At wits end - KS / Feet issue

[Feral]

The steroid jab is a good call it’s what I would do .
I would do a muscle biopsy as well if it brings up nothing that something you rule out
If you can find a ACPAT trained physio with an interesting in rehab work then this would be a good investment .
I think the type of crowding you describe is often secondary to pain else where .
Has she had any form of hind Limb work up ?
If she where mine I would be getting some nerve blocking done if you don’t get a super result from the steroid .

Vet did a lameness workup on her in May, flexion tests showed up very slight lameness in front right and back left but nothing the vet was worried about.
She has not had any nerve blocking done yet but another thing to look at potentially

 

[GinaGeo]

I can't comment on the PSSM I have very little experience of that. But I can say that my young horse's hives and backwardness eventually turned out to be hind gut issues as a result of allergies - took me nearly two years to figure it out.

 

[Feral]

I can't comment on the PSSM I have very little experience of that. But I can say that my young horse's hives and backwardness eventually turned out to be hind gut issues as a result of allergies - took me nearly two years to figure it out.

Very interesting.

She did have hives earlier in the year which took a long time to clear up.
How did you test for allergies/hind gut issues?

 

[GinaGeo]

I had him blood tested. My Vet sent Blood to Avacta Animal Health. He tested positive for Linseed, Sugar Beet, Carrots, Oats, Bran, Barley, Wheat, Alfalfa, Soya.

He's accident prone and had ended up having a run of antibiotics in his two year old summer. Shortly after the hives showed up. We did try eliminating things from his diet, but I think he was eating the poo of the other horses who were still getting linseed and therefore it didn't show anything. I ended up taking them all off everything he's allergic to as well.

Cutting all of that out improved him, but putting him on a really good prebiotic (I used the Equibiome one as most of them seem to use something he's allergic to as a carrier). And that made a big difference as he was still sore through his hind gut.

This was slowly dropped right down and he is now only getting his handful of grass nuts and his Pro Hoof Supplement and grass.

I'm planning to wipe the clover out of my fields as much as possible for next summer too as that's a legume and I think it might not be ideal.

 

[Feral]

Sooooo.... had the injection on Thursday.
Vet advised two days paddock rest and then try lunging over the weekend.

My god, the difference is noticeable!! - she is loose, moving forward and her knee action/movement is amazing!!
Vet did advise to have a sit on her if everything was ok but she is very sore to touch on her skin where the injections have been put in.

Very much looks like a KS issue which in turn will have caused the feet to be the way they are.

I am very happy at the moment that we seem to be getting to the bottom of things.

 

[sbloom]

KS is, from the people I trust, never a root cause, it's generally a symptom of poor posture which can be corrected and ideally should be. Whether you like or use him or not Tom Beech, The Osteopathic Vet, has some good stuff on FB etc and works with rehab centres.

There are lots of great in hand postural programmes and online resources becoming available which would be absolutely worth following, even better than riding, even if she wasn't sore.

If it was my horse, or I had a customer who had a horse with similar options, I would at least encourage research into these areas plus barefoot done right. I am always wary when feet get bad and the existing practitioner is the one putting them right.

Really glad you've got positive developments though, it's got you ahead and now you can take stock of anything that may cause niggles in the future.

 

[Feral]

KS is, from the people I trust, never a root cause, it's generally a symptom of poor posture which can be corrected and ideally should be. Whether you like or use him or not Tom Beech, The Osteopathic Vet, has some good stuff on FB etc and works with rehab centres.

There are lots of great in hand postural programmes and online resources becoming available which would be absolutely worth following, even better than riding, even if she wasn't sore.

If it was my horse, or I had a customer who had a horse with similar options, I would at least encourage research into these areas plus barefoot done right. I am always wary when feet get bad and the existing practitioner is the one putting them right.

Really glad you've got positive developments though, it's got you ahead and now you can take stock of anything that may cause niggles in the future.

Thank you for this.

Yes, it is hard to know if the feet issue has caused the back issue or the other way round - or if there is something else niggling elsewhere.
I have an excellent new Phy-sio coming to see her in two weeks time and I have already had a lengthy chat over the phone this morning with her.
The issues have most likely been present prior to me purchasing her (I have only owned her for 11 months and the reluctance has a been an issue from the start but in a just backed 4 year old it was so hard to know if she was just green or lazy/not understanding.
She has done very little work under saddle due to this.

I do feel like we are on the right track to start and help this little mare so I am hoping things will keep improving from here

 

[ycbm]

KS is, from the people I trust, never a root cause

I think 'never' is going a bit far SB.

There was nothing else wrong with my horse but KS, and the operation completely removed all his symptoms. He didn't stay alive long enough to be back in full work but he was he was completely free at wtc ridden, stopped bucking, started over tracking again and a forelimb flight deviation disappeared.

I know of a newly broken 4 year old who failed a vetting by a local eventer who was intending to purchase, who has now seen KS in well made young horses so often that he won't buy without back x rays. And the surgeon who operated on mine had recently done a 3 year old who had done no work. He said he sees horses at three stages. Ones that were born like it who prove difficult to back. c7 year olds who are just moving up into serious work where they may have been born with it and coped until then. He put my horse in this category. c12 year olds where it was a result of wear and tear.

A good vet won't operate on kissing spines without checking the back legs first, though, because it is very common for it to be secondary to back end lameness.

 

[sbloom]

I think 'never' is going a bit far SB.

A bit maybe, not sure how many are born with it though? The c6/c7 issue is becoming a big thing that is from birth, not sure how much that's potentially tied up with KS too. Minefield.