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[RC] RC--DM Pad and Loin Rub - dixie midnightMiss Lucy--Hi!First, thank you for getting a Genuine, Original Dixie Midnight No-Sweat vent pad! Second, your post is edit/copied below. Third, Lemme see if I can help a bit with your horse's loin-rubbing situation, if you wouldn't mind... Of course, you know that I've been riding with my No-Sweat for years and years and years, on the same horse, same tack, same everything, with absolutely NO problems whatsoever when, all of a sudden I got EXACTLY what you got. In the early fall. In Florida. Winter hairs are peeking up, old-growth summer hairs are thinking about falling out. This was about six or seven years ago, and it drove me stark, raving NUTZ! AAAGGGHHH!!! What have I DONE!?!?!? His loin-hairs looked like somebody shaved him with a clippers. No skin showing, just really short hairs. First thing I did was check the No-Sweat! Nope, that wasn't it. Plenty soft, plenty flexible, looked and felt like new. Then I sat down and thought about how the saddle works on the horse's back. It's cinched on, then this RIDER gets on top of the saddle on top of the horse. If you visualize this in your mind, you can see for yourself how I figured this out. The only way a horse can get rubs is from pressure, right? If the saddle fits properly, then there's no untoward pressure on the horse, right? Here's the revelation part: WRONG!!! Pressure from the saddle to the horse's back can come from two OTHER places! 1) The horse's muscling/conformational changes over a conditioning program's time can actually change his shape so the saddle is not fitting him all-over any more. I have found that the absolute BEST way to check this is with an Equimeasure Kit. Okay, okay, it's not cheap, but it REALLY works! I don't own any part of that company, and have no interest in it whatsoever, but by golly, they make a really good product, and I recommend it highly. Check your saddle fit. Yes...even with a BM Treeless. Trust me on this one. My wife's been riding hers for nearly ten years, and IT DOESN'T FIT HER MARE ANY MORE! (Backbone/loin muscles) Thanks to the Equimeasure! 2) The rider's position in the saddle does more to create soring and rubs than even poor saddle fits do! Okay, call me nutz, but think about it for a minute...if, for whatever reason, a rider changes their position to more forward, they'll get withers and shoulder soring/rubs, because MORE PRESSURE is placed on the forward part of the saddle; treed or treeless, pressure is pressure. And...if a rider settles back and pushes their rear end into the cantle, or rides with an arched back, there'll be more pressure on the rearward part of the saddle, which creates the loin-rubs! Even if the saddle is a perfect fit, the rider has to be BALANCED TO THE DESIGN OF THE SADDLE for it to work properly! That was where my horse's loin-rubs came from. I was shoving my feet and legs WAY far forward, jamming my tee-eye-enshun into the cantle, (treed reining saddle) and the weight (about 180lbs, total) being re-distributed toward the rear of the saddle resulted in the loin rubs. It took me about three weeks to figure this out, and once I kept my legs, feet, and bottom where they belonged (balanced in the saddle), the rubs went away. Quite nicely, with no ill after-effects, and they never showed up again, except for once about two years later when I forgot myself; whereupon I re-set my seat and they immediately disappeared. Also--having determined that the No-Sweat was NOT causing the problem, I continued to ride with it, and until I figgered it out, the "shaving of the hairs" did NOT get any worse. There is no way that a No-Sweat can cause sores or rubbing. Pressure causes that, and pressure comes from saddle-fit, conformational changes, and rider position. I did notice that you mentioned you got the same thing a year ago...before you got your No-Sweat. Having gone through this (twice) and having studied the matter with considerable intensity, I do believe I've got a handle on it. I hope this is of some help to you. By all means feel free to e-mail or call me if you have any questions. I'm here to help!
On 9-12-03, Lucy Chaplin Trumbull wrote: "I rode two 15+ mile "test" rides with the DM, to make sure all was well, and then did the 25 last weekend. Standing on the fence looking down at Provo's back, I can see the beginnings of a loin rub - not sore, but definitely starting to wear thin. I'm using a SportSaddle with most of the contents of what you guys are putting in your crew bags either in the pommel or cantle bags (riding without a crew will do that for you), so there's some weight there. Interestingly, my other horse developed a loin rub (without the DM pad) in exactly the same place, at exactly the same time of year, last year. It could just be coincidence I was riding longer and longer distances, or I'm wondering if their summer coats have reached their "sell by" dates and are in need of refurbishment? (it's still in the mid 90s here, but my body clock's telling me winter's on the approach)." _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive larger attachments with Hotmail Extra Storage. http://join.msn.com/?PAGE=features/es =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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