Harness irritating horse

[Becky Horat]

I consider myself very cautious when fitting harness and cart to our horses. We are constantly checking, adjusting and blancing. So, was disgusted to find after body clipping one of our Minis to find a white hair pattern growing where the saddle would sit. I thought this was sweat marks, but horrified to see it's white hairs. Not sure where to start now. Problem is we use different carts and harnesses on the horses. We do lots of diffferent driving, but mainly trails and hills with this horse. And I clipped him 2 months ago and did not see any signs of this. The carts we've used on him are the Mini Crown (but not so much, as it seems so heavy in the hills for him) and the Silver Penney, wooden wheel EZ entry w/ 26" wheels. This cart seems the best, and lightest well balanced. And my husband and I check our carts with us sitting in them looking for correct ballance. The harnesses we use on him are the Ozark pleasure (w/out tree) that I think fits best. I use a wide, thick/firm pad w/ this. I have been concerned w/ pressure over spine and check it. We also use the Ron's harness saddle that has a tree. Recently bought Comfy fit saddle, but have not used it. The treed saddles have the added padding on the sides and this seems to be where the white hairs are growing. I was worried that when using wrap straps that I get them too tight. I do check them and try to be sure I can pull up a little on shafts...but maybe I've got them too tight. Ron's Harness does not have wrap straps. We have a couple other carts we use at times, but the silver penney is his main cart in the hills as it seems to be better for him. Looking for suggestions. How do you tell where the pressure is (besides the white hairs, of course)? I have put my finges under harness while someone in cart checking for obvious areas. Do the white hairs go away? UGH.

 

[Sue_C.]

Are you using a breeching? if not, try using one, as you can then loosen your girth.

 

[Matthijs]

Interesting, I have no experience with this particular issue but am just thinking that the pad could be the problem as it bridges the gap in the saddle padding at the wither. We use comfy fit harnesses without any extra pads and I do believe a good fitting saddle should not need a pad, or if you need to it should be pulled up in the gap or it will put pressure on the wither just like with a saddle horse.

I hope the problem is as simple as this or something the like, keep us posted!! I would like to hear what you discover.

PS. Did you get the saddle with the sliding back band? I know the comfy fit saddles have nice big gaps for the wither even tough it should sit further back.

Matthijs.

 

[Becky Horat]

Wondering about the pad...thank you. The pad seems to ad so much extra bulk. So with the comfy fit do most people use pads in general? It doesn't seem like the pressure is over the whither area...but along the sides.

Sue C. - yes, we use breeching.

My husband and I are racking our brains on this. OK...how long does it take for white hairs to grow in when there's a problem...probably silly question. We body clipped in August. So, figuring between the last 2 months. We are kind of narrowing it down to a club drive we did. My husband drove this horse w/ the Mini Crown and the Ron's Harness w/ out wrap straps, but over girth. When he was warming up he remembers the shafts seemed to have more play in the tugs than usual and tightened the overstrap. It was a long drive on pavement....not too long, but seemed long. A few hills, but mostly flat. They were pretty sweatty when got back. He's wondering now if he tightened things up too tight. We took a short drive a few days later and he just didnt' seem right. I got out of the cart (going down hills) and checked and loosened breeching...thinking it was too snug and making him move oddly. Watched closely and couldn't put my finger on it...thinking I was imagining things. Checked for tender areas when we got back...which was a only a 30min. drive. Now wondering if this was all related. We took all of our carts out checking balance and thinking of adjusting the Mini Crown. Put all the saddles on him w/out pads to see if I can see any pressure areas.

So, curious if anyone else has had any issues with Ron's Harness or Ozark Pleasure Harness. We've used these harnesses on all 3 of our horses for at least a year w/ same conditions and no problems. And...are pads generally used under the saddles in general. Seems like easier to keep the leather clean too w/ a pad.

Thanks for your imput. It just sickens me to think we're making him uncomfortable, as he works really hard for us.

