Coldbacked

Its when the horse rises its back up (sort of hunches) when you get on. It doesn't last long and then they're usually fine afterwards. But some horses can explode as soon as your butt touches the saddle - it depends on the horse! One of mine used to be coldbacked, when I got on, he'd hunch up (feels horrible!) and go extremely tense whilst prancing about a bit for around 20 seconds then began to relax and was fine! He did it for 3 years. I tried everything from the obvious back checking (no problems found) to new saddles to trying various methods (using sheepskin saddlecloths and girths as they're warmer, lungeing etc.) to no avail. Last September I began feeding him NAF Superflex (just as maintenence) and amazingly within a month he was no longer cold backed. I have no idea how it could have worked but something did and Ive never had a problem since! I doubt it'd work with others though, I got lucky!
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Did you ride the horse? How was he? Has he had his back and saddle checked? If there are no problems found with his back or saddle then there's not much you can do TBH. Some people say lungeing helps before getting on etc. to warm up the muscles. It depends on how bad he is though? I dont believe it gets any worse.
 
My daughters pony was coldbacked and used to hunch up and dance along for a few paces, so after having everything checked and it was all ok i used to give her a little massage just where the saddle sits and some stretches and we had no problems since but like you said it does depend on the severity of the cold back.
 
It's my opinion that horses aren't "cold backed" and that's just the label put on them when people don't know what is actually wrong.

My arab was/is "cold backed" and used to dip and walk with her hinds crouched when you got on. We had all manner of vets out to her, physios, custom made saddle and a stay at the Dick Vet School all to come back with a clean bill of health. It was only last year by pure chance that there was a McTimmoney Corely lady on the yard who noticed that her pelvis was rotated (I don't want to get in a debate about it, I know the skelton can't move or be manipulated etc but standing behind the horse looking at the pelvis you could clearly see that her right side was lower and further forward than her left side). Anyway, she had a total of 4mths off and McT-C sessions and then started from scratch with pole work (raised), hours of long reining and ground work. That in turn meant the saddle getting altered as she'd changed shape. She has an elasticated girth and it's done up slowly, I walk her round the school before getting on and stretch her front legs out. I never mount from the ground and get on from a mounting block and putting my leg over rather than any weight in the stirrup if that makes sense. Touch wood it seems to have worked; she is still stiffer on her right side and throws the saddle to the right but no longer dips etc.

She now gets McT-C every 3-4mths and massages inbetween. Although she is not in any physical pain she does have "remembered" pain that took us ages to work through. McT-C now thinks her pelvis might have been fractured before we got her (9yrs ago).

My new horse (TB ex-racer) was sold to me as "cold backed". She can buck if girth is tightened too quickly and again you can't mount from the ground. Previous owner had vets and physio check her out but couldn't find anything. She passed a 5 stage vetting and I had my McT-C person look at her and couldn't find anything. I think she will benefit more from Physio than McT-C. She seems quite sensitive to the girth rather than her back so not sure if it's more that or something in the chest area rather than her back; either way I'm hoping that it's fixable.

The point of my big ramble is that it wouldn't put me off a horse and it might be something as simple as ill fitting tack etc that is causing it. It not an easy to fix problem as it certainly confused a lot of vets/vet school up here but I think it is workable.

Hope I've made some sort of sense...
 
i used to ride a slightly cold backed horse, when i got on my instructor made me ride her in a jump position with my weight off her back for a few mintues and then softly came down and she was fine.

a friend on the the yard has a cold back horse and just has to walk him once tacked up for a few minutes before mounting and he is fine.

the horses ive known havent been too affected by it
 
I would proceed with caution. "cold backed" is a bit of a euphemism, THE HORSE IS IN PAIN.... but no one knows precicely what is wrong. In horses labled as "cold backed" the nerve endings /pain sensors are stimulated when they are initialy tacked up and mounted. There could be various reasons for the condition... old injury, imobile muscles, muscle damage caused by an ongoing myopathy such as EPSM etc.... or a skeletal malformation, damage from a poorly fitting saddle. Plenty of scope there for the horse to swiftly break down in the future.

They usualy settle down after being ridden a while as the horse has stoicly resigned itself to the pain, or the pain in its muscles has eased once they have warmed up a bit.


I would go for a full vetting and draw the vets attention to the condition.... if it is a bad back it might well be fixable with remedial saddle fitting and a good physio. If the cause is a muscular storage myopathy it could be fixable with diet and exercise therapy.
 
Thanks for your replies, it just got me thinking. YL, I understand where you are coming from, but as a horse seems to be fine after a short while, I don't understand how a horse can then be fine.

It is all a bit of a mystery to me! I didn't ride the horse M_M, I saw it in an advert, really beautiful Hanoverian and just wondered about it.

Thanks again guys!
 
Am glad you wrote that Shiraz! I have a mare who I class as cold backed, but its not the saddle going on, its the girth! with her you have to do the girth up slowly, hole by hole, and if she has not been ridden for sometime, she will buck when you first get on, if you are unfortunate to hit the deck, she will then stand there with that "why are you on the floor look" nad you can get back on her and she is absolutely fine.... we've had vets llook at her, had her back done, had tack checked, in fact everything and she will still do this if she has not been exercised for a few days..... after 3-4 days she stops doing it, so I firmly beleive that it is now a habit she has got into and it will be fixable in time...... other than that she is a lovely mare, exellent to handle and do things with..... someone once mentioned the girths touching the intercostal nerve??? Any ideas on that one?
 
Spooky Ovidius, your mare sounds just like Tanith! Well what I've been told about her because not been on her since she came up here due to one leg injury after another! lol
 
My 4yo can be coldbacked occasionally, when i very first started breaking her i knew she might be tricky as she went burko the first time she had a roller on! she took a long time to back, and i enlisted a very experienced ex jockey to assist me, she is fine now 90% of the time, just have to watch her if she has time off, or sometimes if she spooks a bit quick she can tense up, but she is managable, i think you always have to watch you dont pull the girth up to quick!
 
She's for sale Shiraz!!!
They sound very similair dont they!! At least there are people out there, like yourself that are willing to give these horses a chance....
 
my old hrose was a little cold backed- used to hunch up if i did the girth up too quickly on cold days. one at the yard used to really dip it's back majorly when someone got on... ummm but neither particularly bucked or whatever- i think it depends on the severity. xxx
 
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