Regarding your horse's sore back when saddle and rider have been ruled
out, here's my story: A few years ago I had a horse with a constantly sore back - even when he hadn't been ridden for a couple months. That
should have been a clue. My riding was criticized (never sored a back
before) and my Browns Orthoflex Traditional Saddle was blamed
(never sored a horse in 10 years - all types of backs) and so I was at a
loss. One day, a friend wanted to trade ownership of our horses because,
at least, mine was gentle and, well, it was a lark and I was frustrated
with the problem. He had a much different little synthetic western
saddle and thought that would make the difference but, in truth, the
horse continued to have a sore back. Eventually, my friend took the
horse to a vet who really wanted to diagnose the horse (the ones I had
talked to just wanted to blame me or the saddle no matter what I told
them). As it turned out, the horse had a cracked vertebrae. Evidently,
long distance riding was a serious aggravation for this condition. The
vet purchased the horse for his daughter who occasionally trail rides
and everyone is happy, horse too. SO! There may be an injury that isn't
visible - something for you to consider! Whatever happened to injury
this horse, happened before I bought him so this story went on about 2-3
years before being resolved.
Regarding fill in the legs - we use ice wraps at vet checks and after the
ride. The wraps have crystals in them and require soaking in ice water
(cannot be frozen). These are expensive but have been very
durable and have worked well.
Regarding hind hoof striking front leg tendon, if this is a problem as
the horse travels, your farrier should change the angle SLIGHTLY on the
hind foot to "slow" it down. The front hoof can be changed SLIGHTLY to
break over more quickly. But make these changes over a period of time,
gradually, keep records of angles, and STOP when desired travel is
achieved. My farrier watches my horses travel UNDER SADDLE to determine
correct shoeing angles if there appears to be a problem. We have found
that weight changes the travel slightly from just trotting out in hand.
When I get a new horse, we start out with normal angles and don't try to
get fancy. As the horse is worked and developed, sometimes changes are
called for. My farrier gets annoyed with the term "corrective" shoeing
and guys that make a big charge for it. He says in order to do ANY
shoeing job right, the horse's physical conditions must be what rules
what the farrier does. $.02 worth, there. Hope maybe this helps...
Diana Benson
Joplin MO