Cold
back - why a horse gets a cold back and how to cope
Some horses are affected by Cold Back Syndrome
A horse or pony with a cold
back may react in one or more ways.
Some horses that suffer from a cold back fall
over when their girth is tightened,
others simply collapse or crumble and cave in until they are crouching
with their belly near to the ground.
A few horses with cold backs will then panic and leap explosively
into the air and buck and throw themselves about.
Other symptoms of a cold back are dipping the back or raising
the back as a reaction to saddle pressure.
A horse with a mild case of cold back may just be a bit difficult
when first mounted, short in their strides and/or reluctant to
go forwards for the first 5 minutes or so when they are worked.
Once warmed up these horses are happy to work
properly.
Many horse owners believe that the symptoms
of a cold back are a horse's normal reaction to being tacked up
or mounted - this is definitely not the case.
There are several theories behind the causes of "cold
back syndrome" in horses.
The most popular theory is that the acute reaction in a cold-backed
horse is caused by stimulation of the sensitive nerve endings.
This could be caused by pressure from a badly fitted saddle,
stretching of injured tissue or back pain.
It is possible that the horse suffers a sudden
drop in blood pressure due to a problem with
the heart and circulation caused by pressure on the chest.
Or the collapse may be due to an initialpanic reaction.
It is common to see horses which learn to blow out their chests
as the girth is being tightened - other horses may react to this
sensation of restriction by panicking.
The problem of a cold backed horse can be self
perpetuating. Once a horse has suffered one attack he will be
conditioned to fear the tightening of the girth and will panic
again on subsequent occasions. |
