Cold backed horses.....

[_Acolyte_]

would you buy one? What are the reasons for your reply?(thats whether you have said yes or no btw

)

I have a gut feeling that if a horse is cold backed this is likely to be a manifestation of other problems - do you think this opinion has any basis in fact? Or am I just adding 2+2 and making 6?

Any views appreciated, thank you

PS - for those of you who read my post in Competition Riders saying I wasnt horse hunting any more - I turned down the wretched job in the end (long story...) so the hunt MIGHT be back on now!

 

[The Original Kao]

i personally wouldn't buy a cold backed horse as the only really nasty fall i've had was off of such a horse.
i'd done everything right with doing up her girth and walking her round. got on her and let her walk on whilst slowly sitting in the saddle. walked her over to the arena and she jogged then exploded. i stayed on long enough to get my hand tangled in her mane and when i was finally thrown off i took the skin right off my finger tips

i got cleaned up and got back on, rode her round the arena, about 15 mins later she threw herself onto the ground

i refused to get back on after that and i'd never refused to ride any horse before that.

 

[Bossanova]

A horse I bought last year was cold backed the first few weeks but grew out of it. I think he'd just had too much weight on his back and when he realised it was comfy with me, he never did it again

 

[MooMoo]

going to ask a potentially very silly question but i'm curious....what does cold backing mean?

 

[crackersluvrat]

My old pony was a bit cold-backed when I bought her but she never reacted badly to a rider. It depends what the extreme of it is, mine had just come straight out of a field for me to bring back into work. She soon built up muscle and was fine after a few months.

 

[_Acolyte_]

[ QUOTE ]
going to ask a potentially very silly question but i'm curious....what does cold backing mean?

[/ QUOTE ]

When a horse is cold backed it can be very tense when you first get on (hence cold in the back...) You have to be very careful with putting the saddle on carefully, tightening the girth very gradually, and not flopping your weight straight down into the saddle when you get on - you can do a few strides standing in your stirrups for example, before you gently lower your weight into the saddle.

Well, thats my version, I am sure someone can come up with a more succinct explanation

 

[MooMoo]

oh right, thanks! is it a physical thing to do with the horse's back? not heard the term before so i thought it was to do with how they are backed.

 

[Small65]

My warmblood is cold backed. I didn’t know this when I bought him and after spending lots of money buying new saddles and having his back treated he is still just the same. I make sure he has a blanket over his back before I ride him (on cold days I ride in this for 10mins) girth up lose walk about 500yards and girth up to a safe length walk another 500yrds and then get on, after 10mins I girth up if needed. I also never clip his back so it stays warm. To be honest if you are careful and never just jump on there is no reason why this should influence the way the horse moves. I do pure dressage and have just been to the nationals with this horse and he did fine!

I would buying another but I think to be honest it also depends on the horses temperament and how they deal with it (IE trying to buck you off)

 

[luckilotti]

i have a cold backed horse who is still ridden now and is 26

the only problem i have ever encountered is when i put a side saddle on him and tried that, as soon as i got on, i got off and never tried it again for one reason or another.
It wouldnt put me off at all.

ETA - i'm quite a chunky rider and havent had any probs.

 

[_Acolyte_]

[ QUOTE ]
oh right, thanks! is it a physical thing to do with the horse's back? not heard the term before so i thought it was to do with how they are backed.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have just re-read the couple of text books I have got - one says that it CAN be symptomatic of kidney problems, or a skeletal or muscular weakness (thats the Pony Club Manual of Horsemanship

)

I will ask how much his previous rider weighed I think, although having said that IF he is the one for me then weight loss would be first on my agenda!

 

[_Acolyte_]

[ QUOTE ]
My warmblood is cold backed. I didn’t know this when I bought him and after spending lots of money buying new saddles and having his back treated he is still just the same. I make sure he has a blanket over his back before I ride him (on cold days I ride in this for 10mins) girth up lose walk about 500yards and girth up to a safe length walk another 500yrds and then get on, after 10mins I girth up if needed. I also never clip his back so it stays warm. To be honest if you are careful and never just jump on there is no reason why this should influence the way the horse moves. I do pure dressage and have just been to the nationals with this horse and he did fine!

I would buying another but I think to be honest it also depends on the horses temperament and how they deal with it (IE trying to buck you off)

[/ QUOTE ]

I am trying him tomorrow after work I hope, so can report back then

I have been told by everyone who has ridden him that he is simply very tense at the start - no-one has suggested he has tried to buck them off luckily, or I wouldnt be trying him (I am a wimp at heart!)

Thanks for the tips on how you manage your horse - I think an exercise blanket will be first on my shopping list if I buy him

And since he is a TB then cant imagine he would grow a huge coat, so I might get away with a blanket clip over the winter rather than a hunter clip

 

[L00bey]

The most talented and definately the best horse I have ever ridden is cold backed. I have never had any problems with him though as I am so light and he is so big (17hh IDxTB big boy). He was broken in to show as a 4 year old and did too much too soon with a big heavy man... He is fine if you just let him walk around on a loose rein for 5 minutes or so.

 

[_Acolyte_]

OMG....perhaps poor TB will need a couple of months off in the field if I buy him, to allow me to lose weight!

I have googled the subject too and found some interesting info from other forums (didnt realise so many HHOers posted on StableAds!) so chiropractor/lightweight rider/excellent fitting saddle and TLC seem to be the way ahead here!

 

[Small65]

Sounds like mine, I just make sure I always walk for 10mins on a lose rein before I start schooling so he doesn’t damage any muscles. I also found that as I had my horse as a youngster and didnt want him to learn to buck me off that I popped him on the lunge with saddle on for 10mins before I got on him. Walk mainly but for my piece of mind and I was a chicken!

