That is a great (and sensible!) piece of advice! Thanks from an owner of a cold-backed mare who has also been thoroughly vetted (chiro too) and saddle-checked by a fitter (more than once) I think it’s that and also the anticipation of the too-fast girth tightening for my mare who I’ve had just over six months.
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Perhaps rather than lunging, try some light but dynamic in-hand work. Things like backing, turns on the forehand & haunches, and stepping over scattered or raised poles. You could also try including carrot “stretches” (which I put in quotes because they are actually primarily stability exercises. Avoid passive stretching before work, where you bring the horse into position and ask them to relax into the stretch). The idea being to “wake up” a more global set of muscles before asking her to use the big locomotion muscles. It may not solve things, but it certainly shouldn’t hurt.
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I’ve used a battery-operated heating pad for this purpose and was coming here to suggest just that.
Also, ground stretches that encourage lumbar motion- belly lifts, rump tucks, bowing- can help her to loosen up.
I would canter her before you trot since it goes better that way, and do your first lap of trot in two-point and see if that makes a difference.
How does she palpate in her muscles? If she’s muscularly tight, in addition to the vitamin E, you might ask your vet about magnesium. Also think the vitamin E is a good idea. We had one whose bloodwork consistently showed that he was a little on the low side but within normal range, supplemented, and had a much more comfortable and happy horse. The clinical picture in black and white on the reports did not tell the full story.
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Appreciate all these good suggestions. Including, if you think it could be veterinary, suggestions as to what you think makes sense given what I’ve ruled out (full lameness exam, ulcer treatment, normal radiographs, and normal back palpitations). She is not tense in her back or even really tense under saddle. I do think it could be girth related and I’m interested in not only the good suggestions for girthing techniques but girths to try for particularly girth horses.
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You might also consider if there’s any sternum pain that’s causing issues or pressure on the vagus nerve. Have you tried any sternum relief girths or girths with a wider surface area in the center?
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What about a back on track saddle pad to keep her muscles warm? Do you have a bemer or a sheet w magnets to try on her before tacking up?
Have you tried any of the anatomically shaped girths? Also, have you noticed if your saddle has settled into a different position by the end of the ride? My saddle fitter says that most people put the saddles too far forward when they tack up. Perhaps the initial position you put it in is not the most comfortable for her, but it settles after a few laps around?
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Again, that doesn’t mean it’s not there. It just means you’ve ruled out xyz and xyz is not the cause. You can’t say there is no veterinary cause unless the horse wakes up tomorrow and starts speaking and tells you that he just really doesn’t like the girth/ mounting for no particular reason at all. I think it’s great you’ve ruled out as much as you have just don’t shut the door on ANY pain related issues.
What about PSSM2?
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I don’t know what I expected, I knew reading comprehension was a dying art. COTH gonna’ COTH.
Making a list and especially would like to hear girth recommendations from anyone with similar issues who has had luck in that vein. I just ordered the tapestry girth.
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You might try counter conditioning. The tacking up steps would be easier to work with than the under saddle behaviors.*
*shove a bunch of treats down her throat while you saddle up
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It takes 10-15 minutes of walking for the synovial fluid in the horse’s spine to warm up & reach the correct viscosity for peak lubrication. I’ve long started every ride with 10 minutes of walking. Il Divo especially was cold backed. Never had an issue as long as we walked first. (Calms my nerves, too.)
A couple trainers have given me blow back for it. Whatever. If it’s good enough for Klaus Belkenol, it’s good enough for me.
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I should add to what I put above is that is what he is like out of work. In work he does not buck when first stepping forward and does not do the one step each leg when first moving off under saddle. I can ask for trot almost straight after mounting because we are in a hot country, he has walked up to the arena and to the mounting block and walk under saddle doesn’t seem to do anything for him.
He can go straight into canter after 2 laps of trot in long and low and I will also add that the canter, trot 3 strides, canter, trot 3 strides, canter is a very heating exercise and should be used carefully on a hot horse.
To tack a cold backed horse, catch in halter, groom saddle and girth area. Place on saddle. Put girth down on the off side. Put girth on loose. That is what she deems loose, not you.
Continue grooming do neck, rump, legs, face, pick out hooves, I oil if using a sand arena, put comb through mane, every now and then, on both sides put the girth up a hole. The bridle is put on last. By the time you walk to the mounting block, the girth is tight enough to mount and you have taken no extra time.
If she is really bad with the fit for the first trot then try trotting in hand to the mounting block or lunging first.
As with your girl my boy loves people, loves being ridden. He is definitely better if ridden daily.
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Try a magnetic grooming mitt before you tack her up. Spend a little time massaging her back and shoulders to get the blood flowing.
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Does her saddle fit well enough without a saddle pad? We are conditioned in the US to think we must use them but most of the time we dont need them.
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My horse greatly benefited from being warmed up in hand as opposed to warming up in the arena. We started doing walk about all around the farm and had the extra added benefit of hills.
I let him stop and look if he wanted to but then he had to resume walking. We walked at a good pace, but not rushed or hurried. I have to say that when I started doing this regularly he was quite different in the ring. Much more relaxed and ready to work. -
it is counter to the common practice to walk then trot then canter, but i found that doing canter work after a brief brisk walk made my horses trot work much better. He was much more forward and relaxed after a few minutes of a canter.
I cant contribute much about girths. I had a plain wintec dressage girth that I used for years without any problems.
Hope this helps.
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My daughter’s old pony was cold backed. I would put his saddle pad in the dryer and warm it up. We jogged him in hand before she got on. We also got the Back On Track sheet and pad but I think the pad in the dryer worked well.
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Good discussion of girth shapes relative to your horses wither, shoulder size and where their girth groove lies.
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I wonder about PSSM on this horse. I used to ride a horse that felt ‘stuck’ as well at the beginning of the ride. I added a high fat supplement and it helped the mare, it did take some time for the additive to work…a few weeks, maybe?
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PSSM is not a bad idea for me to rundown. She’s not a breed I associate with PSSM (Selle Francais) but that doesn’t make it impossible.
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I recently bought a mattes anatomic girth from Hufgloken to replace my NunnFiner one. My uber-sensitive TB absolutely loves this girth. Don’t know if it’s the sheepskin cover, the elastic, the fact that the girth is a few inches longer than the old one, or what, but while he didn’t object to the old girth, I can see in his eye that this new one feels even better.
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As I said I use a wide cair girth and it has good reviews online from riders with girthy horses.
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Take a listen to the podcast “The Horse First” By Dr Audrey DeClue. She talks in depth about horses with issues like this and how it is always pain, and the pain doesn’t always manifest where you think it might.
I recommend at least episode 39. She gives a multitude of things you can check to get an idea where the issue is.
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