Thank you!! Yeah this horse might need a few taps at first ha ha. But he is quite smart and will learn. And yes that spot right in front of the croup is what his concerned me. It does get better and stronger with work so hopefully now with a lot more support it will continue to do so this time around.
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I took Monthly body photos of my boy. To watch the top line grow. Its hard when they look like they have atrophy while you’re in the process of trying to find the issue and fix it. Been there done that, wear that shirt every so often! I find it easier to look at monthly body shots as it reminds you they ARE changing. Comparing the photos makes you really see the progress.
Look into Pillar work too. I think there are a lot of people charging to teach it right now, but google it, you can find information online. It teaches them to not brace their lower neck and to really use their whole body in a stance.
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There’s nothing more heart wrenching than looking at your muscle atrophied horse. But if we can get him going again and feeling better there will be nothing more rewarding to see that muscle come back!
I actually have a whole thread here on coth about the pillar work… I always have kind of encouraged him to stretch down and out and not brace in the lower neck to the best of my ability. Unfortunately I’m way too financially strapped to pay for something that’s not really proven or something that people haven’t yet had success with a long-term (I know lots of people have had success short-term but it hasn’t been well known very long at all)
Not saying it can’t help but I can really only put my money towards mesotherapy and massages for now. It’s really not a good time in my life to have a kissing spine horse but we don’t always get what we want! I will definitely find a way for him to get what he needs to the best of my ability.
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It looks like you’ve gotten off to a good start and people have offered some good advice. I have two horses with kissing spine and my number one random piece of advice is KEEP THEIR BACK WARM. With both of mine, no matter what medication, physical therapy, injections, surgery, etc. I have done, if I don’t blanket them heavier than all the other horses they get back sore. I have not noticed a difference between using a BOT blanket or a regular blanket, just as long as it’s warm. My horses have an extensive wardrobe of winter blankets lol. Also if possible, allowing them to eat from the ground rather than a high up feeder or hay net is helpful.
I have had good luck with massage and PEMF therapy. Chiro can be hit or miss. One of my horses hates the chiro but the other loves it.
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My experience with this (OTTB mare, now 12) has been mesotherapy & steroid injections (same day) have been the sweet spot. Combined with SI injections. She has NPA which is being managed to the best of everyone’s ability, but we’ve never fully been able to resolve this.
Exercises - hills are your friend, backing UP a hill. It really makes them use that hind end. A lot of horses will be resistant to this at first, but one step at a time. If it’s too muddy for that, use poles and back over them. At least you get them picking up their hind legs. What I find with mine is she is reluctant to acknowledge she has a hind end, much less use it. This is likely more of an SI issue than the KS, but I think things feed off each other.
Robaxin - more than a couple weeks. You may need to “live” on it for awhile. Get the pain under control. Get the body parts working correctly. Get the horse where they aren’t bracing in anticipation of things hurting, then back down on it.
Osphos - may help, if nothing else to slow down bone remodeling.
The Equi-Core and side reins. I would recommend Simon Cocozza’s book ‘Core Conditioning for Horses’.
Poles are useful also. Not just ground poles - make them lift their feet UP!
I would not just jump to surgery. I think it’s a last resort and not all horses are good candidates for it.
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Not trying to hijack, but this thread encouraged me to make an appointment with my local vet to come look at my KS horse.
Armed with the suggestions here, I’m getting hoof balance films again on all 4 as well as talking to them about his back. I think I’ll ask about robaxin, and see what they say otherwise. I have an EquiCore, BOT, and tons of hills, but he’s back-dropping sore again with mild finger pressure down his spine so I feel like we need a little help there.
The massage therapist comes out a few days before the vet, so I’ll have her evaluation of his condition. @Lunabear1988 do you mind sharing the lameness you saw that came and went with the robaxin? Like a leg lameness or general “meh” vibes?
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The last two winters my horse has grown a coat like a woolly mammoth. I had to clip him a little partially because when he is feeling good he rolls and wallows in mud or poop. But also he just runs so hot! I only did like a little bib clip but it made a world of difference.
That being said I guess I’ll have to invest in a variety of weights of blankets. Maybe something thinner like 100 g for those in between days for him. I’ll definitely play with it this winter. I do have a back on track back blanket thing that I plan to use to warm him up with. Then I have a few of the saddle pads.
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All right well I’ll definitely plan on getting X-rays on this hind feet when I can. It might be something I can swing in November. Sounds like it’s such a running theme for kissing spine.
Regarding the robaxin I actually did just talk to my vet and she mentioned that it is something he can be on for longer term if needed.
Thank you!! I’ve been hearing a lot about that book and I will definitely pick it up.
