cold-back

plural cold-backs · alternative coldback · alternative cold back

1. countableuncountableA syndrome in which a horse refuses to accept anything on its back (often a symptom of chronic lower back soreness)

   It is difficult to compare the human counterpart of what Jeffcott describes as another 'well known' problem in horses, namely, "cold-back".

   1980, R Grahame, Low Back Pain - Volume 2, page 16

   3 more examples

   Such maladies as osteoarthritis of various joints (spavin in the hocks, ringbone in the pasterns, osselets in the fetlocks, navicular disease in the heels of the forefeet) are very common, as is chronic lower back soreness (coldback) in the lumbar, sacral, and thoracic regions.

   1992, Barbara T. Engel, Margaret L. Galloway, Therapeutic Riding Programs

   If horses exhibit a cold-back, it may well signify an underlying problem, but some horses that have only a cold-back and no other signs or performance deficit can be managed by lunging before riding or gradually tightening the girth.

   1997, Current Therapy in Equine Medicine - Volume 4, page 11

   One of the most debated subjects in the whole of equestrianism is whether or not horses have bad backs. For some horsemen, a horse with a 'cold-back' is merely demonstrating eccentric behaviour; for others, every unexpected response is indicative of a back problem.

   1998, Sara Wyche, Understanding the Horse's Back, page 43

2. countableuncountableA horse with cold-back.

   "Guess he's a cold-back," Slim observed when Blackie had calmed down somewhat.

   1996, Ian Wilson, Sally Wilson, Gold Rush: North to Alaska and the Klondike, page 33

   1 more example

   The stud colt had taken to halter and bit easily enough, but he was a coldback. He had shied at the blanket and rejected the weighted feed sacks Adam had hung over his back before introducing the saddle.

   2009, David Karcher, Winter Kill, page 17

alternative coldback · alternative cold back

1. not comparableRefusing to bear weight on its back; bucking and shying when anything is put on the back.

   You go back to the corral and saddle that cold-back sumbitch and put on your chaps and spurs.

   2009, John Duncklee, Zemo, page 49

   1 more example

   A cold-back bronc raises his head up high as a single cowboy walks toward him to mount in the cold morning air.

   1995, James P. McCall, The Stallion: A Breeding Guide for Owners and Handlers, page 3