@Jleegriffith
Not direct comments to you, just comments on my overall experience with the disease in sport horses, both as an owner and someone who takes care of horses clinically diagnosed with the disease.
I wish there was more understanding about the disease, as there is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about KS in general.
You’re good. I like the horses you sell and don’t think you’re doing anything shady. :encouragement:
KS is just as common in WBs as it is in TBs. Incidentally, I have much more experience with it in (client) WBs and ISHs than I do in TBs, so most of what I refer to comes from that.
KS as a diagnosis is not good news for a dressage career. I know very few serious dressage buyers that will consider a horse with KS on PPE. A horse in pain can’t work over their back, so, they never build up the strength they need to overcome the poor posture/compensational habits they develop. It can become a serious factor once you go up the levels and require real collection, which is difficult for a horse that is in pain. It also makes the real lateral work difficult, as they tend to be very protective of their back and side and will not want to “push through” the pain.
KS can be managed, but it’s usually difficult to keep the horse in long-term work as the therapies proven to help KS are expensive, KS can’t be reversed, and KS usually causes secondary issues related to the disease (early wear/tear on suspensories and stifles being primary, SI inflammation being secondary).
I know more horses retired after treatment, than horses that continued to be able to work.
It really depends on the horse’s personality, the treatments, the management, and how severe the KS is… but it is not something that “riding correctly” can fix, so beware the “Art2Ride” people. My two cents, they’re as kooky as Parellians.
If I remember correctly, the most recent study about clinically diagnosed KS long-term is that there is quite a high wastage rate after treatment (IIRC… something like 33%?).
Finding KS usually isn’t incidental. Barring PPEs, most owners I’ve dealt with have discovered the KS as a last ditch effort trying to figure out behavioral issues or soundness issues with their horse. Sometimes these findings are in conjunction with neck issues.
It’s been my experience that the most obvious symptom is usually behavioral, but not all KS horses buck – and most people assume KS = bucking or obviously bad behavior. There are other subtle behaviors associated with KS that should be considered clinical symptoms, not limited to the following:
- refusal to be caught in paddock / not wanting to be caught in stall (this is the one I hear owners reporting very frequently)
- gradual loss of confidence under saddle
- decrease in performance
- difficulty jumping, or change in willingness to jump
- girthiness
- increased breathing/heart-rate when tacking up
- ulcers
- moving or attempting to walk away during saddling
- toe drag
- postural changes (standing close behind, or standing under)
Of course, some of the above symptoms, are symptoms of other issues…
That being said… seeing remodeling in a 16 y/o… is very different than seeing it in a 5 y/o. I likely would not be too concerned to find mild remodeling in a 16 y/o that has been working 2nd/3rd level for the last 12 years… but I would likely pass on the 5 y/o with the same findings. There’s so many variations of the disease; remodeling is one thing… over/interlapping is something very different.
Since you mentioned UL horses… I’ll throw in my two cents, being someone who was a WS in several UL barns; some of them had KS… they were not asymptomatic. Most of them needed serious therapies (magnawave blankets, shockwave, therapad, chiro, massage, eurocizers, constant injections, etc) just to keep them going – the person that coined “UL horses are held together by zip-ties and duct tape” is not wrong… And honestly? Most of them had dangerous quirks that we put up with - biting, kicking, needing two handlers to saddle…
