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Loin Rubs and Rear Rough Spots
By Richard Sacks
Loin rubs are not an uncommon problem with a variety of saddle pads. The Ride Camp forum on Endurance.net has discussed this many times every spring and fall. It can occur with a Skito, Supracor, EquiPedic, Dixie Midnight, plain felt, plain wool, or just about any pad. It only seems to occur during the early spring and fall/winter seasons when the horse's coat is changing. The consensus is that it can be caused by a number of different reasons:
- The varying length of the hairs during shedding and new growth periods will tend to cause the hair to rub against a saddle pad because of the horse's hip movements.
- Some riders tend to lean forward in the saddle and by doing so cause the back of the saddle to tilt up slightly. This will cause the pad to float above the horse just slightly causing a rubbing motion side to side. The fact that it is seasonal appears to be related to the additional friction of a floating pad pulling the hair out that would normally shed more slowly.
- Some riders tend to sit way back when riding creating more pressure in the loin area. Again because of the seasonal nature of hair growth the effects of the rider position are more clearly seen.
- The rubs can be more prevalent on one side or the other dependent on the rider's equitation.
- The effect appears to be more common in Arabs and gaited horses because they tend to swing their hips more than others although it can occur in any type of horse.
- The effect is not related to any one saddle either. It can occur with a treed saddle, a panel saddle (OrthoFlex, Reactor Panel), or a treeless saddle (BareFoot, Ansur).
- The consensus again for solutions is pretty consistent. If the rubs are severe (more than the size of a dime), stop riding for a period of time and let the hair begin to grow back. It will grow back and the problem will go away as the coat changes.
- Future prevention is pretty much agreed on also. Spraying Show Sheen on the loin area where the rubs occur will prevent them from expanding if you do it early enough (before they become more than dime size). Horses that are clipped regularly don't seem to develop the problem. This can be a solution depending on the weather conditions where one lives. Finally, adjusting one's seat (equitation) will prevent this from happening again.
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