Make sure you see the horse come out of box and the first person get on then you will know how bad it truly is! GOOD LUCK!

 

[Tonks]

From what I've read and from experience there are several theories on cold backed horses:
1. It has something to do with skin hypersensitivity and there are no radiographic changes (changes/problems in the bone.)
2. It is a symptom of problems with the vertebrae that may show on an X ray. Namely, spondylosis (which is basically arthritis.) This may depend on how thorough your vet is at picking up abnormalities and/or whether they know what to look for. I'm sure that it could also be related to Kidney etc, as Vashti said.
You could have the horse 'thermo' scanned which will show 'hot' spots which definitely means there is a problem!
Have a look at the conformation of the horse. Long backed horses tend to have more muscular problems whereas short backed ones tend to have more skeletal abnormalities and problems.
Also, I think that performance horses tend to suffer more with being 'cold-back' suggesting that the strenuous work may produce physiological problems.
Personally, I would never touch a horse that is known to be cold backed as I believe there is an underlying problem there somewhere! Sorry!

 

[Tonks]

From what I've read and from experience there are several theories on cold backed horses:
1. It has something to do with skin hypersensitivity and there are no radiographic changes (changes/problems in the bone.)
2. It is a symptom of problems with the vertebrae that may show on an X ray. Namely, spondylosis (which is basically arthritis.) This may depend on how thorough your vet is at picking up abnormalities and/or whether they know what to look for. I'm sure that it could also be related to Kidney etc, as Vashti said.
You could have the horse 'thermo' scanned which will show 'hot' spots which definitely means there is a problem!
Have a look at the conformation of the horse. Long backed horses tend to have more muscular problems whereas short backed ones tend to have more skeletal abnormalities and problems.
Also, I think that performance horses tend to suffer more with being 'cold-back' suggesting that the strenuous work may produce physiological problems which show themselves as being cold backed.
Personally, I would never touch a horse that is known to be cold backed as I believe there is an underlying problem there somewhere! Sorry!

 

[Tonks]

Sorry new at this game...have no idea why I have two posting and didn't realise Vashti was original poster! Sorry

 

[_Acolyte_]

Dont be sorry Tonks, you are echoing my thoughts to some extent! I shall be interested to see him being tacked up and ridden tomorrow...he is short backed, so maybe a skeletal problem?

He is no performance horse though, so unlikely to have been caused by work... I am just wondering about poor fitting saddles, unbalanced rider, too heavy rider (absolutely no idea what his owner is like, but will ask) etc etc etc....

 

[Minnies_Mum]

The WB I have been riding for a few weeks is cold backed though I've never seen him react because I put his saddle on very gently and girth him up gradually. Apparently he will sometimes just lie down when the saddle goes on and it's worse in winter. I was a bit worried the first time I got on him, but I sit down gently and I've been told he never reacts when the rider gets on. I hope he never collapses on the floor when I tack him up, must be a bit scary!

 

[Tonks]

You didn't mention how old the horse is? Are you thinking of buying this horse? I'd rule out obvious causes first. Look out for:
1. Saddle problems: Is there enough room for the spine when the rider in on board? Look at the numnah for unequal pressure. Is one area more dirty than the rest or cleaner? This would indicate uneven saddle pressure (caused by bad flocking) or indeed a wonky rider! All of which will cause pain. Over the years this can develop into -
2. muscle wastage around the saddle area (over withers and perhaps where you sit) which can be a result of a poorly fitting saddle which has blocked blood supply to muscles. Takes a long time to develop but will cause pain.
3. muscles in spasm - you touch one and another seems to twitch (but usually indicative of further problems.) But I also understand that when a horse is in severe pain it can have no reactions but I'm not a vet and that may be competely untrue!
4. Hindleg lamness which can be confused with cold-backedness, I believe.
You can observe all of these without having to ask a single question! However, I'm not a vet so please don't take that as gospel!

 

[_Acolyte_]

The horse is 9 years old, has been doing unaff dr, sj and hunter trials for the past few years (2 or 3 years) then came over from Ireland before then.

He has a very high wither, which is why I am tending towards the badly fitting saddle idea...it will be difficult to say now however, as he is on a dealers yard, as they tend to ride most things in the same saddles and stick a numnah and a riser underneath!

If I DO like him enough to consider buying him it will obviously be an area I will ask the vet to focus on during the vetting.

 

[air78]

From what you've said it sounds like a saddle fitting issue. 'Very high withers' smacks of bad saddle damage

If I was buying him I'd be having a bodyworker straight out to see him.

However, the term 'cold backed' is regulary used when people are selling horses to hide a multitude of sins- you just have to remember that all of the behaviours already discussed are mostly pain related.

 

[samstar]

My daughter has a cold backed horse and we have been told to keep his back warm prior to tacking up and we put his saddle on 20 mins before and to play round with saddle flaps and stirrups before getting on and to get into the seat slowly and not with a thud. He is such a sweety and we wil never get rid of him.

 

[_Acolyte_]

I did like the idea I read on another forum (which I read after I had googled 'cold backed horses'!) where someone kept numnahs/saddle cloths over a radiator in the tack room...put them on the horse then popped the saddle on.. for that particular horse it solved the problem!

 

[Honeypots]

[ QUOTE ]
My daughter has a cold backed horse and we have been told to keep his back warm prior to tacking up and we put his saddle on 20 mins before and to play round with saddle flaps and stirrups before getting on and to get into the seat slowly and not with a thud. He is such a sweety and we wil never get rid of him.

[/ QUOTE ]

Found ya