SEPTEMBER/ OCTOBER 2021 THE RIDER /11 Are most horses lefties?
The perils of putting symmetrical saddles on asymmetrical horses
“We were not surprised to learn
60% of the horses in our 490 horse ret- rospective study had larger measure- ments on the left side of their withers,” says Dr. Katrina Merkies, researcher and associate professor at the Univer- sity of Guelph. Undergraduate stu- dents,
trolled studies looking at asymmetry and saddle fit following properly fit- ted asymmetrical horses over time. The importance of proper saddle
Julia Alebrand, Bethany
Harwood, Katharine Labarge and Laura Scott digitized and compared years of measurement data gathered from a saddle fitting company, which used a flexible wither tracing tool. The empirical evidence did indeed back up the hypothesis expecting more bulk on the left, based on what saddle fitters were already noticing in their day to day work. But what does this mean for the horse owner shopping for a shiny new saddle, manufactured in a per- fectly symmetrical way? Equine Guelph tracked down Dr.
Merkies for a video interview to find out more about the UofG study of tho- racic asymmetry in ridden horses. Pressure points from an ill-fitting
saddle can lead to pain and perform- ance issues. A symmetrical saddle used on a horse that is not symmetrical can hinder progress explains Merkies, “It could prevent the horse from develop- ing its muscles in a balanced way.” The research study included many
breeds, from fine boned Arabs and Thoroughbreds to stocky Warmbloods and Drafts. They came from many dis- ciplines
such as dressage,
hunter/jumper as well as recreational pursuits. Surprisingly, breed did not have an effect on wither measurements in this study. While Thoroughbreds and Warmbloods had different skeletal structure, such as longer withers than the Draft breeds, it did not have an im- pact on the wither measurements which were based on the horse’s musculature. My friend Flicka and Joey both tended to have bigger muscles on the left side of their withers 60% of the time. Laterality was also considered for
its possible role in muscle develop- ment. Laterality is the preference for using one side of the body over the other. The left hemisphere of the brain (logic & reasoning) controls the right side of body, and the right side of the brain (processes fearful stimuli) con- trols the left side. “You may notice horses often turn to view an object they are afraid of with their left eye,” said Merkies. “They often step on or off a trailer with the left front leg first.” Merkies also mentioned an Australian study noting a preference for grazing with the left front leg ahead of the right; a tendency that apparently increases with age. Points certainly worth con- sidering in this study which shows a majority of horses appear to be ‘left- ies’.
One unexpected finding was the
curvature in the horse’s backs were slightly more dipped in horses of medium height. Merkies hypothesised this may be due to the fact that medium sized horses are more frequently ridden by adults. Kids tend to move off their ponies as they outgrow them. Saddles for the adult rider tend to have a longer seat, which may not always fit the medium sized horse’s back. If the sad- dle fits past the 18th thoracic vertebrae, it will put pressure on the lumbar re- gion, which can cause a horse to tense and drop it’s back muscles. Merkies cited the need for con-
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fit and regular fittings, at least every six months, cannot be overstated for the comfort of the horse and it’s opti- mal development of balanced mus- cles.
Watch the video: Thoracic
Asymmetries and the relationship with saddle fit - Dr. Katrina Merkies, Researcher
at information, OVC
https://youtu.be/77bUmR0JUZU
Courtesy of Equine Guelph. For fur- ther
www.equineguelph.ca.
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