Kissing spine?

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skipper

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My horse has just been diagnosed with this and I am still reeling a little bit. Just looking for experiences/advice/anything really. I've had lots of 'I'm sure he'll be fine', 'Don't give up', 'My friend's horse has had the operation and looks amazing now' etc. But no real first-hand experiences, even if they're negative. I'd just like a balanced view of what to expect. Everyone is so well-meaning and I am very grateful to them but it's different observing someone putting their horse through all that and nursing them through it etc. than being the person actually doing it. I also bought him to do more than potter about at unaffiliated level. I'm by no means a great rider but he was a relatively costly horse (for me anyway) and was purchased as a schoolmaster for me to progress on. At the moment he's gone from pinging 1m20 like it's nothing to slamming the brakes on at 90cm (obviously due to pain and this was prior to the diagnosis and the first thing that led us to believe there was a problem, we obviously stopped jumping him as soon as we realised there was a potential issue) and not being able to canter without changing behind on the right rein, to name just a few issues.

He is only 9 years old and also went blind in one eye very unexpectedly and without any apparent cause earlier this year. That may well be irrelevant but just to put it into perspective. I have owned him a year and in that time he has spent the past 5 months out of work. I adore him and I'm not trying to be overly negative but just trying to put the whole situation into context. He was 5-stage vetted before we bought him and passed with flying colours so, whilst I know they're not infallible, I wasn't anticipating having to deal with all this in such a short time. (Mind you, who does). He is having steroid injections today and I am going to speak to the vet about it properly later.

Just looking for any advice/experiences (good or bad), anything really I guess. Struggling to get my head round it all at the moment.
 
My horse has mild KS but not really showing many symptoms so I'm not much use. We had lameness issues and my gut feeling is that the KS was secondary to this.

There's a really good group on FB called "Horses with Kissing Spine". It's very active and lots of good, knowledgeable people sharing their experiences.
 
i've two with kissing spine, an ish and a tb! The ISH came back in to work fine (touch wood) after injections and a rehab stage. the other came back after injections and was fine for 2 years. Then started being unable to canter and trying to rear again. I'm in two minds what to do with him. My gut says its not fair to ride a horse who is uncomfortable, and it broke my heart as he really tries and then just suddenly slams the brakes on when the pain gets too much. He was a tricky rescue horse, so deep down i can't justify putting that much money and effort into him.

If it was a costly, quality horse though I would work with the vet to see what was possible. People said to me it must be very annoying not being able to ride him for months, but I actually found the time spent doing the physio very valuable, as I learnt loads about correct movement and how to really get them working properly. He came out of it a much stronger, flexible horse and I came out a lot more knowledgeable.

So hopefully your injections will work and you will be back in action soon. The only thing i'd note is that the difficulty in cantering could be more a sacroilliac issue, it was with my tb. So keep an eye on that.
 
I had a 6 year old ex racer TB that I bought to SJ, she was a very bad rearer and would almost fall backwards.

She had 4 impinging processes at her wither but the investigation took so long with nerve blocking, physio, chiro etc that it was quite late when it was caught. Eventually after failed treatments and very slow and painful rehab periods, injections in between the processes and shockwave treatment the only option we had was to operate. We decided that she was so miserable just walking to the field, was a high chance that she would never be ridden safely again as she was so traumatised by it that we decided the kindest thing would be to PTS. She was so young and she had just given up and wasn't enjoying life anymore.

If I had another with KS I would absolutely go for the surgery obviously dependant on the situation and the aims for that particular horse. The vets are incredibly advanced these days and know exactly what they're doing, although very costly!
 
I've had my horse just over a year. I am still re-habbing him back from surgery. He has KS and SI issues. Its a long road and certainly one that I didn't think I'd be going down, like you had a 5 stage vetting, all OK, then two months after bringing home bronking started and looked lame behind. KS was classed as "severe" for a just turning 4 yr old!

Currently (following surgery for KS and three sets of injections into SI and a tildren) is looking lame again behind. Gutted.

I honestly think he's not going to return to any ridden work. Each time the work load is upped he starts to protect his pelvis and comes up short in walk on both hind legs. (Stifles and hocks have already been ruled out).

So I am now thinking what else can we do? He will be 5yrs later this month.

As my stables there is another that was operated on 2 years ago, she is still rehabbing as that one ended up with problems in its hocks and SI and another that has just had surgery and is just beginning there road to recovery - she is looking good though.

So I guess I'm saying each story will have its own ups and downs and maybe in another year I will be telling a better outcome to this story, but at the moment I have a horse who detests being ridden, shuts down mentally when tack appears on his stable door (walks to the back corner of the stable and puts his head a low as possible and shuts his eyes :-((((( )
Will try and do what I ask but I can see how uncomfortable he is. He also is now no longer insured for back, pelvis, and everything associated - which is just a joke . . . . but hey ho, at least I got a years money worth of trying to mend him!
 