I will let you know how the mesotherapy works too. Although I had gotten too quotes from two different vet practices. They were wildly different so now I’m a little concerned that the first vet practice that I actually scheduled with might have made a mistake in my quote… Lol hopefully not because I thought it was pretty reasonable and something I could do every few months or at least twice a year.
So my horse always looked kind of meh but he could look lame behind. When I took him of the roboxin he looks good one way but still looked lame in the hind end the other way. Of course there’s a possibility that something else is going on but I had thought he looked better on the roboxin. Fair warning He seems like it made him feel good enough that he was quite wild on it. But I literally just think he could actually move!
Best of luck! Keep me updated too.
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I’m happy to hear that the internal medicine specialist at CSU did not know anything of significance in the neck x-rays. Why he gets a little sore in his neck might just be compensation from not being able to move correctly or I suppose it’s possible that there’s some soft tissue injury. He has pulled back twice since I’ve owned him although it wasn’t a full-on panic. He always got regular body work but if it continues to be sore maybe I’ll look at shockwave or mesotherapy on that too.
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Mine is a confirmed puller - I’m sure he’s got some messiness in his neck due to it. It’s not a monster I created but his default is to go backwards 
. We believe he was retired due to gate issues + lackluster race performance, and based on his behavior I would concur that the yanking back has been happening since long before I had him. I do wonder how much that may have affected him - his poll is usually tight according to the bodyworker.
I will definitely check in. Our horses sound similar, though very different builds and breeds.
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Mine is good like 98% of the time. I think he’s really only pulled back in fear once and then the other time that I can really think of was he went to nip me or something just being a dumb young horse and then pulled back.
He also just likes to test to see if he’s tied or not which is really fun. Like he’ll do it slowly just swinging his head around and seeing if he can pull the lead rope if you don’t have it actually tied and just wrapped around. So that’s a fun trick. So I do still usually tie him unless there’s something weird going on around the barn and I think there might be a chance of anything happening.
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Yeah mine is fine 90% of the time but if he gets spooked or hits the end of a tie too hard being dumb he will fight to go backwards until he’s free. I just don’t let him get to the end of the tie anymore 
I just wonder if there’s stuff in his neck now because of it.
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Gosh that’s even worse mine will panic for like a second and then settle. I mean that can still hurt their necks either way but that’s no fun!
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Speaking of necks, This popped up on my Facebook memory and oh my goodness what a difference. Look at all that tension!! Poor thing .
This was 2 years ago a few months after I had bought him. He still has tension in his neck but I’m hopeful that as we get the rest of the body feeling better that continues to feel better too.
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Actually looking through the pictures actually kind of pisses me off. I’ve always kind of known this but to me there was a distinct change when he got hurt. I was gone for a weekend and I came back and he was moving funky behind. Eventually had a vet out who saw lameness but didn’t think it warranted x-rays or an ultrasound. He did get a bit better but it continued to be a thing. I felt like everybody in my life just didn’t take it seriously. I had multiple vets out including CSU. Nobody really took anything seriously.
Finally I got an ultrasound in the stifle and confirmed that at one time there was an injury and that he did need a little more help. But still his muscle and was always off to me and he never looked right in the way he moved. This gnawed at me for over 2 years. Multiple vets, multiple body workers, two horse trainers. Finally I feel like we’re getting a complete picture.
I wonder what the heck happened. What did this poor horse do to himself? I’m kind of suspect to a soft tissue injury on the neck at some point. Or maybe it is genetic kissing spine and I’m just seeing the effects of that over time. Certainly possible. Either way I feel awful for him.
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I like the BOT saddle pads in the winter. They really do seem to help.
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I have two of them although I haven’t really used them yet. I definitely will now 
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I need to go find mine now the weather is changing!
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My red horse pretty much lives on Robaxin. If your gut responds well to it, it is pretty safe to continue using through this rehab or around anything that might be hard for him (holding up hinds for the farrier, etc). Anything that helps him track up more evenly will be good for his rehab.
I think if budget is tight, shockwave won’t be worth the high price tag. I get my Robaxin refills from Heartland Vet Supply and there is almost always a coupon I can use.
There is a KS horse at my barn that really likes PEMF sessions.
CSU did meso on one of mine, and I thought it was reasonable. We did neck and whole topline. I was hoping for a better response for the back, but he did really like it on the neck. We did not use steroid due to having tried various other injections already. We might have gotten better results using a little steroid in the mix, although the research says plain saline is enough.
Ground driving is good but at some point you will want him going likely faster than you can keep up with without putting him on a circle. So get a really good reevaluation of your saddle and try to get him legged back up. Some days in hand, some days in the saddle. Equibands are a good idea to start introducing.
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