Symptoms, diagnosis and treating a horse with kissing spines
Kissing spines or spinous process impingement
is where the large spines which stick upwards from the vertebrae
in the horse's back rub together and cause low
grade inflammatory changes in the edges of the bone where they
meet.
Affected horses show signs of poor performance,
reluctance to jump, unpredictable behaviour when being ridden
and sometimes extreme stiffness.
Other symptoms or signs of equine kissing spines
are irritability when the girth is tightened or when the horse's
back is brushed during grooming, rearing, bucking or bolting.
X-rays of this part of the back are fairly easy
to obtain as the bony processes involved are near to the surface
of the horse's back.
The interpretation of the X-rays must be cautious since many
normal horses and ponies have
some signs of bones changes in between the spines
of the vertebrae.
Kissing spine is most often seen in the rear vertebrae of the
horse or pony's thorax.
The confirmation of the diagnosis of kissing spine,
which show that it is the contact of the spines of the back causing
the pain, can be proven by the injection of a local anaesthetic
into the space between the bones. This acts as a nerve block
If the horse or pony is then observed under saddle
there should be a dramatic improvement following the injection
of anaesthetic if the horse's problems are being caused by kissing
spines.
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