Kissing spine symptoms

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eoliver1997

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Hi
I'm just wondering if anyone would be able to say if I'm just being paraniod about this but my horse has the following "problems":
-She is continually stiff on the off hide leg when being ridden until being warmed up for a good 1/2 an hour
-she has started to back off jumps and knocks them when previously she had no problem
-has a big bump just behind where the saddle ends
-very reluctant to work from behind/track up and work into the contact in walk trot and especially in the canter
-she swings the off hind leg in canter
-hates having the saddle put on(however she is a chestnut mare)

Most of these have come on in the last 6-12 months and gradually gotten more noticeable especially the stiffness

Thank you for any advice/opinions
 
my lad had issues like that and it turned out he had kissing spine. He also had issues pushing off with canter, but that turned out to be due to a sacroiliac injury.

the stiffness you mention could be arthritis as well though. Hope you get it sorted!
 
My gut reaction based on the info provided would be sacroiliac joint problems (but of course it could be many other things). Its not necessarily the end of the world if it is an SI problem, it may well be managable.

Either way I really do think you need to get her to see a decent equine vet for a workup. Its been going on for a while from what you have said and on this basis I don't think its going to improve much on its own. I hope you get some answers and that it turns out to be something which can be easily sorted.
 
My initial thoughts reading this is bone spavin which often causes back problems too. You need a lameness work up by a good experienced equine vet, as said by other posters.
 
We have just had the saddles checked and are getting a back person out to see if they spot anything. Then the next step would be to get the vet, we have previously not got the vet out because she was not that bad but things have gotten worse and now we are trying to figure it out.

I'm grateful for all your replies as I am a bit inexperienced in this area as we havnt had any previous issues with her x
 
eoliver1997 said:
We have just had the saddles checked and are getting a back person out to see if they spot anything. Then the next step would be to get the vet, we have previously not got the vet out because she was not that bad but things have gotten worse and now we are trying to figure it out.

I'm grateful for all your replies as I am a bit inexperienced in this area as we havnt had any previous issues with her x
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You really need to get the vet out before the 'back person'. Apart from it being illegal to have a physio out without referral from your vet, it can be damaging to the horse without a diagnosis first. Your horse is definitely in pain. The physio needs to treat according to a diagnosis. No back person can feel kissing spine or bone spavin. You need x-rays.
 
It is a legal requirement that animals are only presented for physiotherapy with prior veterinary consent.
There are many reasons for this. In the case of Veterinary Physiotherapy it's important, as there are certain conditions that do not respond to physiotherapy, underlying medical conditions and medications that mean some treatments cannot safely be used (and which the physio must know about), or your animal may simply be in too much pain to embark on physiotherapy. Your vet is best-placed to understand these complex medical areas, and decide when adjunctive treatments like physiotherapy will be beneficial.
 
Ok will try and get something sorted ! I'm just trying to do what's best for her and heard so many things of different people which gets very confusing

Thank you
 
These symptoms ring true for me with my horse with KS and then resultant SI problems - the two being linked if one isn't treated, potentially. Hopefully nothing so extreme, but I would certainly be investigating, and agree that when it's not lameness or extreme reactions it can be hard to know what to do but with a previous horse I hesitated too long in going to the vets with what turned out to be an SI problem, he was never lame at all, just slightly hesitant at times, struggled with canter and then started stopping at jumps - the sooner you can diagnose and treat, the better.

I would also be wary of the term 'back person' - try and find an ACPAT physio, that your vet could recommend, but I agree I'd be in touch with the vet first. Good luck, and do remember that KS is treatable - and not necessarily requiring an operation, and SI problems are also manageable.
 
Wagtail said:
You really need to get the vet out before the 'back person'. Apart from it being illegal to have a physio out without referral from your vet, it can be damaging to the horse without a diagnosis first. Your horse is definitely in pain. The physio needs to treat according to a diagnosis. No back person can feel kissing spine or bone spavin. You need x-rays.
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My thoughts exactly. I wasted a lot of money having a physio coming out frequently to treat one of my horses presenting with very similar issues to the OP's horse. She never once suggested the source of the back pain could be coming from the hocks.
Vet diagnosed bone spavin with nerve blocks & Xrays, and once treated with steroid injection, the back problems resolved themselves without shelling out for more physio.
 
i'd the same experience with physios. they could see soreness but couldn't determine what was causing it, even the really good ones. they were much more beneficial to use after the diagnosis with rehabing. Purely because of my own experiences, I get very frustrated when people get back people and physios out instead of vets, especially when issues are going on a long time. Not talking about your thread in particular, the other thread about the exracer is an example of it. Swearing a horse is ok because a back person looked at it.

I got the injections for the si and ks with one of mine, and after a few months of rehabbing him with a physio, we have no problems and he's working great. I also had another with slight ks and he also hasn't a bother now, after the right treatment. So it's hopefully manageable in yours and you get it sorted!
 
I'm always weary of any people we have out and have let our vet know in any case ! There are just so many people out there that it is impossible to know who or if to even have anyone. I am defiantly going to get the vet out to have a look and hopefully we will find the problem x
 
eoliver1997 said:
I'm always weary of any people we have out and have let our vet know in any case ! There are just so many people out there that it is impossible to know who or if to even have anyone. I am defiantly going to get the vet out to have a look and hopefully we will find the problem x
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That's great. Good luck. Lets hope your vet finds something that's easily treatable. Please keep us posted. I really hope she's all right.
 
My gut feeling is Spavin, or the early indicators of.... I have a horse who was successfully operated on for KS some years ago, some of the symptoms you mention could match and some don't. I have just had, after 8years of soundness, a mechanical lameness problem, stiff, not quite right but not seemingly in pain. Bone scan showed heat at the base of the hocks, the swinging leg is a big clue. Short & stiff behind, anxiety over short & steep hills and canter issues are KS symptoms but also are the same for other issues in the back end. A good chiro may help (a good one would expect the vet to authorise treatment) & I would seriously look at the foot balance. The KS did not cause the spavin for my horse, bad farriery did.

My horse is now barefoot after 10yrs in shoes. When the shoes came off the heels had run forward nearly and inch and he was landing toe first. This causes concussion through the back and can also show up the short, stiff movement you mention. Am becoming a bit of an advocate of check the feet first syndrome, foot balance is key to correct and flowing movement but to improve the heels you have to go carefully and not do it too quickly or completely change your horses set up as it will put stress on the joints you are trying to protect!!! Have a look at your horses coronet band and see if it is straight, if it isn't that may be an easy clue to get a vet/ 2nd opinion farrier/podiatrist to look.

Good luck, hope it's a simple fix.
 
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Mine became grumpy to saddle, not wanting to work from behind and had become less enthusiastic about jumping. At the time, we put it down to her quirky nature (she is a chestnut mare who has read the chestnut mares handbook). However, when she also started rearing, we got the vet out, and he recommended a physio.

The vet confirmed immediately that she was in considerable pain but it took ultrasound scans, x- rays and finally a bone scan to work out what was wrong and steroid injections plus 6 months plus of intensive rehab ( vet / physio and yard working together) to fix the problem (damage to her superspinal ligament) and get her to the stage where he was happy to be ridden.

In your position, my first stop would be your vet.
 
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