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Correction, 2 seconds.

Might have found the root of the problems...maybe. Her teeth need to be floated. watched her eat today and the feed is falling out of her mouth when she chews. Went back down and threw a halter on her and slid my hand up in there and nearly cut the tip of my index finger when she contracted the muscles and pressed my finger against the molars. that was two hours ago and my finger still hurts, imagine what the inside of her mouth feels like.

Can't hurt to try. There may be contact on the bit that's irritating her and this would be a simple solution should it work. Of course, they teeth need floating anyway.

That is probably the most over looked maintenace of a horse. Those points can sure causes ores and irratate a horse. I have my mules done about every other year as my od one needs all the help he canget.Sure is getting pricey though. About $140 per head.

She does stretch out her neck and shake her head when I ride her. Might be trying to get relief from the bit.

Hmm. Don't know about horses,but with mules when they stretch out there head and shake it ,they are telling you they are getting pinched on the shoulder blades. It is personified when going down hill. Ignoring it usually has the mule telling you about it in more direct terms.
A mule's scapula moves more up and down than a horse and one needs to set the saddle back further. Usually about 3-4 inches.

Try, when the mare is walking( and not bucking), to slip your fingers under the front of the saddle and see if the bars are contacting her shoulder blades when walking.

I'd suspect that problem before her teeth, especially with that past wither infection.

These critters try to talk to us to tell us what is wrong,but most have trouble translating that into human speak.

I'm hoping the floating solves the problem but I tend to agree with saddlesore.
My best gelding groans a lot. He's young, ambitious, and full of fire but has never bucked. His groaning seems to be general displeasure and boredom. Her stretching out and shaking her head might not be anything more than one's wife folding her arms and tapping her toe. A horse will shake its head for the same reason people do. It's their way of screaming "No!"
If you thought it was the teeth you could ride her in a bosal before the teeth are floated.

Going to get the teeth taken care of so she can eat, then figure out the best way to pad her. Poor girl is getting hit with pain from all angles.

Here is one way I solved a padding problem with a hard to fit mule. Neoprene pad about 1"thick from countrysupply.com . About $35.Then I used a 4'grinder to cup out the area I wanted to relieve. This was on a horse barred saddle for a mule. This might help if she is experiencing pain from that wither. It works better than cutting a hole in a std pad.It spreads the weight out more evenly.

PM me if you want the particulars. I have write up of it that has been published in magazines.

Saddlesore - do you put the neoprene directly on the horse or use a pad under it?

I have one of those pads, cut it out to fit around the withers. I will take a pic of the setup I tried.

Dan H. I take a std blanket 33 X 60 ( I think) and sew the long end together and the insert the pad in between.

If not,the blanket tends to squirt out the back.

I doubt they make one big enough for a horse or mule, but a llama saddle pad should relieve wither problems. Llamas are very sensitive along the spine so pads are made cut out full length with a 3" or larger gap between the sides.

Went down to clean up around the mud hole, It was 50 degrees today. Grabbed the mare to show the padding I used.



My thumb is right on the old wound, cut out a pad to fit around.



when padding on top of the cut out and saddling up I can easily slide my fingers to the wound.



She eyed me up when I put the cut out pad on but just stood there when I threw the saddle on and cinched up.




Think I'am bridging that area?

what did you make that cut pad from?

In the second pic that is a neopreme saddle pad like the one Saddle Sore posted cut out around the withers.

I'm not a tack expert. That said, the saddle from my perspective looks like it may be a bit narrow. It also looks like it might be resting right on the edge of the cut neoprene pad.

have you tried other pad/saddle combinations? Sorry if you've already answered that question.

Ironbender, it probably just looks narrow, but Pat85's saddlemaker could tell him the measurements of the bars. You never know. A saddle could get made with the wrong bars. Stranger things happen.

Is that one of those terrible Weaver cinches?
Is your breast collar too tight?
Have you tried using hospital bedding for a saddle pad?
Do you wish I'd go to bed now?

Seriously, that's an interesting place for a sore. Montana has terrible wood tick problems and people don't realize they are sometimes really bad in January and February especially on bay and brown horses because they tend to have thicker manes. The ticks lay eggs under the mane then hatch out. I had to roach the mane on one bay gelding last year because the ticks were so bad. With the mane roached I don't think they will have enough cover to survive. And yes, my horses are more than adequately wormed and dowsed with insecticide, too. Infected tick bites aren't common, but is a possibility.
And hospital bedding -- the kind used to prevent bed sores -- does make a good saddle pad but you guys probably all know that.

The cinch is a Champion cinch of montana cinch. I know what cinch you are talking about, they are terrible.

I can get my hand behind any part of that breast collar. I don't like them hanging to low.

I never used hospital pads, never needed to before.

The saddle was made in Three Forks, It was made to be used and was used on ranch horses out there. My two gelding are bigger than her with higher withers and I have no issues with them. Thats interesting about the ticks, I have a tick problem here,always pulling ticks off them in the spring early summer. I had to treat my one geldings for lymes last year.