Everything to know about Kissing Spine, please! (And general update of rehabbing him and his issues now!)

[Pico_Banana]

One thought to add here as I see your posts about your saddle - maybe try the EQ saddle rehab program? You can rent a saddle to see if it helps with back issues. If you like it, they give you a credit to buying it. I have an EQ for both of my horses and find they are super back friendly. They are also kinda “self-adjusting” for minor strength changes and are very stable. I find this true for both my super wide mare and my narrow gelding. (I have different tree shapes for each.)

I used to have a KS horse until we had to euthanize him for an unrelated reason. He was a total dream as long as he did walk/trot only. So there may be a future for your boy, even if different than what you had planned.

Also, I think you were on the Zycosan thread, too, right? I’m planning to keep my gelding on Zycosan quarterly - I start round 2 this weekend. If it helped your gelding, maybe think about doing it more frequently? I’m hoping there may be some kind of build up in their systems. No research finding that that I’m aware of, but one can hope.

[Lunabear1988]

Maybe but I think it’s more him causing saddle issues than the other way around but we will see what happens on Friday when she’s outs. Now that they fixed the flocking, it definitely feels better so far. I have heard good things about those saddles.

We did the loading does of Zycosan and are doing the monthly injection as recommended by the vet. I don’t think I could afford to do it more than that. Besides that I plan to do another loading dose at the 6 month mark. I have been pretty happy with it though all things considering.

[TWH_Girl]

I forget how old this horse is- 6 or 7? Not sure of his turnout situation, but can you just let him be a while with a few months off and see if his body can correct itself? Sometimes I feel like the more we do, the worse they get.

[Lunabear1988]

He had about a year off and was worse. He’s definitely been better since he’s been back in work just not 100% which of course is the goal (maybe unrealistic but it is what I hope for.)

But yes he’s 7.

[Lunabear1988]

I should be clear he’s doing quite well at the walk trot and definitely has shown improvement. It’s the canter that has been a sticking point.

[Lunabear1988]

Interesting enough I was posting about my horse on FB and a lady reached out to me that she had had an experience very similar to my horse. She also had a QH who they had been treating for other issues (I think she said they were dealing with hocks for a while) And then eventually that led them to x-ray the back which showed kissing spine in the exact same spots that my horse has. She said they injected that and just like with my horse the walk and trot got a lot better, but the canter was just a mess. Her horse was starting to buck and act out. She also said she was having a heck of a time with her saddle slipping to the left, continually. She said finally they treated the SI after much debate.

A year (or maybe many months) later she said her saddle no longer slips to the left, he’s happy in the canter and to her amazement they won a championship for second level Dressage! She said at one point she thought she was going to be retiring him too. If that poster is on COTH and I mixed up any details I apologize!

But that story made me feel like continuing to look into the SI wasn’t a horrible idea.

[IPEsq]

Sometimes with SI stuff, you just have to try treatment as a diagnostic. It seems totally reasonable at this point.

[Lunabear1988]

Well the saddle fitter came. We ditched all the half pads and switched girths. Saddle felt good and straight. Would be nice if it were that simple lol

Saddle fitter agreed with SI issues. Said his back overall felt great though but could see what I was talking about undersaddle. Fingers crossed we get everything else squared away next week at the vet!

[Lunabear1988]

Update again! We ended up injecting the SI about a month ago. My vet was really happy with his feet now. I’ve seen small differences for sure. He’s more likely to stand square. He always wanted to stand with his left hind underneath him, for months. It was like he never wanted to stand evenly behind even if you tried to square him up. Now he will square up.

He also seems more at ease for getting his hind feet picked. He’s never been naughty but he was always weird about holding his left hind for very long. It was one of those things that was subtle, like the farrier didn’t notice but I did. It was so consistent everyday. That’s fine too.

He’s also better about doing belly lifts. He used to always cow kick when we tried and now he does not. I wouldn’t say that he loves them but he doesn’t seem angry about them anymore.

I’m not sure yet if there’s really a difference under saddle too much. I will say it does feel like my saddle is sitting straighter. He continues to be more forward than he was in years past. It’s kind of tricky because for the longest time I had this horse that was just SO behind the leg and now if brush him with my calf, off we go. It’s nice but like learning to ride a totally different horse ha ha. But he’s not like crazy hot either. Yesterday and my lesson we tested out just a wee bit of sitting trot, mostly for my benefit. He was very good about it and his ears even started flopping a little. Almost like he enjoyed it. Personally I think I sit the trot better than I post so that’s probably what he was saying !! Lol

We did a dressage clinic, a weekend ago. It was in barn and the clinician was okay with where we were at. She didn’t seem very concerned about anything soundness wise which was nice. She was of the opinion to not let him get too low and closed. Which I totally agree. She wanted him a lot more up and open. Because he’s one that doesn’t want to be hollow necessarily but he does like to hide behind the bit and or brace down. Which just drops his back too. She said to get him up in the poll so that he actually uses his core and lifts with his thoracic sling. Then have periods of really correct stretching. But not “stretching” all the time.