Honey's Kissing Spine Op today

[debradley]

Just to keep everyone up to date. Svend has called to confirm that Honey's op went well. He's removed three and Honey is now in recovery doing well. I will know more tomorrow but looks like I'll be able to pick her up at the weekend. Can't wait to get her back home and my other pony will be so pleased to have her back she's absolutely lost without her! Thank you everyone for your support. Oh and even better my insurance has come through and agreed to pay. Yipppeeeee

 

[Llwyncwn]

Thats fantastic news. Fingers crossed she comes home at the weekend which is when your nursing duties begin! Sending positive vibes for a quick recovery xx

 

[pennypots]

Our TB was diagnosed just b4 Xmas and had the op on the 20.12.06. She was at Hartpury college and had lots of after care there. Including sessions on the treadmill and manipulation with an osteopath. She was ridden again resently and has had a gradual build up. Last week she jumped a 90cm course!
There is very little to show for her ordeal. She has three dips in her back but the scaring is minimal. Just be prepared for it to look bad at the start, but i have to say that so far we now have a much nicer person to deal with. Her movement is more fluid and her temperament is generally much calmer. This is quite noticable even to my husband!
Good luck with it all, and if you need to talk just let me know. My thoughts are with you.

 

[samp]

Times have changed, horses I knew to have the op had serious long periods of box rest and was 1 year to returned to full work, fingers crossed it all goes ok

 

[Imonone]

Loads of good vibes sent to you and honey. Friends horse is several weeks past op and having lots of rehab and doing well.
It seems very commons theses days doesnt it

 

[debradley]

Thanks folks. Yeah must admit, when vet first mentioned that it might be, things didn't look very bright; but thanks to this forum they pointed me in the right direction and hopefully if rehab goes ok it looks like she'll be as good as new. I think its not so much that it appears to be more common now, more that because they're able to do something to correct the problem now more people are talking about it. Thank goodness.

 

[esmek]

Hi
Firstly I am new today !
Good to hear your horse is recovering well!

Can I ask you of your horses symptoms
I have a 15.2 TB, he is 9 with a fantastic temp
on sunday he threw me through the menage fence rail TWICE
I stupidly went to get on a 3rd time but he bronco'd before I managed
Since getting him, he has sat down when saddled, does not like the girth tigtened, finds it difficult to maintain canter
and some days will do ANYTHING to dump me

He seemed to be cold backed so i was lunging him before getting on, this worked for 2 weeks, he then had about 4 days off
On sunday I lunged him first, then got on and bang I was through the fence!
It would be easy to say he is just naughty but I have never known a horse so explosive one day and calm the next

He has recently had a new saddle fitted and teeth done
Can anybody tell me their opinion pls

Ta x

Ps
he is not lame and not sore to touch his back, streches well,
and his bad reactions are always as soon as I get on

 

[dozzie]

TAC- I'd definitely get it checked out!! Could be the saddle but could be something else!

D- Glad Honey is through the op!! I always think that is the worst part! I hate any of my animals being put under anaesthetic!

Heres to a good recovery!!

 

[debradley]

Hi there Take a Chance - welcome aboard. Least I can do is tell you the symptoms Honey showed. I will say that I'd definately get your lad checked out, but don't always think the worst it could be something very simple, but I'm a great believer in gut feeling and was right with mine, and you know your horse best. It took the price of about six saddles, ten bits, lots of schooling costs and physio before people finally began to believe me that my mare wasn't just being a 'chestnut mare' and rude! I was hoping to cheat and cut n past what I'd said earlier, but can't find it so here goes.

Won't stand still to be girthed.
Stiff picking back legs up for hoof picking or farrier
Head carriage all over the place (up, down, in, out shake it all about!!)
Running on the fore.
Couldn't pick up canter, had to run into it, then couldn't maintain it.
Big bucks after landing a jump.
Quite often when going into canter would get the most horrendous corkscrew buck that just sent you flying out the side door for no apparent reason, especially if you were asking for it on a bend (where you should be asking for it).
Towards the end when she was really bad, if you put her on the lunge in canter her back legs would just bunny hop and even disunite them come back to bunny hopping.
When really uncomfortable would back up, rear up and send you out the back door. That was easier as you could just sort of slide off rather than be projected out the front.
Didn't like to stand still at halt.
Pawing the ground with her front feet.
Tail swishing (a lot)
Now and again generally when not so fit would have a bit of a funny action on her left hind leg; almost as if the tendon was hooking.
A bit nervous and flighty, didn't really need any leg contact at all.
Towards the end she looked like two different horses, a bit like a cut n shut. Very muscled in front, good topline, nothing behind.
Difficulty standing square, always wanting to rest one back leg (didn't matter which).

Those are mainly the worst ones, but as you can see I could go on forever if I stopped to think of some more, but because all of these didn't necessarily happen all the time and some just didn't seem that bad (could almost be put down to bad manners) it took quite a while to put two and two together, to get to the bottom of the problem.

Sorry it's really long, hope you've had the patience to read it all. Good luck, and go with your gut instinct, you know your horse best. It was my physio that picked it up in the end. No matter what he did to loosen Honey's muscles a month later we'd be back to where we started, clear indication there's an underlying problem, apparently. Let us know how you get on. PM me by all means if you need to, everyone on here has been a fantastic support and help to me; it's the least I can do in return.

 

[Caritas]

Fab news about Honeys op, please do keep us informed. Bet your relieved that she is through the wrose of it now. Do give me a ring with any worries, dont be afraid to ask. Keep strictly to Svends plan he gives you and you will be well away.
Take A Chance, you must get your horse checked out asap, you never know. We may be worrying you unduly but something must be wrong for this to be happening, keep us informed and good luck.

