Help With Collar Fit?

[Does’ Leap]

We have been struggling with shoulder sensitivity with one of our horses for several years. We have never had open sores, just wrinkling and tenderness. It only seems to be a problem during haying season. I suppose this is not surprising with long days and hot weather. I have posted a video hoping we could get some input. One thing I didn’t mention in the video is that we have had problems with all three collars displayed in the video. Any/all input is appreciated.

George

[Does’ Leap]

[Does’ Leap]

Whoops. It seems I am unable to post a link to the youtube video. I clicked “link” above, copied the youtube url, and nothing seems to happen. Can anyone offer help with this?

George

[j.l.holt]

It may not be fit at all. May be work load.

[Does’ Leap]

Here is the link to the short video on help with collar fit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JZ2dmicR6c

Thanks.

George

[j.l.holt]

Would of been good to show the face of each collar.

[Paulk]

I had the same problem with my newest mule recently with wrinkling the skin. she didn’t have any hair loss or visible blisters but wrinkled skin for several days. I just figured it was collar size. I was going to try to take her to the Amish harness maker for advice but can’t seem to get time. My old mule also got blisters from the collar that I had been using for several months but it is from too small of a collar. I didn’t realize how much bigger his neck got from being fed well and some exercise. He was severly under weight when I got him. I too would like to know why the wrinkled skin. I have only been pulling a stone boat with my 230lbs and fencing supplies another 100lb or so.

[Rivendell Farm]

When I had trouble with shoulder soreness on the sides like your horse has, it was because the collar was too big. Wanting to be sure he had plenty of room at the throat to breathe, I left too much space. A tighter fit there for your hand might not hurt. Do you always use pads? Bob

[grey]

1.) Salt the horse’s shoulders if you aren’t already. Draw yourself a gallon of warm water in a bucket. Add a palmful of epsom salts and dissolve it. Take a sponge or a rag and sop the shoulders with this saltwater, taking care to backbrush the hair to ensure that the saltwater reaches the skin. Do this at the end of the work day, each day. Next morning, brush the shoulders VERY WELL and/or wash the shoulders with clean water. Even a couple of granules of salt left on the hide will be terribly abrasive under the collar so get all that salt off of there before going to work. Salting the shoulders draws the excess moisture out of the wrinkled area so it doesn’t blister and also toughens the skin.

2.) I had to watch the video without audio; I hope I didn’t miss anything critical. The 24″ collar looks like it fits pretty well in length. The 26″ is way too big, even with the pad. I couldn’t tell much about the width of the 24″ collar from the video. If the collar is too wide and you squish it tighter with the hames, then the collar will get longer and will be too big.

3.) Mowing can be hard on horses if the field has bumps. When one wheel hits a bump, it makes the tongue slap. This causes the collar to rock on the neck. Doesn’t take much of this tongue slap to cause a wrinkley patch like you are finding. A collar that is only a little bit too big will rock pretty easily.

4.) I would be interested in how you set your hames. If you have roller bolt hames, you can likely adjust your draft up or down by a half-inch or so which can make a difference. However, that half-inch is of little consequence if the hames are too big for the collar in the first place. So the collar is only part of the equation.

Can you provide a side shot of the horse hitched and hooked and ready to work? And maybe a closer photo that shows how the hames ride on the collar?

[grey]

By the way, I really like your horse. Has a real nice look to him.

Collar fit changes quite a bit when the horse is getting into the load. You might even be able to go down to a 23″.

[Donn Hewes]

Hi George, You are using D ring harnesses, right? I have had these wrinklies at different times with different horses and collars. Always seems to be an animal that is a little bit of an easy keeper. Not fat, but not worked down either. In some cases I have found a shorter collar made a difference and in others not. I have been suprised how much the collar fit changes under load. Remember to check them while you are working. It is hard to say if I would change anything on one of those collars; with out being there, but the smaller ones all seemed as if they would work. With a pad I like a little closer fit on the sides that I do without a pad. But I have no experience in working with out a pad.

It doesn’t look to me as if you need to buy collars; but for anyone buying collars, I have found the adjustable collars very useful. Now if it would just stop raining! d

[chrisf.]

I had a horse wrinkle like that once when he had been working pretty hard, I made sure to keep his shoulders and pad really clean and switched to my vinyl pad for a bit and all was well after a short time.

[grey]

A fleshy horse can lose a couple hundred pounds in water weight during one day of hard work which can easily bump them into the next collar size down. It is not unusual for my easy keeper to drop a collar size during a day of hard work. On the wagon train or during haying, I will bring a collar pad for just such an occasion.

If you’re using a D-ring harness then the tongue probably isn’t wagging the collars. If you’ve been using that 24″ and the horse got the wrinkled patch wearing it, I’m more curious than ever about where your traces come off the hames. Also, your foretug angle. Having the foretug not be 90 degrees to the hames will cause that wrinkled patch. Having your traces shimmed down too low on the hame bolt (I said “roller bolt” in a previous post. I meant hame bolt or trace bolt.) can do it also. Do you have a little spacer on your hame bolt?

[Does’ Leap]

Hi Grey, Donn and others:

Thanks for the information. I will try the epsom salts routine. We have been sponging down shoulders after long, hot days for a couple of years now and I will add that to the routine (before work, of course). This horse’s shoulders are not longer smooth and I am worried we might have built up some scar tissue where the rubbing has occurred.

We do run d-ring harnesses and I have had some wrinkling with that 24″ collar. We bumped him down to that collar after our first day of mowing last year. What I don’t like about the collar is the tightness on the sides. My intuition (read lack of experience) tells me snug, but not too tight. Any thoughts on that?

I do have a shim on my hames and I will check that. I will also check the hame / tug angle. It should be 90 degrees, but it is worth another check with a square. I will try to take some video with the horses under a load to see if this might help. That is if it ever stops raining! We are eager to start our first cut of hay.

George

[Does’ Leap]

I added some footage to this video showing the collar under a load. Jim, the horse with sore shoulders, is teamed up with our Paint/Percheron cross mare. This mare is one of our “second string” horses who helps out during haying or if one of our main horses is lame. She hasn’t been harnessed for 8 months and is currently being treated for Lyme’s Disease. They are pulling a light load of blocked wood, maybe 1/3 of a cord weighing around 1500 lbs.

Grey, I do have a trace bolt or shim and it is currently under the trace. Hope this helps. Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPRjLWs4p1s

George

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