Kissing Spine Advice

[fivestrideline]

@kodabear1

Right now, he is showing mild discomfort under saddle. In his pasture, he is happy as a clam, and initiates rearing, bucking, galloping, etc. with his pasture mate. I do not think he would do that if he was in a lot of pain.

Prefacing this with “it really depends”, but my severe KS horse is The Boss and bucks/gallops/plays/etc. Without his drugs, he’s in a lot of pain… and still does these things. It’s just different. Spinal pain is weird like that. (Also, he’s 13 and QOL is hovering in the back of my head. We got the diagnosis around age 9, 5+ involved processes, I did not do surgery). Once they’re symptomatic, you’re fighting an uphill battle (but not an impossible one!).

Surgical intervention requires some very strict stall rest and a daily-twice daily exercise regime. It’s best done at a rehab facility unless you’re set up for it. Just something to keep in mind if you go that way. Bone shave (which includes the ligament snip, btw) would be my choice with this horse.

Keeping them in work is ideal - assuming nothing else is bothering them, the saddle FITS, the feet are good, and the work is correct. A lot of them need a bit of help to get over the hump and start putting on that crucial topline - some respond to mesotherapy, or injections, or shockwave, or drugs. Sometimes once, sometimes on a routine. I say KS horses are expensive to maintain… because they’re rarely the horse you can park in a field when life gets busy. They have to stay in work, with their feet pristine, and time off (for injury or just life) can restart the whole cycle if it’s long enough. Their gear has to fit really well.

These horses are a balancing act, and tend to thrive in homes that are really regimented. If you’re stretched thin as it is and the horse is uncomfortable, I’d look hard at your options - I wouldn’t waste your money on surgery or more expensive interventions if you won’t be able to maintain the exercise routine. There’s no silver bullet “fix” for this unfortunately, so shelling out money you don’t really have is pretty risky.

Retirement may be okay for a while, but good retirement isn’t cheap. And you’d want to keep an eye on him. I would not judge a person for choosing to euth a symptomatic horse - these guys don’t always tolerate extended retirement well and start running downhill. It just isn’t a great long-term pasture puff prognosis for someone who doesn’t have a farm at home to retire for cheap and keep a laser eye on their comfort.

Hopefully some PT will help! Some horses do well with that. Some can do retirement for a while. It’s okay to put a cap on what you can do and stick to it… and be ready to make a hard call when it becomes clear that cap isn’t enough to keep them comfortable.

[Warmblood1]

If it were me, I would work the horse 4 times a week in hand. More if you’d like, but I know you said 6 is unrealistic for you but I think the horse could be kept fit with 4. Use this as an opportunity to learn how to long line and work a horse from the ground. Jean Luc Cornille is a bit of a nut but his in hand work is very good and demonstrates just how much can be done in hand with a horse. This would give you the opportunity to give the horse a mental break from riding, strengthen the back without a rider, and get your horse fit in the right ways. It is imperative that you can recognize when a horse is properly working over the back with an open throat latch, etc. Dressage gets crapped all over and sometimes rightfully so, but good dressage training will help this horse. See how the horse does with this and then go from there.

Technology with horses has moved us in a direction where lots of therapies are available, however, IMO, very few of them will beat good solid conditioning and training. Surgery is not a guarantee with KS, nor are injections or the million other alternative therapies available. Sometimes there is an expectation that we should immediately chase issues with thousands of dollars in diagnostics and therapies that may or may not do squat. I’ve been on both sides of the fence with both conservative treatment and aggressive, and in many cases I can’t say hemorrhaging money with aggressive therapies helped at all.

Also realize that there are many many horses with terrible backs doing just fine retired to pasture. As I have gotten older and accumulated more experience, I’ve realized more and more just how happy horses are simply being horses.

There are also people out there that are good people who love horses and take care of them even if just a companion horse. I wouldn’t sabotage my riding career or future with horses on the idea that there is no one out there that couldn’t make use of or just enjoy this horse. Euthanasia, as difficult as it is for us to endure, is also a very kind thing to do for a horse should things go that direction. Dignified and peaceful endings without days of suffering is a gift we can give as their keepers.

My 2 cents FWIW.

[Pico_Banana]

@Warmblood1

There are also people out there that are good people who love horses and take care of them even if just a companion horse. I wouldn’t sabotage my riding career or future with horses on the idea that there is no one out there that couldn’t make use of or just enjoy this horse.

This is true. I have 3 at home and one I adopted as a 26 year old senior. Her only job is to be happy. I hope to always have that “third stall” available for a horse that just needs a soft landing.

The trick is being able to identify the people who really mean it when they say this is their plan for the horse.

