About hosing them off in camp. I've learned an interesting thing. You don't want to hose them off if the check in is going to be done before the horse could have a chance to dry off completely. I don't know why, but if the horses back is wet, 9 X out of 10 they will react like they have a sore back when checked, but will be fine when they are dry.
I was skeptical about this till I saw it happen time after time. If you know your horse is going to be checked pretty quick on return to camp, your best to just clean them up dry. It's harder to do that, but your less likely to have your horse get marked off for sore back.
Becky
You know... I have noticed that with Bay... just the cold makes them cringe more under your fingers maybe? If I've been spraying him with cold water and poke him in the back, he flinches big time, whether he's been ridden or not.
Another question... Do you unsaddle at the P&R stops? I'd think that would help them cool too, to get the saddle off that is trapping heat.
Interesting!!! You know, last Sunday when I rode Bob in the new saddle, I told y'all that his loins were sore when I got him back home. Well, I was checking him as I was giving him a bath and he was flinching big-time. When I palpated him the next day he didn't react at all. I still had the dry spots. They were still there when I started hosing him off and took much longer to get as wet as the surrounding hair, but he didn't seem sore there at all. So I may not have as bad a problem with the new saddle as I thought. I'm glad you told me that. I'll give it a few more trys. Thanks!
The saddle, particularly an imperfect fit, does restrict blood flow to the areas under it... just because of the weight, the blood vessels and muscles get compressed.
Allowed to cool naturally, the blood vessels expand and bloodflow slowly comes back in... perhaps if you spray them with a cold hose right then it constricts the blood vessels as they're trying to recirculate more blood.... it's a theory.