Half pad for kissing spines. Recommendations?

[BroncoMo]

A search revealed some pretty old threads. Wanted to see if anyone has recommendations for a half pad for a horse with mild kissing spines? I know nothing will bandaid saddle fit. I am entertaining the idea of a new saddle so his fit will be at the forefront of my mind.

Background: 4 year old green QH hunter prospect. 17.2 and still growing. He was practically a rescue case and came in to my life last summer looking like an emaciated yearling… at 3 years old. He was malnourished for part of his yearling year, through his two year old year, and part of his three year old year. So he has some issues that I think can be linked to malnutrition, we are going slow. He’s had some odd intermittent asymmetrical unsoundness/weakness. We narrowed it down to trashed hocks that are trying to fuse, and as a secondary issue (can’t use himself well due to his hocks) he has a spinal process that is getting a bit narrow. Not over riding or impingement. The vet isn’t overly concerned about it at this point; said to get his hocks right, then recondition and see how his back does once he can use his core better.

The process in question… I failed to ask which vertebrae were involved, but it’s in the T18/L1 region. Essentially where the very back of a cantle would sit. I’m a fan of Thinlines, but sometimes get lazy and just grab whatever pad is available or easily accessible.

Have any of y’all seen any literature on the affect of a half pad on kissing spines? Suggestions on pads that may help or reduce impact? Again, saddle fit is/will be addressed. It would appear that our (mine and my trainers) saddles fit him well, but we will address it as mine isn’t quite working for me. And I am not using the idea of a half pad as a bandaid for Ill fitting tack or lack of conditioning.

[Horselove5]

@BroncoMo

Suggestions on pads that may help or reduce impact?

Sedelogic and particularly their S curved one. It’s one of the very few pads out there developed by vets and based on actual research. It’s a Dutch product but you can get it in the US too.

[beowulf]

I have a horse in work with moderate KS. He was diagnosed at 5 or 6, incidentally - I had his whole spine x-rayed after a catastrophic wipe-out to make sure he hadn’t broken anything and it was then we discovered moderate remodeling over T5/T6.

I’ve tried a whole bunch of half pads, from Thinline to Invictus, etc. It’s always been hard to figure out if any soreness was related to the pads, or the saddle, or what, but I did notice that Thinline at first worked, but then didn’t. He started to become sore over his shoulders with regular Thinline use, which was a new hotspot for him. After the third or fourth chiro visit denoting soreness there, I stopped the Thinline use and the next chiro visit the soreness was gone. The Invictus changed the saddle fit too much, and Ecogold, Mattes, etc all were too much bulk.

I ended up buying a saddle pad that just has sheepskin as the underside (LeMieux Merino, but you can buy any brand). I genuinely think my horse enjoys it, because he’s always nuzzling the sheepskin before and after it goes on his back. I think the softness, with the added lack of friction in pad-to-saddle contact, has made him more comfortable over his back.

I did a few other things to ensure his back stayed comfortable – these are outside your specific question about half-pads, but I figured it wouldnt hurt to chuck them in.

• he’s shod all around
• his back is injected once a year with mesotherapy
• he is out 24/7
• I avoid rugging him unless absolutely necessary
• he is on extra vit E and MSM, which I think helps

One other thing… this may or may not be possible, but I noticed the best improvement in his way of going undersaddle when I rode him in a saddle with serge panels. Something about the flexibility and the lightness seemed to make a huge difference in the schwung of this horse, so I went and bought him a saddle with this specific feature.

With KS that far back on your horse, I might add routine SI therapies to the horse’s schedule. There’s definitely virtue in not treating your horse like a pin cushion vis a vis modern therapies and injectables, but often one of the first things to complain comfort-wise in the horse with KS is their SI. The area that is affected by the remodeling is not always the most acutely painful - at lot of these horses seem to demonstrate pain in their SI and suspensories first.

