Case Study: Saddle fit related swelling on the spine at the thoracic-lumbar junction

GG and Cora

Saddle-related swelling on the spine

After spending nearly fifteen years exploring the horse’s back, it’s unusual to see pathology that I’ve never seen before. Last Saturday, that’s exactly what happened. Here's the entire story...so far.

History

A little more than a week ago, I received a call from a local rider, GG. She recently acquired a Tennessee Walker mare, Cora. The mare came with a raised area on her back but it didn’t seem painful, nor did it concern the veterinarian who conducted the pre-purchase examination.Next, GG spent quite a bit of money on a really good western saddle with the intention of keeping Cora as comfortable as possible. Thinking all was well, GG was quite distressed when she finished a trail ride and removed her supposedly well-fitting saddle to find a contusion on Cora’s spine, right on top of the existing lump. She evaluated the area and concluded that the screws in her flex-tree saddle had pressed directly onto the spine, creating the damage. She asked me to come determine why this saddle didn’t fit, and what Cora might need instead. 


Initial Examination 
I arrived at the barn to meet Cora, a petite mare with a visible swelling at the thoracic-lumbar junction. This is the spot on the loin of the horse where the thoracic vertebrae end and the lumbar vertebrae begin. Pressing on the bump gave the sense of something popping, as though there were nitrogen bubbles in the tissue. The feeling is similar to the crunch of compromised cartilage that can be felt in many aging human knee joints. The mare was not particularly sensitive to palpation of and immediately around the swelling, but did have a mild painful reaction in the Latissiumus Dorsi, or the long back muscles, on the left side of her body. I have never seen a presentation like this before, and had no idea if the problem was primarily muscular or primarily skeletal. Because she did not seem to be in significant pain, we proceeded with the fitting.

Cora’s Saddle Fit Problems

When we examined Cora’s saddle, we found that the tree angles were a poor fit for her shoulders; the tree was too long for her short back, and it was too flat from front to back, resulting in bridging. We were able to find a substitute saddle owned by one of GG’s friends which addressed all of these issues: the tree angles were correct and so there was room for the shoulder; the tree had more rock and so followed the curves of Cora’s back, and the saddle was shorter and so did not extend back past the last true rib.

A Good Pressure Test: Not the whole answer!

We saddled Cora with the test saddle and our Port Lewis Impression Pad to conduct a pressure test of the borrowed saddle. GG rode for the 20 minutes required for a test and I had the opportunity to watch Cora move. She seemed to be a rather tense member of the Walker family, keeping her head fairly high and neck and back tense while she was ridden. She was extremely forward, sometimes even frantic it seemed, scrambling a bit as she rounded corners of the small arena. GG is a balanced and confident rider. The pressure test showed a very even distribution of weight under the saddle with no obvious pressure points.

After unsaddling Cora, I checked the swelling on her back and found that the “crunchy” area, formerly quite small and fixed, was now quite diffuse. The nitrogen bubble effect could now be felt while palpating an area 2” in any direction around the swollen area. It appeared that the pressure of the saddle pad directly on the swelling had caused this effect and we contemplated cutting a large hole in the saddle pad so that were would no longer be pressure directly on the spine. However, before we could do this…

The ReactorPanel Difference

…we decided to try a ReactorPanel saddle on Cora. Though GG has only ridden western in the past, she was curious about our saddles and how they work. Right away GG was intrigued by my ability to create a wide gullet in the rear of the saddle so that I could avoid putting pressure near the damaged area. She got on for a test ride, and after feeling Cora stretch her neck out, relax her back and go extremely quietly and calmly, GG had to give me a hug on my way out of the barn. The transformation was amazing!

Current Status

At present, we do not have a diagnosis for Cora’s back problem. Because it’s so unusual,  I’ve requested to remain involved during the process of exploration with local veterinarians. I also reached out to my friend and brilliant diagnostician, Dr. Kerry Ridgway DVM who provided excellent advice (if anyone reading this would like to know more about the back-and-forth discussions, please email me).

GG has been riding in the ReactorPanel VSD Summit, and is very pleased to report that the swelling on Cora’s back has gone down quite a bit and is, in fact, the best it’s been since she got the horse. She has written me several very touching emails detailing their progress together. While she knows that she has more research and work to do, she clearly expressed her happiness and gratitude for being able to improve her horse’s quality of life through better saddle fit.

Next Steps

I will be attending the meeting with local vet Dr. Diane Isbell for an ultrasound examination tomorrow afternoon, and will keep monitoring GG and her progress with her RP saddle trial. I’ll update this blog with the results of both events!