why do you hear of horses with kissing spines

I suspect in the old days horses with kissing spines just went undiagnosed and were thought of as 'difficult' or were just shot!
 
I suspect knowledge is spreading so more previously undiagnosed cases are now being recognised. I have a friend whose horse has recently undergone an op for this.
 
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I suspect in the old days horses with kissing spines just went undiagnosed and were thought of as 'difficult' or were just shot!


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I agree.
 
Actually if you xrayed 100 horses, 80% of them would show some kissing vertebrate, but only 10% of them will be affected by it; dont ask me why that is !!
 
Its just becoming more easy to diagnose. In the past a horse with a behavioural problem or a bad back wouldve been turned out for a year and if it was no better it would probably have gone off to the hounds.

Nowadays people are much mor einclined to spend thousands on the latest diagnostic techniques.

IME its simply a case of change in technology and change in attitude to horses in general.
 
I was just thinking the same thing the other day! There seems to be loads of posts about kissing spines on vet forum. I know of a horse that was diagnosed with this, but nothing whatsoever showed up on x-rays/scans. Horse is now retired, but with nothing, apparently, physically wrong with him.
 
I've had two horses with KS. The first was about 15 years ago, when it was relatively unheard of. The vet who treated him said several things, including that, in the past a horse with KS would often be described as "cold backed" if it was difficult to mount, when in fact there is no such medical condition. Also, as riders and horse owners become more knowledgeable and understand more about the way their horses work and move, conditions such as this are spotted more often. With my other horse, who was diagnosed last year, the remedial saddler that I used said that in her opinion modern deep treed saddles had a lot to answer for. They are very comfortable for the rider, but if you take a tree shaped like a banana and then strap it front and back round the horse, the middle of it is going to cause problems. This made a lot of sense to me.
 
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With my other horse, who was diagnosed last year, the remedial saddler that I used said that in her opinion modern deep treed saddles had a lot to answer for. They are very comfortable for the rider, but if you take a tree shaped like a banana and then strap it front and back round the horse, the middle of it is going to cause problems. This made a lot of sense to me.

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That makes a lot of sense to me as well- my chestnut in my signature had KS, which was corrected by an operation last year. When I first bought him I used a saddle with a bannana shaped tree (supposedly fitted for him) and after a few months of use with that saddle he started to go 'wrong' there are other factors that come into the cause of his KS tho- the fact that he was raced as a 2 and 3 year old, plus the fact that the farrier had let his toes become too long. So overall a combination of causes perhaps.

The bannana shaped trees do terrifying damage to their backs- I'm so amazed that all the pro's use such saddles on their pro horses.
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It's horrible when they are affected, and many things can cause it. My horse started to show symptoms even before being backed, and one possible explanation was her going over backwards when working with an accredited trainer. She was never cold backed, but when I started riding her would sometimes have really "off" days when she was bracey and resistant. Also the muscle tone started to go in her hind end, which is when the vets sat up and listened to me and investigated thoroughly. Unfortunately she is one of the horses that isn't suitable for the op.
I am sure in the "old days" she would have ended up labelled a dangerous horse and pts. I once tried to push her through on a bad day and the reaction was violent.
 
It does seem that people are looking to back and work horses earlier and earlier. Years ago a horse woudl be started at 4 or 5, and then 'minded' until he was eight. You'd never hear of someone starting a 3yo. The reason was cos small stocky ponies only physically mature at 5.5 years earliest, and the larger horses dont physiclaly mature until they're 7 or 8. Their back is the last to mature, so do a lot of work with a horse under this age, and its easy to damage the back.

Now however, people tend to start horses earlier, you get more money for a 4 yo who's hunted and done a competition or 2 rather than one who's not yet started.

BUT, the rate horses physically mature still hasn't changed, its still 5.5 at earliest, to 7/8 years.

http://www.equinestudies.org/knowledge_base/ranger.html

TIMING AND RATE OF SKELETAL MATURATION IN HORSES

This is a great article on the age a horse becomes mature and its related impact on starting age and type of training.

Just cos you've got a big 16.2 3 yo doesn't mean he's ready to work hard. Its actually the opposite.
 
My vet speculated that some foals could even have the damage start during foaling. I think there are many causes of this condition.
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