Blocking is the way to go for a lameness eval. This is standard practice, not some voodoo they’re presenting. Flexions give a vague idea of where it MIGHT be, blocking narrows it further, and THEN you xray.
I’m not sure how many full lameness evals you’ve done, but what the clinic described is 100% normal.
Your guy is cute as a button! What a sweet face!
I have a TB cross (75% TB, 25% Holsteiner) and he has mild KS. His first indications were similar “bumps” on his spine and explosive bucking behavior. It’s good to remember that horses run from pain, and he would bolt or break into the canter at seemingly random times. He also had a tendency to work “up” instead of get calmer and looser as the ride went on. I’ve since heard that is pretty classic KS behavior. As someone described above, it becomes a cycle of inversion and pain. My horse was diagnosed with field x-rays - he showed some remodeling on T11-12 and T16-17.
The good news is, it can be managed. I think people are afraid of it as diagnosis (I was too!) but the truth is that correct exercise helps these horses tremendously. We don’t jump anymore, but my guy is 19 this year. We mostly focus on dressage. He gets weekly bodywork, and on days when he is “ouchie,” we just take it easy and hack out, or do lateral work at the walk.
If he were mine, I would keep an eye on that hock too! The whole hind end, including the palmar angles in the feet as someone else mentioned above, can exacerbate any back issues. I get fairly routine X-rays of stifles, hocks, and feet on my guy just to keep an eye on everything.
He’s lucky to have you searching for answers. Good luck!!
I forgot I posted about this here. I only came back because his situation has sent me down a rabbit hole of almost participating in the btmm nonsense. I figure I owe this thread a smidgen of closure or an update with what we found at the vet. We did a full lameness exam, x rays, and thermography. The findings were grade 1/5 lame in all 4 feet. No NPA in any hoof. Thin soles more so on the right front. Medial lateral imbalance in the front feet with the brunt of his weight collapsing the medial aspect of the hoof causing flaring to the outside. He has a toe crack in the front left which will need a wall resection. The vet said he has good feet and should be kept barefoot as this is a result of his environment. I had him in a deep sand paddock where the round bale was. Never really considered what living in deep sand would do. In this case since he was living in soft sand there was nothing to toughen up his feet or really support the limb correctly. He stands camped under to take weight off his front feet plus he is conformationally sickle hocked. I also put him on a diet and increased his fitness regimen. He’s been a perfect gentleman at home with a great work ethic. The vet gave us confidence eq and zestara for any future outings. I was happy to accept these meds but I’m not too impressed with the ingredients and price of zestara. I’m not one to voluntarily seek out woowoo solutions.
So aside from these little adjustments I think the rest is simply maturity and time. One moment he might seem ready to face whatever it is and the next he might not and I just have to listen and judge carefully. These 4 and 5 year old young event horse classes sure make it seem like an acceptable thing to be asking these questions of him but he’s just not there yet. And for those that know and are familiar with the intensity of the 4 and 5 YEH classes, mine can’t even handle starter right now and he’s turning 5 in less than 2 weeks.
Also, his only area of back soreness was verbatim “mildly tight lumbar, really long back” which he attributed to his posture standing camped under. So I’m trying to fix the pain in his feet and improve his posture at the same time. He’s happy in this work though and that’s a valuable metric.
Gosh he is lovely and he looks so much more comfortable! Awesome work. Absolutely agree that the 4 and 5 year old classes ask a lot of young, often immature horses. Glad to hear that you are listening to your guy and that it is working for him. I’m sure he has a long and prosperous career ahead of him and that backing off now will only benefit him in the long run. 
By the way, what does btmm mean?
Coming back to say he was diagnosed with PSD in October. I made a new thread with updates called Proximal Suspensory Desmitis. We’re just over 2 months into the rehab process. We did shockwave, PRP, Adequan, stall rest, controlled exercise, he’s now in shoes after being barefoot. Started with Suspensory hind shoe and moved to a set back shoe with a wide toe and tint trailers. He’s finally starting to get some height in his heels on his own without wedges. He was neutral and slightly positive in his plantar angles but that’s clearly not enough support.
He still has the back pain when he’s emotional and tense. We’re going back on the 12th and I really want them to see what’s going on with his SI. If it needs injected or not. She did previously suggest muscle relaxers. I’m currently investigating “gelding scars” as it also fits him to a T with those symptoms that still remain as we treat the suspensory. He’s been resting his right hind under himself and forward, chiro reports chronic history of right pelvis being shifted forward as if there’s something pulling it.
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