 

[shorthorsemom]

My instructor had me lose the padding, loosen my girth a bit and rely the balance between the rest of the fittings. I do not have a sliding back band so she has me be careful I do not tie the shafts down too tight, something can rub a bit if you pull down too hard on the belly band vs the tightness of the girth. I had padding under my saddle and she said sometimes the padding can rub a bit. My saddle has padding but has the better fit padding so there isn't a bump. the other thing that can cause problems is if you have the little thingy that attaches from the saddle to the collar too tight, I had to put an extension on mine because with his strides it was pulling the saddle forward too much. Just relating some of my experiences with fit in case anything rings any bells with your set up. You can't beat having somebody else critique your set up too. Photos can help, or hands on with an instructor can help you too. I find sometimes it just takes another set of eyes to see something I missed. good luck. PS, I never had any luck getting the white hairs to go back the other way and turn dark again, had that happen on a saddle mare I had once due to using a thicker saddle pad which made my saddle pinch.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Oh Becky, you and Ted are good horsie parents! You'll find when you meet Kody that he's got a white patch at the root of his mane too, apparently from where a blanket sat too tightly. I check all his blankets and try really hard to rotate the different fits to avoid pressure points but somehow he got a mark when I wasn't looking. Never seemed to bother him and he still welcomes his blankets when it gets cold! Sometimes a particular horse may simply get those marks easier than others just as some horses grey when they get older and others don't- seems to be something about the genes or the color. Don't beat yourself up! Your harnesses all fit pretty well and you obviously take great care with them. Sometimes these things just happen.

How I pad depends on my saddles. For my treeless Ozark carriage harness saddle I always use a pad but prefer a small neat waffle pad with a dense closed-cell foam center that keeps the check hook from pressing through and doesn't break down easily over time. I would not use that saddle without a pad but also wouldn't like it with a big bulky fuzzy pad or one with a thin foam center that would compress down and do almost no good under pressure. On my show saddles I use a low-profile velvet pad with fake sheepskin lining that provides a lot of cushion for the skin. For my ComfyFit saddles I use a Pillow Pad from Camptown or Chimacum which serves to keep them clean, help them stay in place better (the pads are a little grippy) and keeps the saddle from tipping back as they're sometimes prone to do. I do pull the pad up into the gullet enough to follow the shape of the horse's wither just as Matthijs says. I've seen people use short thick pads with the contoured saddles and I always shake my head as to me that makes no sense. They don't need it and it makes the saddle sit up way too high as well as creating a pressure point where the pad ends!

Your pad may or may not be the problem. It could be that your saddle is too narrow through the gullet for your horse, or he may have simply hit a bump and bruised himself somehow that day. Continue what you're doing with running your hand under each of the saddles on his back and feel for pressure points. Take a look at the unpadded saddle and see how it sits on his back. Does it follow the contour of his spine exactly or does it press up against his withers on either side? Sometimes you can flex a metal tree to fit better but be careful about doing so as you don't want to fatigue the metal. I'll take another look for you when I get back, should be another few days. We can go for a drive!

Leia

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

Sunny is starting white hair along this back, too! I think his is caused my the waffle pad I use under my show harness: I've been driving him in both his fine show harness and his CDE harness (Carriages USA) equally, and until I put the waffle pad on last year I never had this problem. He's also got white marks along his poll, too, from a bridle and I KNOW that isn't too tight. I wonder if the extreme heat we had last year has anything to so with this, too....

 

[Becky Horat]

Yes, thought of the pad too. And I did notice a few white hairs where the browband goes....was wondering if it was from that, or a little scratch at some point. Going to look for a thinner pad for sure, as I don't like it so bulky with my new Comfy fit saddle.

 

[Kendra]

I struggle with finding a well fit saddle - one harness I use has too little wither space for Hawk, when he was competing Prelim CDE, and once when I didn't pad it for a pleasure show he ended up with two round welts on top of his withers from the screws - yuck! So then one marathon (a very short one, only 3.5km) I used the Ron's harness, thinking the big tree and all that padding would be the answer. At the end of marathon he had long welts on both sides, at the back of the padding - I felt so bad, and I haven't used the Ron's harness hooked to a cart since, though I use it all the time as a long lining surcingle, that solid tree helps it stay in place nicely. Not to say it wouldn't be perfect for another horse though, my friend has a big withered horse that only can use the Ron's harness. I was searching for the perfect harness saddle for Hawk, but his knee issue came up before I found it and now his CDE days are over.

Now, when we started Hawk's dam in harness, she was doing great until after we body clipped her for the show and then anywhere the harness touched her she ended up with welts, and we decided that she was a princess, not a driving horse. ;-) So it's possible that Hawk inherited some of her sensitivity, and it's possible that your guy is the sort that gets white hairs from pressure that another horse wouldn't even notice.