What do you think when someone uses the term

[hock]

Cold backed?

Just that really. I have strong thoughts on it but just wondering if it’s just me.

 

[Zoeypxo]

ill fitting saddle at best or undiagnosed health problems at worst

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

It's probably got kissing spines or a very badly fitted saddle or seriously ruined during the backing process. I would never buy one.

 

[McFluff]

Pain. Or bad memories of pain.

 

[hock]

I’m not buying .. I’m actually being really judgemental just glad it’s not just me!

I read a post on FB today about a saddle fitter using the term. I thought, FFS you’re a professional using that term?

 

[Barton Bounty]

I hate the term, personally for me it usually means an unaddressed issue.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

I’m not buying .. I’m actually being really judgemental just glad it’s not just me!

I read a post on FB today about a saddle fitter using the term. I thought, FFS you’re a professional using that term?

Oh my goodness I wouldn't be using that saddle fitter.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Cold backed?

Just that really. I have strong thoughts on it but just wondering if it’s just me.

A horse which needs to be warmed up, normally walk trot and canter with rider standing in the stirrups till horse has warmed up a bit for rider to sit down. Also gradually doing the girth up slowly till the horse is happy for it to be girthed fully.

 

[SEL]

Well I've got 2 - one with PSSM (no longer ridden) & one with kissing spine..

Depends on the context really. If a saddler was talking about either of those two and said they were cold backed with underlying issues then they'd be right.

 

[hock]

A horse which needs to be warmed up, normally walk trot and canter with rider standing in the stirrups till horse has warmed up a bit for rider to sit down. Also gradually doing the girth up slowly till the horse is happy for it to be girthed fully.

Are you a saddle fitter? I’m kidding - just a difference of opinion!

 

[hock]

Oh my goodness I wouldn't be using that saddle fitter.

Me neither!

 

[Dave's Mam]

An old fashioned term for an uncomfortable horse.

 

[hock]

Well I've got 2 - one with PSSM (no longer ridden) & one with kissing spine..

Depends on the context really. If a saddler was talking about either of those two and said they were cold backed with underlying issues then they'd be right.

To me cold backed means, undiagnosed pain but I’m still riding it. Pssm - I’d call it that as an issue and KS I’d say it’s got KS. I think the use of the word cold backed should be avoided.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

I think it's a bit meaningless because it could mean so many things, we may as well just say what we really mean instead. Especially if 'we' is any kind of equine professional.

 

[anguscat]

Pro

It's probably got kissing spines or a very badly fitted saddle or seriously ruined during the backing process. I would never buy one.

About one of our best ever horses was cold backed. Bought as 2yo, backed
nicely at home. Wasn’t a problem to back. Wasn’t ever worked very much in a school. Small butty mare.
Total, total machine across country. Out start box. Set off in a fast rhythmical canter. Show her the intended fence, that’s all you needed to do. She meant business. Hardly changed rhythm. Never stopped. Rider best being a passenger letting the mare do the job (not all riders accept this status). Didn’t buck, didn’t rear.
Had to girth up gently and sit light for a bit.
Possibly had kissing spines. Was before that was known about.

 

[dottylottie]

I’m not buying .. I’m actually being really judgemental just glad it’s not just me!

I read a post on FB today about a saddle fitter using the term. I thought, FFS you’re a professional using that term?

i think i may have seen this post too…was this an educational post or about their own horse?

 

[Surbie]

Is in pain and it hasn't been identified.

I don't like the term - I've mostly seen it used as an excuse to keep riding horses that should have the source of pain identified and dealt with, even if that means not riding it anymore.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Cold backed to me means bad back but we are not sure why and maybe can’t be arsed to investigate

 

[hock]

i think i may have seen this post too…was this an educational post or about their own horse?

Yer about their lovely grey horse

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I feel as though it's pain related and don't like when people are all blase about it.


I did have a horse that had mounting issues when he was first started under saddle. I really felt like it was a nervous thing, but had him and the tack checked out to learn that (1000€+ later) it really was a nervous/training thing with him. Once he was truly comfortable with me and the mounting process there was never an issue again. Good to mount and dismount anywhere from anything.

In an established horse I would be even more concerned.

 

[lynz88]

A horse which needs to be warmed up, normally walk trot and canter with rider standing in the stirrups till horse has warmed up a bit for rider to sit down. Also gradually doing the girth up slowly till the horse is happy for it to be girthed fully.

This is what I had always associated cold backed with knowing some horses that had to be warmed up and once warmed up, was a-ok (always reminded me of when humans are stiff but fine once moving). No other health issues found.

Now I immediately think of some health issue like kissing spine.

 

[Bonnie Allie]

It’s a meaningless and outdated term, if used labels you as limited in your understanding of the fact that pain is present and whilst it might disappear after the horse has been warmed up, there is still a problem that needs diagnosing.

 

[Equi]

To me it has always insinuated that the horse has tense back muscles, be it from pain memory or current pain.

 

[dottylottie]

Yer about their lovely grey horse

yup that’s the one

when i was younger i took “cold backed” at face value - literally just needed to warm up a bit before you got on. looking back now at the ponies i knew then, i can definitely see signs of pain.

to me, if i see the term that’s what i think THEY mean, but definitely not what i think it means

 

[blitznbobs]

Pain and or tension when initially ridden

 

[hock]

yup that’s the one

when i was younger i took “cold backed” at face value - literally just needed to warm up a bit before you got on. looking back now at the ponies i knew then, i can definitely see signs of pain.

to me, if i see the term that’s what i think THEY mean, but definitely not what i think it means

Yer I grew up the same. We had a pony I learnt to ride on that would leap forward after you did its girth up called “cold backed”. Sorry Cupid!

Wonder if his saddle fits

 

[SEL]

To me cold backed means, undiagnosed pain but I’m still riding it. Pssm - I’d call it that as an issue and KS I’d say it’s got KS. I think the use of the word cold backed should be avoided.

I disagree.

Cold backed means you know that you need to take care and warm up slowly - but if someone told me their horse was cold backed I'd ask what investigations had been done.

The PSSM horse you had to get on lightly and let her walk off immediately. Sometimes if her muscles were tight she'd hump her back but you needed to leave the reins long and just sit there. Telling people at clinics she had a muscle disease which made her cold backed meant they understood why she did what she did.

It is an old fashioned phrase but it's one that's understood.

 

[cauda equina]

To me it's simply a description of behaviour, not a diagnosis

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I would immediately think there is a problem, behavioral or physical but, we backed one that was described as cold backed. It turned out it didn't like the sheepskin numnah, put a plain one on and no more issues!!

 

[rabatsa]

As a teenager I had a horse that was cold backed. If you put his saddle on 10-15 minutes or longer before you intended to ride, he was never a problem. Be in a hurry or forget to saddle early and mount and he would have you bucked off pdq.

To me this is a cold back, not a sore back. However many horses with sore backs do present as cold backed, as cauda equina says it is a behaviour/description.