[BroncoMo]

Great feedback. Thank you! This is a bit foreign to me as the only kissing spines I’ve dealt with before had 6 or 7 over riding processes with lesions; he was understandably violent if you didn’t ride him just right.

This youngster, I feel so bad for him, he tries so damn hard. We’ve known that something wasn’t right but have been chasing our tails and NOTHING has screamed at us as being obvious. He’s just tight bodied and not pushing off his right hind very well. That’s it. He doesn’t fuss, doesn’t complain, nothing. Like geez, if you hurt, can you please tell us a little louder?? But he just keeps trucking along with the greatest attitude.

That’s so very interesting about just a basic sheepskin half pad. But it makes sense; reduce the friction and there won’t be as much to bind. I’m curious about the serge panels? I’ll google, but just for grins, can you tell me more about it?

I agree with SI injections. I’ve long thought there’s some tension up there, but we wanted to find the cause of it. Turns out that’s two fold (back and hocks). So I’ll for sure get that done once my wallet recovers a little bit.

Vitamin E is certainly high on my requirements for supplements. He’s been on water soluble since we treated for EPM, though I’m going to switch him to a pelleted natural next. And I have my eye on a joint supplement that has a good amount of MSM.

Thank you for all the ideas. I think we’re headed down the right path.

[Pally]

If the trouble area for him is in that thoracolumbar junction, you will want to be extra careful to not having your pads end right there and possibly create a pressure point or extra friction. This goes for both your half pads and any square/under pads you use. The TL junction… aka your possible sensitive spot… is pretty easy to locate. Lay the back of your fingertips against the front of his point of his hip, then slide forwards and slightly down until the front of your fingers bumps into the rib. Run your fingers up towards the spine, following the curve of that rib. You will “lose” the rib a few inches away from the spine, but if you run straight up from there, that’s a pretty good estimation of the spot. Do exercise a little caution in this and watch for cow-kicking, as some horses are tender over the last rib area.

If you don’t already have a bodyworker to work on his soft tissue and movement patterns, I would highly recommend you find one now. It sounds like he’s had a lot going on already, but there is still plenty of room for change and implementing healthier movement patterns.

[BroncoMo]

Thank you for all of this. The vet that has done all of the diagnostics is also a chiropractor. Though I am open to suggestions on other body work.

I’ll get definitive clarification on exactly what process is involved and see where the tack ends. And we’ll adjust things from there. I’m glad y’all have brought up friction. I wouldn’t have thought of how that would be a detriment, but it makes total sense. So we may need to improve in terms of reducing friction.

[Pally]

Having a vet that does trained in chiropractic is great, especially in cases like this, as they will tend to look at the whole horse with that eye and background. Chiro in and of itself is a great modality, but, personally, I don’t see it as interchangeable with soft tissue work (though I do think they make an amazing tandem). With you saying “tight bodied”, “doesn’t push off the right hind very well”, “tension in the SI”, (and PS, great on you for being attentive to these things) I think of a horse that could really benefit from some soft tissue bodywork. To be honest, I wouldn’t worry so much about what particular modality they do (could be massage, myofascial release, Bowen, Cranio-sacral, Masterson, etc, etc) and just find someone who is good and your horse likes. It sounds like you are already on the right track and this could be another piece of the puzzle. Good luck!

[BroncoMo]

Out of curiosity, do you ride with a baby pad or something else under the sheepskin half pad? I do so just to keep the flaps of my saddle clean. But I wonder if that will cause too much friction. Perhaps I need to look for a full/fitted pad with sheepskin underside.

[beowulf]

Sheepskin directly onto the horse’s back. I think it is much more comfortable and causes a lot less friction. If it isn’t directly against their back I don’t think it works as well. Just my unproven theory though.

[BroncoMo]

That’s kind of how I see it. I’ll shop for full pads that allow sheepskin contact with his back. It’s probably a moot point for a few months since he tried to rip his hoof off this week; in his stall no less And will probably be laid up for a while until the damage grows out. I swear, this horse…