kissing spine advice

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mandysk

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hi i am looking at buying a new horse, and found one i absolutely love, but he has had an operation for kissing spine, it was a small op in the scheme of a kissing spine operations, 2 vertabraes involved, the operation was 3 years ago, he is fully sound and has had no problems since, training at medium level dressage at home now, he really is a quality animal. looking for some people with previous experience of kissing spine operations and the life after the op to get their thoughts please.
 
My mare has kissing spine it's been a long road and now she's retired.. I got a couple more years out of riding her but you can't tell if it's going to go one way or another... X
 
My horse had five processes removed. I have had a few setbacks bringing him back into work and now am at square one again, starting work in the pessoa. Even yesterday he had a major panic fit in the pessoa and it is hard to know if it is due to pain or memory of pain, or if he just gets panicky sometimes when he feels restrained or trapped by the tack. Personally, after all my bad luck with horses recently, I would never buy one that had not passed a five stage vetting and had a full set of xrays. So no, I would not buy a horse that had had kissing spines. But I would have done a few years back before going through the mill with it all.
 
I have a horse that is 6yrs on from KS surgery still being ridden 5days a week and fit strong and sound. Some horses will inevitably not cope with surgery but there are a great many success stories, more so than ones that do not work out. Mine is learnng to jump and does novice dressage and hacks out, although he is a character (conne cross!) I have no regrets about operating.

Look at the horses temperament, does he have any issues left over from being in pain, how is he to handle on the ground, tack up, hack out alone, what type of dressage training - draw reins and gadgets are a no no, classically trained to lift the back and take a natural outline by pushing from being - well then yes consider it.

If he is 3yrs on then the op sounds a success and he is probably strong in the back from correct riding and training - ask how much of the basics they did, I spent 6mths getting a good walk and the key to long term success was taking time to build strong and correct muscle, if the rehab is rushed and the horse pushed to far too fast then they can break down after a couple of years so make sure this is not the reason for selling.

I would be looking for a lower value as there is history of a problem as for any horse that has had surgery, but I would be more likely to consider this than a horse with leg or sacroilliac issues for example. I think you need a really thorough vetting and poss lower limb xrays just to make sure there are no concussion issues from an incorrect way of going pre surgery. You don't mention how old the horse is as this is also a factor in how well they cope with an operation, if he was a youngster you will most likely have a better long term outlook. Also be honest with yourself about your ability to ride correctly and do the ground work to keep him strong, I learned a lot from my experience but I am very glad I had some brilliant help from a good sympathetic instructor along the way, correct classical dressage IMHO is the best way to keep your horse strong, gadgets are a bit of a no no.

Also beware re insurance and clarify their exclusions, you run the risk of them putting any issue you call them with down to the KS so be a biut careful with this.

I hope that helps you, be cautious but don't necessarily write him off.
 
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Thank you all, I'm so torn he is a beautiful animal with a fab temperament, but all your points are confirming the concerns I already have.
 
that is an extremely over inflated price for a horse that has had kissing spine injuries. I'd pay that is it was a schoolmaster as an advanced level and i knew he's have a few years to bring me up some levels.

i have a gorgeous tb that had kissing spines, and the poster above is correct, spinal arthritis is a huge possibility. i face into the definite possibility of my lad not being able to do his job properly in a few years and it's heartbreaking. I got a new horse and avoided horses with any issues with a bargepole!

Plenty of healthy horses out there for that budget. No way would I spend that amount on a horse with proven issues
 
Not sure how right this is, I am pretty certain this was a specific question I asked my surgeon (along with many many others) as I was very worried about putting my horse through the op and definitely wouldn't have if there was going to be a future issue like spinal arthritus I just wouldn't have done it, he was only operated on because there was nothing else wrong, we loved him and were content for him to be a field ornament if it didnt work but it was unfair to leave him in pain.

The horse in question is most likely to have had a scintigraphy scan and this would have shown the vet if there were issues that would affect the success of the operation, it is a question worth asking as to whether the horse had a whole or half body scan pre op and if the spine and hocks were clean apart from the area operated on. For what it worth, kissing spines is just the removal of excess bone that isn't needed for the horse to be able function, there are many way now to carry out this op that are successful, whilst I fully appreciate it might be better to spend that level of money on a horse without any issues in my experience there aren't many out there! I would find out where it was operated on and ask to speak to the vet that operated with a list of questions that way you will get the correct facts, there is a lot of misinformation surrounding KS. It is a lot of money that the op is being asked to pay without doubt but I don't know the going rate for a horse trained to this level that is 100% problem free, many would break down anyway in a few years because of the way they are trained.
 
I agree with others, way to much for a horse that's had kissing spine op.

We went to look at an event pony that had had it done, a few years back now. Great pony, should have been worth around £8000, they couldn't sell it for £1800!!! They offered it to us on loan in the end. (We still didn't take it)

Speak to vet that did the op. I would only take a chance on it if it was very cheap & i was prepared to retire it within a few years.

Good luck.
 
I agree with BethH based on my own horse who has had the KS op, quite a mild case, and the same as this horse you are interested in seems to be, he only had 2 processes removed.

He has recovered really well, I have had some issues getting him to work correctly but hill work has built his muscles up and he is improving all the time. He had the op 2 years ago. I genuinely do not believe it is an issue now, he does have other issues related to ulcers - for him these are more difficult to deal with. Spinal arthritis was not mentioned to me as a long term worry, and let's face it, many horses get arthritis anyway. I have another retired horse who has spinal arthritis - never had a back problem in his life until that hit us!

I would just consider the horse you see in front of you - the operation was a while ago and he is proven to be back in work to a reasonable level. You never know what you are buying, you could buy a horse that end up with KS anyway. At least you will know his issues.

I do however think he is overpriced. I would expect his market worth to be at most half of what a horse with no KS history would be. However if he's otherwise a £10k horse you might be onto a bargain!

I would also expect to be given free access to his veterinary records and he able to discuss with the vet who performed the op.

I would say investigate further....
 
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Had it done on a horse about 7/8 years ago - I sold him 5 years ago.
3 spinal processes removed. Recovery mostly straightforward, one or two hiccups but he was back on form a year after the operation. Won Elementary dressage- scored 8 's and 9's at Novice level. Jumped double clears SJ up to 1 metre. Evented a bit but was always tricky about steps down.
Current owner has had him for 5 years now, he passed a 5 stage vetting before purchase & he was sold for a decent sum. He's never had any further problems with his back ( sees physio every 6 months for H wave for maintenance) he has won and placed in dressage and showing.

I think Willesley vets have published results showing the successes and long term successes of the KS op.
 
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