 

[Merlotmonster]

I had a thoroughbred mare with Kissing spine. She hadnt even displayed any real symptoms, but kept going intermittently lame. Every time vet came out she was sound again. Then, my sister took her to a local hunter trial for a bit of fun and she refused to go down a simple set of steps. I have been jumping BE novice and she never stopped so we knew something was wrong. We sent her to Rossdales which is fantastic and a scan picked up her kissing spine. She had the op and you cant even see the scar now! The vets there are absolutely brilliant (and yes, Im glad the ins coughed up) as not cheap!

 

[pennypots]

Wow, i can't believe how similar your "list" is to ours! Just to reiterate, it was our osteopath that picked up on ours. We had several different back people look at her, a chiropractor and a McTimoney specialist, but it was the Osteoath that suggested x rays for confirmation. Each time she had been manipulated, she would be fine for a time and then would get worse again.
Our TB is now 7, but if i look back on her time with us, she has never been right. We got her as a 4 year old and was told she was a very sweet horse, but it seemed she hadn't been asked to do any "work", just been hacked out, so as soon as we started to really put her through her paces, and compete it obviously manifested itself, i thought it was just us that she did't like, 'cause her ears would go flat on her head, whenever, we went near her with the saddle. Being an ex racehorse, I assumed she had been "yanked" with the girth at sometime, and that was her problem. How wrong i was. As i said in a previous post, she is a different horse now.
When we first heard of the diagnosis, I looked very briefly on this forum and found some negative feedback, so decided to stop as i was depressed enough. But i really want to say that so far things are really looking good. It is still early days for us, but even at the moment to have her as a happy content horse, makes it worth while, and maybe, just maybe, she will go on to compete again.
To TAC : There is nothing to be lost from getting it checked.
To D: My thought's are with you. If either of you need to PM me, feel free.

 

[Merlotmonster]

Its really common in TB's of that age....wonder why?

Where was your Op done? I was referred to Rossdales and couldnt fault them. They even bathed my horse for me before I took her home so she would look nice and all the staff were amazing. You do think its the end of the world at the time, but the success rate is amazing. I was riding again in 6 months.

 

[debradley]

Hi well thanks to Caritas and BethH and a few others on here they recommended the Willesley Clinic in Glos for Honey's op. I can't speak highly enough of the team there and know Honey is in really good hands. Also, it was quite handy because it was only in the next county so we only have about 90 miles to travel to get her home and comfortable. I think I'll be picking her up at the weekend. Hope it isn't any earlier though as I'm suffering from gastric flu and don't feel much like being a nurse at the moment. Infact if I had a fight with a paper bag I think it would win at present, but should be back on track and ready for duties by Saturday.

 

[debradley]

Just had another update from Svend which has made me laugh and a little more relaxed. Honey is doing really well. He reports that she's the only mare in at the moment and has three geldings around her (god knowing my honey she'll be in her element, she's such a floosie). Anyway they've all had their dressings changed today and all the boys have been grunting and squealing, whilst Honey apparently just stood perfectly still and let them get on with it. He says she's really cool about everything and a sweetheart and all the boys have man-flu!!! That's my girl. Get to know tomorrow when she's coming home.

 

[Merlotmonster]

My mare didnt need too much nursing. The staples stay in for a few weeks and my normal vet came up a few times to change the dressing. I used to lead her out in hand each day to graze as she had to stay on box rest for a while. Ok at first but got a bit lairy the better she got! Lots of standing on back legs and being a madam!! (Tip - use a lunge line!). I was just amazed at how you couldnt even see the scar...
Hope it all goes well when you bring her home. Will she get bored in her stable or is she pretty cool about that?

 

[debradley]

No I think box rest will drive her crazy we'll see. She usually just gets a bit bargy when she's peed off and won't like not having lovely green grass to munch, but at least it will give me the opportunity to get her back to fighting weight, she's at podge weight at the moment!! I'm planning to let my other pony roam around the stable/yard area while she's on box rest as I think taking my other pony out to grass every morning and Honey staying behind would just blow her mind. She's one of those horses that doesn't like to miss out even on a wormer if the other ones having it! I'm going to play it by ear and just take it a day at a time to see how she goes.

 

[machannah]

Sven is fabulous and that clinic is worth its weight in gold! Highly recommend it, the team on site is wonderful to deal with and having been there recently for use of the repro team i saw svend checking out a batch of horses in the morning and he pays such attention to them

Also very lucky, am about 30 min drive away

 

[BethH]

Hi Haven't been on forum for a couple of days so was chuffed to pieces to hear Honey is back on her feet after the op and doing well. Am really glad that you have found Willesley as good as I did - still think they are simply fab. You know where I am if you need any help or advice, am delighted that you are finally on the road to recovery and to a happier neddie. Give Honey a hug from us all when you see her, I found Ryan more relaxed within days and Honey sounds like she is on the same path. Svend was really fed up with Ryan as he said he didn't have a chance to finish his cup of tea before Ryan got up after the op - typical native bloody mindedness eh!

Pitstop I wrote a long and boring post about all of Ryans symptons last june/july which hopefully you can find in the archive. Symptons of KS are so far ranging that you almost feel it fits the bill for anything wrong with your horse. So don't worry but get a vet check to put your mind at rest, it could be something really minor. If it is KS, it is not the end of the world and feel free to contact me if you need any help, advice or support.