HELP!!! Dip developing in front of withers? Why does this happen in your experience?

Question

Looking for those horse experts again with personal experience and knowledge of how this dip develops. Examples a plus. One argument: is that's how the horse is. The other is training-related. Which one is it and why?

I do have an informed answer on this but don't want to bias anybody's response. Putting this out there to help resolve something...thank you in advance.

Answer 1

Dropped spines can cause it.  As can the deterioration of the fat and grisle right under the mane.

But our arab had a muscle atrophy right in front of the withers.  It caused her no problem and has been there many years.  She had been bit by the dominant mare right there and it probably pinched the nerve so that a part of the muscle and the overlying fat deteriorated.  This created a small dip.

Pip what did you do copy and paste?  

Anyway after looking at your pics, I see that yours does indeed look like an injury.  Something that caused the grisle and'or fat in just that one location to deteriorate.  However it could be a muscle indentation below that.  It is small and almost unnoticeable.   I do not believe it will ever cause a problem.Pictue a bigger dip than that (quite a bit bigger) right in front of the whithers and that is what our arabians looked like.  And no she has never been ridden with her head set way up.  I watched the dip develop on her after I found a bite mark there from teh other mare.

Answer 2

A horse that is allowed to lean on the bit and curl it's nose into it's chest without using the back muscles develops this dip.  These horses aren't trained to ever truly collect and work on the bit.

Some horses are born with this conformation, but it can be improved through collection and developing the back  and abdominal muscles.Lateral exercises, and exercises to soften the poll also help.  Weight loss can make this conformation more obvious.

Answer 3

Why do Pip and Jeff have the exact same answer???

I know horses store fat there, it's one of the places you look for fat deposits when you are determining body condition scoring.  So if your horse has lost weight, it would make sense that a dip might form there from lack of weight.

EDIT:  Hmm, now that I see the photos...I'm sure he didn't lose weight to cause that.  I would guess it's the way his muscles are developing from his headset.  That's the only thing that really makes any sense.

Answer 4

How old is your horse?  A horse's body will change in different ways thru the years.  I have seen a horse that had lots of fat around his withers and later on in life he changed and the fat disappeard and his withers became very prominent as well as other changes in his frame and body

Humans are the same way.

Answer 5

I apologize, but I'm not sure what dip you are talking about.  From the pictures, any change in the horses neck - specifically in front of the withers - looks like what naturally occurs when a horse is asked to carry it's head in that manner.  As far as that "dip" goes, there are a great deal of tendons and muscles in a horses neck.  After all, a horses head typically is weighing in at around 100 pounds, and in order to control how it moves, the neck need a lot of tendons and muscles.  So from what I can see from your photos is that you are either noticing a difference in how that area looks when all the muscles are flexed, or you are seeing that area change as a result of working the horse in that head-set on a daily basis which can cause different muscles to develop.

Unless it seems to be impeding his movement - and again I apologize but I don't know that I am seeing exactly what you are trying to point out - then I would not worry about it.

Very nice pictures by the way.

Edit:  You aren't talking about the spot on the horses topline about 1/3 of the way up the neck are you?  Because that just looks like a shadow.  Are you talking about on the sides of the neck, just in front of the shoulder?

Answer 6

I wonder if your horse has been injured.  You might want to have a vet take a look and give you a diagnosis.

Answer 7

I see what you are dancing around. Yes, you are right.

Edit: Gorgeous neck in first picture...

Answer 8

Dropped spines can cause it. As can the deterioration of the fat and grisle right under the mane.

Is it forming,or has it always been there, if it has, your horse just has a huge wither. A few pics might help