whats going on here?

Question

When im tightning up my saddle my horse gets scared and pulls back on her lead, resultin gin her falling or taking out the post. She gets hurt and im truely worried it will get worse, now i have to take her out in the open where she has a chance of bolting away and i dont want her to get into that habit. Whats going on and how do i fix it?

Answer 1

Being possibly coldbacked is a good answer and I agree,

It could also be poor saddle fitting too. Have you checked that yet? Do you know how to check her for a sore back also? If no, let me know and I can help you more.

Also cinch her slowly and untie her when you do saddle her. My son's arab mare started this with a poorly fitting saddle and once we figured out what the cause was, she kept it up even after fixing the problem.

We just untied her and cinched her slowly and worked her through it. Until this horse's issue is figured out, for your safety and the horses, you need to untie her. They typically won't pull back if they don't feel the pressure on the poll.

Good luck.

Answer 2

I always thought that "cold-backed" was a cowboy or traders term for bucking when you mounted, just about EVERY time you mounted for the first time of the day. It happens a lot when no ground work is done and cowboys just go out, rope and pull out the horse from the bunch that they are going to use that day...no real prep other than some grooming...lot of it is done early, in the dark...The horse is saddled up without much todo, but you can tell that he is bunched up under the saddle and the back cinch becomes quite tight because he isn't relaxed and is bowed up. Sometimes just walking them around loosens them up, but most of the time it just takes a couple of crow hops, then it's over for the day till the next time the horse is saddled...actually, they make pretty good horses, not much quit in them, good on cattle and in the mountains...now, what I think is happening with this horse that we are discussing is cinchy, or just plain "ticklish", seriously. I took a long time on another answer, just last week, to describe exactly what it was, so I won't bother going into so much detail, but it is just like someone is being tickled until something has to give, in this case, the horse either rocks forward or backward or goes down or whatever. You don't ever want to tie up a horse like this when you are saddling them and if you do have someone holding them, make sure that they don't have the lead rope wrapped around their hands or arms or whatever...I have always made it a practice of NEVER putting on the headstall on the horse until the saddle is on and secured, you have more control that way and less chance on you and/or your horse getting hurt. The best way to help out a cinchy horse is to use a breast collar and back cinch along with your regular cinch, so that nothing has to be really tight for the tack to be secure when you mount. Usually, just tightening up the cinch in little increments and walking your horse around before each time that you tighten it a little more, usually works the problems out before they get to be big ones. Sometimes I think that there has to be some nerve or something that reacts involunteriarily and the the horse has no choice but to react as he does.

Answer 3

When was the very first time you noticed this?
Think back maybe shes had a bad experience getting saddled. Perhaps the girth is getting tightened too quickly or your saddle is pinching her.
Go slowly. Have someone knowledgeable in saddle fitting check things out for you if you arent sure how to do it properly.
I would short cut the pulling routine once I knew there wasnt a problem with a) your mares back or b) the fit of your rig by saddling up in the stall where she isnt tied.
I should ask how does she normally tie? Is she a puller anyways? Once they learn that trick it can be really hard to break .
If she normally is pretty cool about standing tied then you have to take a closer look at her tack and back. Judging by your nickname you are doing some barrell racing and thats a pretty demanding sport, maybe she is sore check it out, maybe some massage therapy could work wonders for her.
I had a really nutty TB off the track that went mental every time you put a saddle up on her. It took months, of patience and trust building to get the girth done up without a blow out. It turned out that she had had a accident and her back was sore. But they had just kept on training and reinforcing the pain with every session. Ruining her for the track BTW as she was just dangerous to handle. Happily she did make a full recovery and became a lovely mare for the hunter ring.

Answer 4

She sounds like she is "cold backed" to me.

Doing the girth up in a horse with Cold Back Syndrome causes the blood pressure to become low very suddenly, which in turn, causes the horse to panic. You can still ride these horses but great care is required so that neither you or the horse gets injured.

Never tie up this horse when saddling her, either have a helper or put your arm through the rein.

The horse I rode with CBS was very talented and a lovely ride after the first five minutes. I'd put her saddle on high and slide it down her withers to the correct place. I made sure the girth (cinch) was on a loose setting on the far side of the saddle. I'd do it up one hole and walk the horse forward. Do it up another hole from the far side and walk her on again in a circle, then I would stretch both her front legs. Once you start getting to the point where the girth is almost tight enough to ride, stretch the legs forward before moving off in walk. I would repeat this process until the girth was tight enough to ride. Walk the horse round in a figure 8 and mount from a block, not the ground.

Some times horses with CBS will explode when mounted but if you follow the instructions above this will reduce the chances of this happening, just take care not to land heavily in the saddle and above all - TAKE YOUR TIME.

Good luck

Answer 5

She has a reason and you need to find out what it is. There is something wrong in the present or her past. Some times it has been abuse, sometimes, a misfitting saddle. Talk with professional horse people and someone will help you discover what she is trying to tell you.
I had one horse, who simple didn't like the saddle. He would expand his stomach and chest while being saddle and later he could just about walk out of it. He was ridden bareback, and was a lovely ride.

Answer 6

For whatever reason that she is doing this, now you have to deal with the problem. What you are doing, tightening up outside, away from the hitching post, is the best idea. Tighten up slowly, one hole at a time. Work with her with small treats like carrots. Tighten a hole, give her praise and a carrot, then tighten another hole, walk her around, etc.

She may eventually stop this nonsense, or not. In any event, taking the precaution of tightening the girth while she is untied is most likely your best bet.

Answer 7

Have her back checked by the vet, the next time he/she is out. It sounds like the saddle may be hurting her back so she's showing you that something is wrong. One way to check if her back is sore is to put your thumb on one side of her back bone and your index finger on the other side of her back bone. Run them from the withers down her back using mild pressure (1-1.5lbs). If she flinches away from the pressure, her back is bothering her.

If it is not her back check her girth area for any signs of galls or sores. Also check her ribs. If the pulling back is something that just started, there is a reason for it other than abuse from another home. Really look into it.

Answer 8

She could have a bad owner or experience in the passed when they either tightened it to much all the time or a girth she used to be ridden with hurt her in some way.
This happened to my moms old horse when she let a 4-H use him at some shows and she had to pay for it by teaching him the girth is not bad. lol
I hope this helps but if you don't already use a padded girth you may want to, it may fell better to her.

Answer 9

Try saddling her up in her stall. Start slowly and then walk her around until she stops blowing up and then tighten it a little more. Try lounging her a bit to get her to relax and then tighten the saddle the rest of the way. If she is in her stall she can't get very far and won't be able to pull out anymore posts and freak herself out. GOOD LUCK.

Answer 10

It's possible that your horse was abused at a former home, the best I can say is to call a trainer and have them work with your horse. If your horse *was* abused, she could be responding to a stimulus that caused her to be beaten (she shifted while tightening the girth, and was hit for it), and it will take a long time to get over that.