Bone Anomaly on C1 Poll

[Lacej81]

Hi Everyone,

I’m looking for some insight or to see if anyone has had a similar experience with their horse.

I imported my KWPN gelding from the Netherlands two and a half years ago and he just turned 7. For some time now he’s been exhibiting a disconnected, high (almost wobbly) head position. I’ve always felt like he’s carrying some pain up in his upper neck area. I only feel it in his initial canter or going around a course (almost like an anticipation to the jumps). He’s become more head shy and reactive to his face. I’ve had his teeth checked, changed bits (he’s very soft otherwise from the above situations).

He’s the absolute best boy, very athletic, and a gorgeous mover, so this has been extremely frustrating. He NEVER stops or does anything naughty other than an occasional head toss after a jump (possibly pain). When we initially canter he tends to cock his head out to the left in an upward and uncomfortable position, as if avoiding pain. My fear has been that he possibly fell in the paddock and hurt his neck at some point. Trainer just says he looks disconnected at times but others definitely feel it if they ride him.

I went ahead and pulled X-rays on his neck and back and the vet was shocked to see a bone anomaly right where I was telling her I felt the pain was coming from. He had a negative flexion when she initially looked at him. She said she’s never seen anything like it before.

Apparently the bone is right on top of his C1. It’s not irregular, almost like a square attachment of bone and she doesn’t think it’s growing. I have not done a untrasound yet to see how it’s interacting with the nuchal ligament. The vet did say the good news is it’s not pointing down towards the spinal cord, or this would be much more concerning. The only issue is how much it’s irritating the nuchal ligament. To say the least, it all makes sense now.

My concern is that there’s nothing I can do. 2nd vet recommended magnawave, but said shock therapy would be painful to his poll and could have negative effects on his poll. She also said you can’t really inject, because the nuchal ligament itself can’t be injected. I’ve received some conflicting opinions from a few vets and just wish there was a more definitive way to treat it, without of course surgery. 3rd vet (surgeon) said if showing clinical signs to inject or shock therapy. I’m hesitant about everything since I’m dealing with the poll and don’t want to break my horse.

Has anyone seen this or experienced it with their horse? What have you done? Have you found a way to prevent it from irritating them? He’s my perfect hunter otherwise and the sweetest horse in our barn.

I’m also on the hunt for a bridle that will work. Vet mentioned a really thin crown to sit in front of the bone. I tried a poll relief bridle, but it was thick and definitely hurt more as he tossed his head after almost all the jumps which is NOT typical. So now I’m looking for something else. Any good bridles to use? I think I might need to do a custom bridle, since he has a broad brow, but small almost Cobb size head.

Has anyone had success with any alternative options?? Misotherapy, shock therapy, steroid injections?

Any insight would be great!

[beowulf]

I’d get more clarity on the neck injections to start You may get conflicting info because the “where” matters. It may be the other vet is thinking it has joint involvement. That being said, I’ve seen positive results from neck injections and use them on my own horse.

You could do mesotherapy. I’ve not seen it used on the neck, but have used it often in the back.

My experience with poll / neck issues is they tend to go downhill and cause pain elsewhere, typically the back/SI, so it’s a good idea to treat the whole body in modalities you can. Meso, massage, even chiro / accupuncture (though I wouldn’t chiro the neck) might help.

Prostride injections might help, and I’d put him on high doses of Vit E if you haven’t already. Try to limit his stall time and no hay nets if you can help it.

You might not need a custom bridle. You might just need to size up in the browband and noseband. I do this with all of my bridles anyway as industry standard sizes don’t really tend to accommodate the modern WB head (imo).

Another thing I’ve learned navigating c-spine in one of my personal horses is that the trim / shoeing is so crucial to their overall comfort. They need to be aggressively trimmed and the slightest imbalance/distortion impacts them.

Good luck, I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. You have my total empathy. C-spine issues are tough.

