horse is working in. The heart will beat harder increasing the speed of circulation of the blood flow responding to the work being demanded of the horse and also its stress levels.
The saddle exerts pressure on the horses back. The better the fit the more even the pressure. With Flair the saddle exerts low but very consistent even pressure across the whole of the bearing surface because the panel can flex and mould with the movement of the horse's back muscles. Very soft flocked panels will initially mould to the horse also creating a good bearing surface if flocked correctly. The better the fit the more even the pressure.
With a normal flocked panel, the flocking will eventually “ball” and become harder where compressed and so no longer mould to the changing shape of the horse’s muscles. Accordingly, the pressure will vary across the panel because flocking cannot mould as the horse changes shape (as the horse moves and the back muscles constrict and extend so touching and then not touching the saddle panel). The older the flocking and on saddles that do not fit at all due to panel design the less even the pressure of the panel bearing surface on the horse’s back.
Due to the increased blood pressure the blood plasma (clear fluid)in the bloodstream may leak slightly from the capillaries where there is a slight tissue weakness. Due to the even pressure bearing on the horse's back this fluid moves to the area of least resistance which may be either the tissues over the spine where the saddle doesn't touch due to the gullet clearance or occasionally to an area adjacent the saddle's bearing surface - for instance on some saddles the gap between the sweep of the flap and the panel.
Placing a numnah or pad under the saddle may or may not make the swellings disappear or simply move the swelling to a different location. Placing pads under the saddle will effect the fit of the saddle and often actually reduces the consistency of the bearing surface so creating high and low pressure points which will be more uncomfortable for the horse but possibly allows plasma leakage to disperse without creating a visible swelling. Alternatively and probably more likely, the numnah by being pulled tight over the horse's spine creates enough high pressure to prevent the swellings accumulating there in the first place.
The swellings caused by such plasma leakage tend to disperse slowly over a period of time (approx. 20 minutes-4 hours on average) as the fluid is reabsorbed into the capillaries when the blood pressure and heart rate reduces after exercise.
As the horse gets fitter the problem appears to decrease or not appear presumably because the blood pressure is not so high in stressful work.
On our own horse we found the swellings happened initially with early work in a close contact foam saddle with sheep skin numnah, in a newly flocked saddle and in a Flair converted saddle. After approximately five weeks they reduced and then disappeared but reappeared when ever she had had time off work – (more than three weeks).
So how to stop these swellings?
As they tend to result when the saddle fits and cause no pain the "experts" say do not worry too much. However one still tends to worry despite the fact the horse does not seem to mind them being prodded etc. We found that if we loosened off the girth progressively for the last section of the ride the swellings did not occur - presumably because the pressure is being released allowing the fluids to disperse.
When we were young we were taught to loosen the girth for the last 10 minutes of the ride – especially walking home after a day’s hunting - or if schooling to "walk the horse down" with a slack girth until the horse was cool and breathing normally after the schooling had been completed. These days people including us tend to be more time conscious and one has to be disciplined to ensure one finds time to do it. Doing so certainly resolved the problem in our case and apparently in the case of the other people to whom we have spoken about this.
If it does not work or your horse is tender in the area then obviously you need to speak with both your saddler and then your vet. Hard bumps under the saddle are generally a greater cause for concern usually caused by fly bites or accumulation of sweat or blocked sweat glands and a vet should be consulted.
A practical exampleof what is happening
If you pricked the end of your thumb with a needle. It will bleed. Once it has stopped bleeding you cannot see the puncture wound. However, wrap the thumb and forefinger of the other hand around the pricked thumb encircling the end and apply even low pressure. You will see that the wound starts to weep clear fluid or even blood depending how long after pricking. Your thumb will become redder in colour.
You have increased the blood pressure at the end of your thumb. Blood gets pumped into the end of your thumb but has a harder time getting out! Exactly the same as the lumps in the gullet of your saddle where it does not touch the horse. The pressure is increased by the fact you have two panels either side of the spine that, when fitting correctly give a constant even low pressure either side of the spine. Just like the fingers encircling your pricked thumb. The weeping liquid is the same as what happens into the damage tissue in the gullet of the saddle.
If your saddle does not fit the pressure is the same as if you squeezed and released your fingers constantly. In this scenario you would have to squeeze very hard all round the quickly and release to make the thumb weep. Something an ill-fitting saddle does not do. An ill fitting saddle would be like pressing hard on one side of the pricked thumb then the other. The thumb does not bleed.
So in a nutshell lumps near the spine and not under the panel, saddle fits; leave well alone.
If you are still in doubt put a headplate 2 sizes wider than your horse should have and ride it. You will see no lumps. The saddle does not fit anymore and your horse will eventually have a sore back but you will not have any lumps!
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