DefinePK

Abstract

Colloquial terminology which included horses being described as ‘cold backed’,’cinchy’ or ‘girthy’ was commonplace in the sports horse industry. Explanations as to why horses should present with these altered behaviours included poor fitting or incorrectly applied tac, poor training, inexperienced or overweight riders, local trauma, as well as a limited number of medical conditions which included overriding of the dorsal spinous processes. The possibility that a proportion of these behaviours were alternatively, an exaggerated response to normal or innocuous pressures being applied to anatomical regions where mechanical allodynia was evident was discussed. The origins of this regional allodynia were also proposed and responses to treatment using cervical vertebral mobilisation under anaesthetic presented.