[kodabear1]

A lot of folks on a facebook group I posted in (I know) are telling me to find a giant field with a herd to turn him out in for 6-12 months with zero work/expectations. I should note he is turned out 24/7 in a field large enough for him to run around in, but not something so massive he can go running up and down hills. This would help my finances as I could save up to treat him after and I can see some benefits to this for him to mature some physically and have a break, but ultimately, I worry that would make his back weaker without a routine. The KS really became more apparent with more inconsistent work. Additionally, he can be a bit high strung and I’m also not sure if the outcome would be a more mentally mature horse or a more feral one thoughts/experiences on this?

[Pico_Banana]

I think that can make sense if you’re dealing with people who don’t know how to work a KS horse in a way that HELPS him.

But a horse is not smart enough on his own to know that he can make his back feel better by strengthening his abs, for example, or in general doing things to improve his topline. If that were the case, all mustangs would have incredible toplines. But we don’t see that. It’s the horses who are worked correctly and patiently that have incredible toplines.

[rockymouse]

I don’t know if this will be useful, but here’s my story.

My lovely young mare was never quite right under saddle, though we had taken her training slowly and thoughtfully since she was a weanling. We suspect something happened at the trainer’s when she was sent out to be broke at four. Regardless, at age seven we discovered she had four places of impingement that were pretty bad. We did everything over the course of a year and a half or so: shockwave (it helped), chiro with a really good practitioner, Osphos, steroid shots, Equioxx, were careful with her trim/shoeing, I did Masterson Method bodywork with her very often, and we maintained her in a group with 24/7 turnout. No riding, except instances to look for improvement with a vet.

While some of this helped, it was nothing close to a cure. She ran, bucked, played and acted normally in pasture. Under saddle - which fit fine - she was a distracted, worried, discombobulated, impossible mess beyond a walk. She really, really tried hard to hold it together. At age nine we hauled her 12 hours to Dr. Honnas’s clinic in Bryan, TX. He performed the bone remodeling surgery and kept her for an extra week because of our schedule. The bill was about $5500 - way less than I’d feared.

I wish I could tell you that it worked great. We did the rehab to a T. I worked her in a loose Pessoa gradually building up time and she looked and moved fantastic. We still did not do well together under saddle, however.

A couple things happened in my life where I could not pursue riding and she lived quite happily in her group. She was a joy and we adored each other. In the end, we discovered she had an incurable auto immune disorder that may have always lurked under the surface and contributed to her not-quite-rightness. It erupted quite suddenly last summer and we put her down. She was 10.

KS is complicated and insidious. Weigh carefully your financial, emotional and time capabilities. Euthanizing a horse with these complex challenges in mind is not unkind. But if you want to try some of these things, that’s cool too.

It’s so difficult, these decisions of which direction to go. There’s nothing wrong with doing nothing for a while, so long as he’s comfortable.

[kodabear1]

I am so sorry to hear about your horse. She was lucky to have had you to make her happy and comfortable and do the right and kind thing when it came time. I hope, over time, to try some of these things, understanding that they need to go hand in hand with PT and that they may not do a thing. I am thankful that my horse is far from stoic and is extremely expressive, as I feel confident he will let me know if he’s ever in extreme pain.

[skydy]

@kodabear1

Right now, he is showing mild discomfort under saddle. In his pasture, he is happy as a clam, and initiates rearing, bucking, galloping, etc. with his pasture mate. I do not think he would do that if he was in a lot of pain. Going to give it my best show in the next few months and see what happens. If I choose the slow retirement option, and one day, he demonstrates a lot of pain, I would take the humane route.

I agree about re-homing. It’s hard to realize that all my horsing goals will never be realized now - keeping him, even as a pasture pet, will always mean that I cannot afford a second horse. But I will just have to come to terms with it, as the thought of giving him to another home and not knowing where he is/how he is being treated would break my heart.

Trying to remain hopeful that he will be comfortable enough with strength building and continual bodywork/PT! Maybe one day I will win the lotto and can give him all the treatments

I’m so sorry, that’s a tough diagnosis for such a young horse.

I wonder though, even if you could afford surgery, if it would be in his best interest considering the amount of stall rest required post-op (you mentioned that he doesn’t do well indoors.)

If you do get him well enough to trail ride I would advise you not to lease him or to let anyone else on his back. If he has sharp neuro pain, his reaction could be dramatic. Even with full disclosure, if someone (besides you) is injured while riding him it could result in a litigious mess.

Wishing you and him the best of luck.

[GraceLikeRain]

@kodabear1

A lot of folks on a facebook group I posted in (I know) are telling me to find a giant field with a herd to turn him out in for 6-12 months with zero work/expectations

If it was an injury I’d be more inclined to agree but I’m not sure what a somewhat arbitrary timeframe does for a chronic issue.