Thank you all for taking the time to reply and share experiences etc. I have requested to join the Facebook group mentioned up thread too.

He has 3 impinging processes located directly under the saddle area (which explains him periodically trying to bury people when they mount!) He had a total of 6 steroid injections done at the vets last Tuesday and has been on paddock rest this week. Physio is due to come out to see if she has any exercises that she can recommend to help him and the vet has requested that I begin lunging him after he has had a week's rest. Due to get back in contact with the vet 4 weeks from the treatment to discuss whether the injections have made any discernible difference. If not then we will go from there. Vets have been trying to limit the expenditure in order to leave money for the insurance should he need operating on. My other issue is the rehab process. I have an application running to join the Army, if I am successful I will not be around to do this and my husband is not especially horsey and is not a fan of the horse in question (understandably, he can be very difficult...the horse that is!) I'm sure I could find a solution and pay someone to do it but it makes everything that little bit more complicated/stressful.

With regards to the sacroiliac, this was actually the first thing they suggested as being the root cause of the problems. He was nerve blocked and had steroid injections into that area at his initial lameness investigation but they didn't seem to make any difference so hopefully it is just the one issue. I'm not sure though, nothing would surprise me any more, we still don't know why he went blind in one eye in a matter of weeks!
 
My ex-racer had the surgery nearly a year ago - 3 processes removed & a lig snip further back. The actual surgery/recovery went fine, but he's still not right! Before the surgery, I had to ride him, then they put local anaes in the bad areas, then I rode again, & OMG he felt sooooo good, so we were v confident that he'd be fixed. He is sound, looks amazing but has no engine whatsoever. I'm in the FB group & someone on there had a physio/chiro out & hers went back to racing & won a race, so I'm spending my b'day money on getting an appt with a really good lady that I've used before.

Mine lives at home, so at least he's not costing much, & we still potter round my school for 20 mins a day. I've pretty much accepted that this might be as good as it gets. Before the KS, we found & treated ulcers, but they didn't go, so we looked further & found the KS. It's quite gutting to have spent so much time, money & emotional energy & still have a field ornament, but that's horses.

T x
 
I am 7 weeks post op with mare - same as you bought as a schoolmaster. She was brilliant for 3 years (a couple of iffy moments each year put down to wear and tear) then suddenly ran through a jump which alarmed me and I started process to get to the bottom. She ened up with bone scan and KS and SI issues. Her KS was so bad we went straight to surgery - she didnt buck, rear, go disunited - she had a cracking medium trot never had any issue being saddled mounted or groomed so it came as a complete shock to me.

Def join the FB group - if nothing else it has been great reading everyone stories whether successful or not to know what you are up against but I have learnt the rehab is extremely important and it will take time and commitment. I dont intend to return to BE level but if I can just have her back pain free we will take it from there. I am very early stages - so hopefully we can see it through.

Good luck I know it all seems a lot to take in initially x
 
Have to say I disagree with the H&H vet!!!! My horse was operated on and the surgeon did a brilliant job of removing just the 1 spine at each point that crossed and it gave a long term resolution of the problem, my horse was operated on 11yrs ago and was sound for 8yrs thereafter. He has had issues over the last year or 2 but these were not related to his KS and his back is still strong and not causing him any pain. He is also now sound and back in work.

I worry the ligament snip hasn't shown enough longevity to prove it completely works and I have heard of a lot of cases where the horses do not cope longer term, the same with the palliative route, longer term the back can still deteriorate and the horse struggles as soon as it has a break from being correctly worked.

However that is only my view and I am not a vet but for me, the rehabilitation programme and correct training of both the horse and rider are absolutely the key to success. It is a hard thing to go through,in fact it's a bit of a roller coaster ride, but you learn an immense amount.

If you decide to operate, having a good instructor to teach ground work, especially long reining is vital. I would also operate in the spring so that you have the lighter evenings to help you with the rehab. I also turned out in a stable sized pen in the field after 2 weeks box rest as my horse found it less stressful than being shut in a stable. Getting them moving immediately after the operation and walking out in hand if possible is the way forward.

I am sure there will be many other on the forum with different thoughts that you should listen to as well - but my horse has bucked the trend and hasn't looked back since the operation.
 
Sheep said:
There's a really good group on FB called "Horses with Kissing Spine". It's very active and lots of good, knowledgeable people sharing their experiences.
Click to expand...

I started the group that is mentioned above!!!! I started it as I was in the same place as you Skipper about my horse who had KS dont give up if you want to chat you can PM me on here or on facebook I am the admin on the group
 
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