Proactive saddlery assessment and back pain prevention is more welfare-effective than reactive treatment of established back pain in ridden horses.
Back pain prevention in ridden horses requires a systems approach that considers saddle fit, rider factors, and horse-specific conformation and training together rather than in isolation. Many back problems result from accumulated microtrauma from poorly balanced riders on ill-fitting saddles, developing gradually before becoming apparent. The welfare opportunity is to intervene before pain is established through regular preventive assessment rather than waiting for behavioral signs. The welfare cost of established back pain - horses working through pain under training pressure that misattributes pain behavior as resistance - represents avoidable suffering that proactive management prevents.