Possible kissing spine- advice please!!

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brokenleg

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I would like some advice/opinions please

i think my horse is a possible candidate for KS. His behaviour under saddle has recently become very unpredictable. He is worst when first mounting, bum in saddle = massive bronking fit- really bad.

He has also developed a nappy type behaviour in that when i ask for ANY collection in either trot or canter he stops dead and throws his head up in the air, he also does this with any lateral work too.

He has sometimes been a bit quirky but i feel that there is something else going on, do these symptoms sound at all like KS ones???

Have Chiro coming next friday
 
Forgot to say, just bought new saddle as last saddle didn't fit great and was causing aproblem but that was fixed 2 months ago and have new shiny saddle which has been fitted!
 
brokenleg said:
Forgot to say, just bought new saddle as last saddle didn't fit great and was causing aproblem but that was fixed 2 months ago and have new shiny saddle which has been fitted!
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How was the horses behaviour before having the new saddle??
 
Erm, very similar without the nappyness. I would say TBH the bronking has got worse if that's possible!!

but had been fine for 11 weeks!!
 
yes, was riding quite hard THB 6 times a week 2x hacking and 4x intensive dressage schooling along with comps where he won nearly every time out!!!
 
Your horse has some similarities to our WB's behaviour. It is hard to pinpoint problems - ours was massively aggressive and became worse and worse to saddle/rug etc. We knew he had tightness through his back and shoulder we were only working him in walk long and low to stretch his muscles (believe he had been ridden in draw reins). As his workload progressed just a little to some collection and asking him to use his backend his ridden behaviour resulted in enormous bucking, quite dangerous (poor daughter felt like she had been in a car accident after 4 enormous bucks) - that was just asking for a little inside bend in walk.

We had him scoped - he had low grade ulcers, which we treated, but these are obviously symptomatic not the cause. He has remained unridden but with daily groundwork and he starting showing great stiffness behind and a reluctance to go on right rein. We did a pain trial with Danilon and that made a noticeable difference. He is now booked for a complete body bone scan at Newmarket, which will hopefully pinpoint the cause.
Don't give up, but my advice would be to get your vet involved. How does your horse behave on the lunge? Does he show any lameness?
 
My horse is also a WB and interestingly i have thought about ulcers too!

He is fine on the lunge no lameness whatsoever, no trotted on the hard in a circle though, whn is your giong for the bone scan??
 
Very similar symptoms to mine before being diagnosed with ulcers and then kissing spine. I do think the ulcers were caused by the stress of the kissing spine though.

Forget getting a chiropracter out they won't be able to diagnose it. Get your vet and take xrays of neck and back. At least if it is not kissing spine you can rule it out immediately.

I spent ages with mine with physios, saddle fitters, even the vet ruling out all sorts of things until the back was finally xrayed and then it was pretty obvious what the problem was.
 
As i'm in cheshire i guess i would be referred to Leahurst??

Did your come back into work/competing Bounce?? oh and did you do 2 separate insurance claims one for ulcers and one for KS??
 
brokenleg said:
My horse is also a WB and interestingly i have thought about ulcers too!

He is fine on the lunge no lameness whatsoever, no trotted on the hard in a circle though, whn is your giong for the bone scan??
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He goes for the scan later this month. I will post the outcome as have asked for and received lots of advice on here. I had the added problem of the extreme aggression, which I kept getting differing advice for - some said I wasn't acting as leader, others said he is in pain and trying to tell me something, others that he is defensive. I had his saddle area xrayed when he was doped and scoped for ulcers as vet thought of KS - the way he behaved they expected terrible ulcers! I have had iridology done, AC, Equine Touch, an osteopath and a shiatsu practitioner and all say something in pelvic area - so we shall see. I know horse was abused, hence had to tread lightly and to ascertain what is pain and what is defence mechanism. He is on a herbal calmer and attitude has finally changed to a loving horse (6 months down the line!), but underlying problem is still undiagnosed and desperately needs to be now.
 
brokenleg said:
I would like some advice/opinions please

i think my horse is a possible candidate for KS. His behaviour under saddle has recently become very unpredictable. He is worst when first mounting, bum in saddle = massive bronking fit- really bad.

He has also developed a nappy type behaviour in that when i ask for ANY collection in either trot or canter he stops dead and throws his head up in the air, he also does this with any lateral work too.

He has sometimes been a bit quirky but i feel that there is something else going on, do these symptoms sound at all like KS ones???

Have Chiro coming next friday
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hi
if it helps read back to some of my threads i have posted on the behaviour my mare displayed before going for a gamma scan (at leahurst)

we went back for check last monday after 8 weeks box rest and she was much better so they advised me 4 weeks more box rest with build up of work before considering sugery (but it may come to this yet)

she was on lease to a show home last summer and when she came home she looked as though they had rode in draw reins constantly-- very tight in the poll,neck,back and really really moody spent weeks with physio ,chiro and vets until i demanded a bone scan to see what was going on as she was not improving
hope it can help you with your horse--good luck
 
My mare had kissing spine surgery last september to remove 4 pieces of bone. The operation was a complete success so if you want an idea of what you may be in for just let me know.

p.s It's not as bad as you think!
 
Tic tac any info greatly appreciated. I want to be as prepared as poss. I really want to get to the bottom of the issue.

Horsedreams just read your other post, very interesting.

I thought it maybe worthwhile to say he doesn't bronk every single time i try to ride and seems worse if given a period of time off??? thoughts?????

i'm fearing the worst :-(
 
hi broken leg

forgot to mention someone did a blog on their horse for kissing spine
(link below)i have kept upto date with this just in case i have go down this route with mine very very informative with pictures
a credit to the owner/writer of this as i'm sure it as helped many people in this situation with their horses

http://kissingspines.blogspot.com/
 
Update on my ned!

Had osteopath yesterday who diagnosed a very long term injury, he probably sustained it 6 or 7 years ago!! I've only had him for 3.

Basically it will take a fair bit of treatment and a rehab programme but he will come good with time. I'm so mad though as i've had at least 4 other "back" prople to look at him over the last 3 years and not one diagnosed this!!

Anyway we are hopefully on the mend, so to anyone else who is having similar issues please do not lose hope, get yourself a GOOD osteopath, i can PM the number of the one i'm using. The relief on my horses face yesterday was very noticeable even after one treatment!
 
TicTac said:
My mare had kissing spine surgery last september to remove 4 pieces of bone. The operation was a complete success so if you want an idea of what you may be in for just let me know.

p.s It's not as bad as you think!
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My gelding had the operation too and we are hapilly out hacking now.. Christine and I spoke a lot as our horses were going through the same thing but she was slightly ahead of me.

It definitely helps to talk to people who have been there before..

I think when horses get diagnosed people think its the end of the world but it really isnt..

PM me if you want more info :) x
 
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