[FjordBCRF]

Do you have X-rays you can share? I’d love to see them; I’m dealing with something very similar at the poll/C1. For us, it’s translated to buckling at the knee. He does have some slight degenerative changes in C6-C7 as well, but holds a LOT of tension at the pole. He’s also half a tick off on the front left. I’ll link my thread if there may be anything helpful: Tripping Problem - Equine Fusion Ultra Boots + Shockwave Update

Electrostim acupuncture seems to help some. We’re currently doing shockwave, we’ve had two of three sessions and I DO find that he’s moving better under saddle. Not holding his neck and more willing to reach at the trot and canter, so that might be helping more.

@Lacej81

2nd vet recommended magnawave, but said shock therapy would be painful to his poll and could have negative effects on his poll.

Im not finding this AT ALL. Rehab vet sedated Charlie for the first session out of an abundance of caution. Last week we did it sans any sedation and there was zero indication of pain or discomfort during or after. @IPEsq chimed in on my thread with good shockwave results in the same area…see below:

@IPEsq

I’ve done shockwave at the nuchal ligament attachment. That horse loved it. But he was a weirdo. He didn’t even need sedation! He didn’t have mineralization but did have effusion there, which it cleared right up. We checked during follow up neck ultrasounds for a couple years and it never came back. I’d totally use it for the mineralization issue.

We got back for our third shockwave next week, and before we do it, our rehab vet wants to block his front left to see if we can pinpoint anything in the hoof/leg. If he blocks clean, she wants to try PRP injections in the neck.

I feel your pain.

[luvmyhackney]

Try red light therapy. Its great for inflammation and just feels soothing. My horse loves it on his poll area. Also, look at the TTouch head/neck wraps. They look different but really do work.

Bridle wise, could you try a bridle pad similar to what this etsy shop sells? https://www.etsy.com/shop/FrenchSaddlery

[Lacej81]

I’ve added films above. Apologies these are screenshots.

[anonevent]

Have you looked at the Dy’on Difference bridle?

Another thing to experiment with might be the “Gentle Bridle” from Catago. It does have a crownpiece over the poll, but the design greatly reduces poll pressure as long as you’re using a forgiving cheek piece.

[IPEsq]

Yeah you might need something like the D’yon. Do they still make that?

For my horse with poll issues, the vet recommended that bridle, but as he was to be a hunter, I couldn’t use it. I bought the CWD anatomical bridle, and while it is thick, it really doesn’t put much pressure on the poll. It’s really all I use now. My other horses prefer it as well. If your horse is broad at the brow, I’d size up on the crown and browband and then get cob size for the rest of the bridle. My one current horse goes in a mix of OS and regular horse size in this bridle. He doesn’t have any pathology up there but holds a lot of tension in the poll. He loves the magnawave on his poll. But if you are seeing ligament irritation (which seems like it must be likely given the size of that extra bone!), I’d totally try shockwave as I mentioned before (copied above).

The shockwave does have a bit of a numbing effect as well. The worst part about it in that area is probably the noise. But the one I did it on at the poll was super noise sensitive, and he acted surprised for a few seconds and then was totally into it.

[Lacej81]

We started magnawave this week to see if it gives some relief. Our plan is to try that first and then possibly shock therapy as our second option. Happy to hear you’ve had positive results with ST and it’s worked well on the poll. I’ll look into the Dy’on, I was recently looking at them just for a new bridle before this happened, so I’ll go back and explore them some more. We did try a poll pressure release DEVOUCOUX last week and he hated it. I guess since it was thicker, it’s was rubbing that area even though it had the cut out for the poll. He was tossing his head after all of the jumps which he rarely does, so we 86’ed that idea.

[Lacej81]

I’ll check the Contago out, thank you! He’s a hunter, so we’re a little limited in our options for shows. However, I’m wondering if I can find him something to wear at home, then he wouldn’t be as irritated for shows when we need to use a more traditional bridle.

[Lacej81]

Thank you! My friend says she will let me use her red light on him after we try magnawave.

[Lacej81]

I plan to respond, thank you for the detailed message. I’m so sorry you’re going through something similar.

[Lacej81]

Totally agree about the trimmings. He’s much worse when he’s due, especially if I feel like he’s looming longer in the toe than he should towards the end.

[Lacej81]

And thank you for the insight on neck injections. I’ll definitely look into the Prostride injections.