Physiological Issues
So moving on lets talk about physiological responses. This could mean a number of things like poor saddle fit, chiropractic misalignment, poor muscling, ulcers, kissing spine, teeth, being "cold backed."
I feel like nowadays everyone's literal go to a horses behavior change is ulcers. Oh my horse is girthy because of ulcers, my horse this, my horse that - ulcers, ulcers, ulcers. Ulcers for everyone! Not everything is ulcers, yep I said it - no regrets.
Saddle Fit - First and foremost - check your saddle fit. Poor saddle fit is the number one cause to a sore back and can cause other issues. A saddle that fits incorrectly will rub on the withers, pinch the shoulders or sit too narrowly over the spine. If you are not sure, it is imperative to have someone knowledgeable or a professional saddle fitter assist you. - I am going to be doing a video blog post on saddle fit at some point using english and western saddles. I will say this a properly fitting saddle should leave no dry spots and have an even sweat mark across their back. Ultimately, it could be ridden without a saddle pad as it fits correctly. A saddle pad is a crutch and too many people use it to "fix" issues over its intended purpose, but I will get into that when I do my fit video.
Teeth - a horse will drop weight rapidly if they are not eating properly. Thus, resulting in poor saddle fit due to weight loss. I can't speak on an actual percentage of horse owners who know and don't know about having their horses teeth floated. The average horse in their younger years should have their teeth done anywhere from every 6 months to 1 year. An older horse can go a little longer between 1 year to 3 years as their teeth are no longer growing as rapidly as a young horses (Don't come for me this was information told to me by a very successful old school equine dentist who did all of my uncles racehorses, and worked for many others at the racetrack). If their teeth are not done they may have sharp points or the bit is not sitting correctly and this can be painful and in response the horse can buck trying to get away from it.
Chiropractic Misalignment - just like us, if our back or neck is out of whack it hurts, ask me how I know, haha! But in all seriousness, if a horse is out of alignment somewhere and they are hurting, they buck. They can't talk and tell us out loud so one of their responses to pain is to buck. It is good to have a chiropractor regularly come out to adjust your horse to ensure they are aligned and pain free. (Side note: I wish they could talk so they could tell us what is wrong, but at the same time I am glad they can't because I think I'd be mortified by what my horse says).
Poor Muscling - a horse that is under muscled due to either an underlying issue, lack of work or muscle atrophy due to being in stall rest for an injury can result in... poor saddle fit... So now your saddle that fit your horse really good at one point doesn't. Good slow work with exercises asking them to lift their belly and strengthen those back muscles and build up the area around their withers is key. Hill work is also a great way to build up muscles not only in the front end but the hind end as well. A horse with an underlying issue could present as either a myopathy or myositis. A myopathy is any disease that primarily causes damage to the muscles - this can be congenital (from birth) or can be due to an injury, ingestion of a toxin or a nutritional deficiency. A myositis is an inflammatory reaction and can be caused by an infection, a parasitic disease or an immune disorder. This results in muscle stiffness, pain, atrophy, weakness, twitching (muscle fasciculations) or intolerance to being exercised. Moreover, the most common signs are pain, stiffness and reluctance to move due to painful, uncontrollable muscle contractions that can eventually damage the muscle causing it to improperly function. This unfortunately can limit a horses performance and can be career ending. The medical diagnosis for this is Rhabdomyolysis. Muscle weakness and/or damage can be the result of nerve trauma or even influenza.
- Other disorders that fall into this category are HYPP, PSSM.
- I'm going to briefly touch on HYPP - for those of you not versed in horses it is a genetic trait that was passed down from Impressive lines. It affects the muscles and it makes the horse look like a body builder jacked up on steroids. You see this a lot in halter bred horses. Unfortunately, some breeders breed for this look and it is super irresponsible. Hence why responsible breeders genetic test prior to breeding to ensure they are breeding N/N vs P/N or N/P depending on whose side it is on. They really aren't rideable either due to the condition.
- PSSM on the other hand is the opposite it causes progressive muscle atrophy.
Ulcers - ulcers can cause a horse to buck or be very resistant to riding aids. A horse may become very "girthy" and bite at you while you are tacking up. However, you are less likely to see this particular symptom if it is a hindgut ulcer. Other symptoms of a gastric ulcer would include transient colic signs which would occur immediately after feeding, especially if you are feeding a high grain content feed. Dullness in their eyes and attitude and they will loose weight and have a low body condition score. Upon treating with omeprazole, ulcerguard and other remedies and remediating the problem, you should see the bucking problem resolve.
Kissing Spine - kissing spine is one of the heavy hitters when it come to physiological issues that cause bucking. Depending on the location and severity of the affected area, may present problems with saddle fit and or treatment options. The thoracic vertebrae are the most commonly affected between T13 and T18 with T15 being the most affected. This is where the dorsal spinal process changes its orientation and angle. This is also the site directly under the saddle, under the rider's seat. It has been seen in lumbar vertebrae but is not as common.
