saddle fit, dry spots, pressure

[dave & abby bloxsom <cyclone@snet.net>]

i found this post absolutely fascinating, and will check out your site
in short order . . .

>  Sweating or the lack of sweating is not a reliable indicator of
> saddle fit because so many additional factors affect sweating.
> Therefore, a direct correlation cannot be drawn between saddle pressure
> and sweat distribution.
> 
i respect your technical expertise, but i have seen any number of horses
develop 1)dry spots, 2) white spots, and 3) thickened skin in areas that
directly correlate with the location of a given saddle.  on
investigation, it was clear in (can i say 100% in this forum without
being shot at?) most cases that these spots appeared in areas of
increased pressure due to poor saddle fit.

okay, so you say this can't be pressure on blood vessels/sweat glands,
etc. because of these technical things, but there are also things we
might consider like compression of acupuncture points, and - you said it
- plugged pores, etc.

why would a horse form scar tissue (in an area under the saddle that
commonly receives excess pressure from poorly fitting saddles)
subsequent to the "dry spot" phenomenon, if it's not pressure?

PLEASE DON'T flame me on this one - i'd really like to have a rational
discussion about this.  after i check out the website.

any thoughts, all?

-Abby
and three fat horses whose saddles won't fit til spring