Kissing spine ‘lig-snip’

[Bellaboo18]

I bought my horse in Feb 21, diagnosed KS and operated July 21.
If the horse is everything you are looking for, I would have a full vet check and physio exam and have their opinion.
I personally would buy a horse with KS history again provided I knew this was the only issue, as others have said it is quite often a secondary issue.
They need to be worked correctly for the rest of their lives- but shouldn’t all horses be worked correctly regardless of injury?

I'm glad you're feeling positive but 4 months after an op is no time at all...

 

[I don’t like mondays]

I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole (sorry). What you often find with these horses is, they do well in the early days after the opp but gradually the wheels fall off further down the line. Mine had bone shaved surgery this year, was doing brilliantly (had never moved so well), I was such an advocate for surgery, then gradually started having issues. Found SI issues. A year of rehab and he’s not right. I’d never do KS surgery again nor go near a horse with it or who has had surgery

 

[Laurynb]

I'm glad you're feeling positive but 4 months after an op is no time at all...

No it’s not, but my point is that if the horse is doing exactly what the op wants then why would you avoid it? At least you know the history of the horse and what your dealing with.

 

[Bellaboo18]

No it’s not, but my point is that if the horse is doing exactly what the op wants then why would you avoid it? At least you know the history of the horse and what your dealing with.

Because theres been such a short window to see if the op was successful long term, because there's a huge chance the ks was secondary to something that hasnt been found yet, because there's a huge chance the horse will breakdown again....etc etc. Why buy a known problem?
Unfortunately from what I've seen theres a short window of success from many ks operations...

 

[ycbm]

No it’s not, but my point is that if the horse is doing exactly what the op wants then why would you avoid it? At least you know the history of the horse and what your dealing with.

Because horses are breaking down 1, 2, 3, 4 years later with instability of the spine directly related to the ligament cutting.

Because horses which have had it done are at risk if they are rested for too long and may need to be managed differently from those not at that risk.

I really hope yours isn't one of them.
.

 

[Marigold4]

Because horses are breaking down 1, 2, 3, 4 years later with instability of the spine directly related to the ligament cutting.

Because horses which have had it done are at risk if they are rested for too long and may need to be managed differently from those not at that risk.

I really hope yours isn't one of them.
.

I agree. Calling it a "lig snip" is truly understating the seriousness of this op. The surgeon is cutting through a ligament designed to give the back its strength. Because it can be done standing rather than by GA, it can seem like a minor op, but it isn't. I'd love to see some research/stats for how many horses with this op are still in work 4 years down the line.

 

[ycbm]

I agree. Calling it a "lig snip" is truly understating the seriousness of this op. The surgeon is cutting through a ligament designed to give the back its strength. Because it can be done standing rather than by GA, it can seem like a minor op, but it isn't. I'd love to see some research/stats for how many horses with this op are still in work 4 years down the line.

So would I. I know of two which had fits after the op and I would love to know if that was related. I can't think why it should be but it's very coincidental.

From what I know now I would never have another done.

For anyone who doubts this is a serious operation, this is my horse, he had 5 done. Snip is totally the wrong word, the surgeon was dripping in sweat when he finished.

 

[nutjob]

Nope. Never. Not even for free.

This.

I know of 2 horses which had KS surgery, one had ligament snip, one bone shaving. Both seemed to rehab OK initially then ended up with SI/hock/PSD problems. One was PTS, the other retired but I don't know what happened to that long term. I sympathise that it's a nightmare trying to buy a horse atm but you could spend £1000's on vets fees if the wheels fall off this one which I doubt insurance would cover.