horse bloating while being saddled

[skipper6265]

I have a 4 year old Saddlebred that has just learned a new bad habit.    While I am trying to saddle him, he blows his stomach out so that you cannot get the girth attached ( English saddle ).    When you finally get it on, he pitches a fit and flips over backwards.    This is something new he has started.    He has never exhibited this behavior before now.    I have always taken precations against this by saddling him very slowly and tightening the girth in stages.    Any ideas would be appreciated.

[RodeoQueen]

      Being a horse trainer. I would agree look into any new pain. I would look in to starting the training all over again along with therapy. I would take it very slowly and yes another thing is walk the horse out tighten the girth leave the horse untied.  Keep doing this. The horse will in my opinion stop this behavor, but you must first figure out why. Pain. Human error, Panick of being confined to a to tight girth or just being tied up and being saddled at the same time. As many of us know Horses are born Clausterphobic. They tend to react before thinking. Not all... There are acceptions to the rule. Check all your equipment. I tend to see an english saddle that is not sized correctly may tend to cause soreness after prolonged use and this in my opinion could be a easy cause of the horse flipping over. What ever you decide to do good luck.
Happy Trails Rodeo Queen

[MrsSmith78]

Also horses sometimes do this if they feel trapped. Untie the horse and saddle. Sometimes it really is that simple.

[BTS1022]

i meant lindasp62 sorry for the incorrect spelling.

[BTS1022]

I agree with lindsp62,

I would look into a new pain somewhere, possibly in his back. The saddle could have started pinching and causing severe enough pain for him to start throwing fits. You can also look on his underbelly where the girth goes, he could have a rubb from a sweaty loose girth, or the girth could be pinching his skin when suddenly tightened.

Maybe try lunging him before you tack him up, let him warm up his muscles and stretch out before tacking.

As far as the *Knee* in the side goes, it helps on some accord, but I dont reccomend doing it with a horse who already has a habit of throwing fits while being saddled.

[mrwjd]

From what I've heard, this habit will get started if you saddle him in a hurry, tighten the cinch quickly.  Since he has just started it, he may get over it (or at least you can get him saddled) if you fasten the cinch loosely at first, then gradually tighten it just a little at a time.  Our 4-y-o filly doesn't care for the saddle, because my daughter usually rides bareback.  We have used that method from the start, with considerable success.  Once in a while, she blows herself up, but soon lets it go and we can tighten the cinch again.  

Walking the horse a few steps or in a little circle will generally release the bloating and you can pull up the cinch some more.  If he does it again as soon as you stop, well, just do it again.  (Horses are so great at helping us develop patience, aren't they?)

I have seen old cowboys knee the horse in the side.  From what I can tell, it doesn't help much (except giving their frustration an outlet) and the horse just gets shy about saddling.  

[lindasp62]

If this is something new, I would look into any new pain.  This is assuming you are still using the same saddle, pad, girth, etc....,so the only variable would be some new soreness somewhere.  Has there been a change in training?  A visit by the vet would probably be in order.  I have used a chiropractor, and a reputable one would also be able to look at his back, make any adjustments, etc.  A saddle fitting might be in order to determine if there has been some change in how the saddle fits.  At 4 years old, and in training, the back can change, therefore rendering any former saddle unfit.