rubbing her the wrong way

[Paul L Muller]

I have an issue I have not had before with other horses and thought I'd ask ... I ride an Arab mare and the cinch rubs the hairs off behind her front leg only on the right side about the size of a half dollar. I tryed felt cinchs, wool webbing, canvac and canvas with sheeps wool attatched. Any thoughts? plm

[Forrestcavalryman]

Re: rubbing her the wrong way

Have you tried pulling her front legs out after you cinch the girth? I used to have the same problem with my mare and ever since I've started that I've had no problems at all.

[Mark Choate]

Re: rubbing her the wrong way

Paul,
I had a horse once was more narrow in the front than most and if I placed the saddle in the typical position (in relation to the withers and the back) he would tend to chafe right in the area you describe. I found that moving the saddle back just a bit would help. Andrew's suggestion of stretching that leg up and forward ought to help, too.

One question, is the horse a bit overweight or lean?

regards,
Mark

[Ken Knopp]

Re: rubbing her the wrong way

Paul, what Mark and Andrew suggest is the best preventative and healing measures. However, if the cinch is still in contact or even close to the raw area try this...... PUt some furacin or corona on the wound then take a folded cotton cloth that is larger than the sore area. Apply some vaseline liberaly to cloth and keep it between the wound and the cinch. Keep the area well greased up with medicine and vaseline. This allows some medicated protection but less friction. Depending upon how deep the wound and how much flesh is rubbed raw this helps but in any case it is best to allow a few days for the skin to rejunvenate before doing this. In any event, you will likely have to continue this application until it thoroughly heals. Eventually, the horse will acquire some caluses in that area. Good Luck!!

Ken R Knoppp

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: rubbing her the wrong way

Hallo!

Just an aside...
If the Arabian in "typical' and has 5 lumbar vertebrae instead of the usual 6, and 17 pairs of ribs rather than usual 18, the Mac saddle and girth may just not "sit" in the right place or way to avoid rubbing on the leg?

Curt

[TexCavly]

Re: rubbing her the wrong way

Curt, I think you're on to something. I have a friend who has the same problem with his Arab.

[Paul L Muller]

Re: rubbing her the wrong way

All great advice, and I do thank you all. I use "bag Balm" on the sore but the cloth is a good idea. I also never would have thought of streching out the leg to draw that loose skin forward, but where do I take her to have those pesky vertibra installed? plm

[Old-South]

Re: rubbing her the wrong way

I have a similar problem with a light framed TWH mare. I switched to a cotton rope girth and that fixed it for me. However, I will also incorporate the leg stretch into the equation. I might be able to switch back to the wool girth. Of course I am referring to modern tack which could get me dumped by the evil cav moderator ;-)

[Mark Choate]

Re: rubbing her the wrong way

Got you in my cross-hairs, Jeff. Just waitin' to pull the trigger, ha. :wink_smil

Mark

[Old-South]

Re: rubbing her the wrong way

Did I tell you that is a splendid quote!

[The Egyptian Homeguard]

Re: rubbing her the wrong way

Something else, there are fellas out there making period correct horsehair cinches... I've never heard of horsehair rubbing a horse wrong. Although, they are used with western type saddles and streching out the legs is still a good idea. I try to do it every time I ride. Z