So with using Harry as an example as he is affected in the thoracic region and directly under where I would sit. So to recap, he had thrown me resulting in a pretty good concussion (yes I was wearing a helmet) and a right hip injury. After I posted on Facebook about it to my friends seeking advice, someone mentioned Kissing Spine. Only then did we have the vet out to x-ray his back, once they determined he had KS we talked treatment options and were given two: injection or surgery. The vet explained that every horse is different and may only need the injection once or may need it every 6 months. The surgical option presented to us was ISLD (Interspinous Ligament Desmotomy), which is where they cut the interspinous ligament to relieve tension. The 2nd surgical option that we were never told about was the "bone shave" surgery where they take about 3" off the top of the dorsal spinous processes (vertebrae). This is a more invasive procedure and has a longer recovery period but has somewhat better results in terms of stability and comfort. There is a 3rd option which consists of an endoscopic procedure that removes selected dorsal spinous processes and rejoining the interspinous ligament between them. The only downside to surgical options is that the back is not as stable and could potentially lead to future lameness. We ultimately opted for injections at the time and for light riding - trails mainly he was fine.
Injections were less invasive and can either be an anti-inflammatory in the general region of the KS (mesotherapy) or a corticosteriod injection in-between the affected vertebrae.
Some other non-invasive treatments to make your horse more comfortable can be achieved through exercises to stretch and strengthen the back and abdominal muscles, pain reduction, muscle relaxation, fixing the horses posture and improving the horses mobility.
Encouraging your horse to move in a relaxed frame while working on ground exercises and progressing to poles and then to cavaletti will in turn encourage them to stretch out. You can use a Pessoa Lunging System to encourage your horse to engage their core muscles however you can still achieve this while using side reins or a neck stretcher or if you are doing light riding draw reins as well. Having your horse stretch his neck and lift his belly is going to be an important
If you are lucky to be near a rehab farm that offers swimming or an aqua treadmill you can utilize that as well. Assessing your saddle fit is of utmost importance as well to ensure that it is not pinching and is sitting on either of the side of the spine which can alleviate pinching and pressure on the affected area. Some say chiropractic adjustment and acupuncture therapy work as well, in addition to a therapeutic ultrasound. You can use shockwave therapy, a cold red laser, or treatments such as PMEF or Bemer help as well.
Keeping your horses topline properly muscled is going to be key in keeping your horse primarily pain free, however it won't keep them completely pain free, you may need to add in an anti-inflammatory or corticosteroid injection or other treatment to aid in their comfort.
Cold Backed - lastly if you have a horse that explodes as soon as you get on is sometimes referred to as "cold backed".
When referring to the the "cold back" term it has absolutely nothing to do with actual temperature, it is referring to the general soreness in the horse's back muscles. It usually subsides after they being to move. If while mounting your horse suddenly or dramatically acts out or hollows their back it is because they are trying to avoid the pressure. Sometimes they will cow kick while being cinched/girthed is a sign of soreness, additionally bucking just after being mounted is another sign of soreness. Once the horse moves off and the muscles warm up, flex and stretch and their circulation increases the horses attitude usually improves. They typically will show signs of resistance early on in your ride.
Suggestions to combat this are to tighten the cinch/girth gradually vs in one quick big pull. Lunging your horse prior for a few minutes will help to loosen their back up before being tacked, mounted and ridden.
This being said a "cold back" is not a behavioral quirk and should not be ignored and isn't normal. It normally is a sign of poor saddle fit, how a rider rides and/or the horses confirmation, or a combination of the three. To figure out the cause and get rid of it for good you will have to do a thorough process of trial end error.
- Check the fit of your saddle and any pads. When you are done riding assess the saddle sweat mark and a poor fit will be indicated by any dry spots in a small concentrated area. This means the saddle is ill-fitting and is either too narrow or too wide. This can quickly sore a horses back.
- How your horse carries themselves under saddle. If they are hollowing themselves will never develop the back muscles properly and won't be able to carry a rider comfortably. With a more frequent riding schedule and using a few specific techniques that will encourage your horse to stretch themselves out and essentially lift their back will strengthen the muscles and comfortably carry a rider.
- Assess your horses confirmation and look at how their back is. If it disproportionate - too long or too short, swayed or roached it is an indication of inherent weakness and they will begin to compensate in other ways. A properly fitting saddle and pad that are semi or custom fitted and consistent training are absolutely imperative for the health of your horses back and will help strengthen them.
So this wraps up our 2 part series on bucking and why your horse might be doing it. Any thoughts? Feel free to comment below!