Is 'kissing spine' a whole horse issue?

In my work as an Equine Physio & Rehabilitation Specialist, I look at the whole horse as well as the injury site in terms of rehabilitation. I am also qualified as a Spinal Manipulation Therapist so adding all of my skills and experience in together gives me quite a unique view of horses, that I like to share with horse owners to help them understand their horses better. 

So is 'kissing spine' a whole horse issue? My educated, experienced opinion...YES undoubtedly. And for lots of reasons. 

The basic design of a horses body doesn't really make them that suitable for being riding horses, sports etc, the shape and internal structure of the spine makes them susceptible to back pain and bones touching much more easily than you might realise. I suspect that a LOT of horses experience what we might call low grade 'kissing spine' but it's not picked up. 

When I work with horses with 'kissing spine' what I find in their bodies is lots of compensation - and this tells it's own story. The horse has been altering his/her movement to cope with the problem, potentially over the medium-long term, switching one area off so to speak, bracing in the back, and recruiting other parts of the body to do what's being asked - because generally they are pretty good at doing that (they don't want to stand out as the lame horse at the back of the herd, the tiger will grab that one!). 

So it's easy to see I hope, that 'whole body dysfunction' creeps in quite easily in the ridden horse. Obviously there are lots of factors and reasons for this to happen, but what I'm trying to get across is that the small section of the back that is treated (medically or surgically) is not the only section of the horse to focus on, and it's not the only area with a problem...the whole body is involved and needs consideration. 

The naturally occurring crookedness pattern (left or right handedness), joint degeneration, and the combination of these 2 factors, sit underneath a lot of issues with horses, so if we already have all of this going on and then exercise our horses we are creating adapted movement and getting into dysfunction in the body. 

Coming back to kissing spine, can you now see how much work actually needs to be done post treatment, to fully rehab the horse and get them back to their pre-injury state (or better)? 

If you have your horses back medicated, it's not a magic pill - treatment is step 1, it's like opening a door, and your rehab is steps 2-100! That might sound overwhelming but it's good to frame it this way. The treatment ALLOWS the rehab to happen successfully, it doesn't necessarily FIX the problem. I hope this part makes sense, it's important. 

The horses body needs unpicking and retraining, to take into account all of the whole body compensation and dysfunction that has been going on, maybe for some time. 

I have seen this so many times, and I have many horse owners contact me after back/joint treatments, as they have struggling with this part specifically...what to do with the horse to get them back into ridden work successfully as there are some missing pieces of the jigsaw, so to speak, for the horse. I look at it as 'post injury strengthening' - full body strengthening to get the whole body functioning again, via a sympathetic, corrective approach. 

THE GOOD NEWS IS...that we can actually PREVENT early uneven wear and tear on the body and PREVENT 'kissing spine' and movement dysfunction by making some changes to our training! Sometimes you just need to make a few tweaks, adding a few specific exercises into your routine with your horse to make the difference. 

AND THE OTHER GOOD NEWS IS...that after joint/back medications and before getting back to 'normal', there are many ways that you can unpick and retrain your horses body during this period...contact me for details of my core strengthening programme for exactly this! 

If we have potential 'kissing spine' on our radar at all times, it means that we will be working our horses in such a way that they are always in good posture, using their core and back, and therefore maintaining strength and space in between the DSP's (the bones that touch in 'kissing spine'). 

It doesn't have to be difficult or complicated...I add stable based core mobilisation and activation exercises, specific in hand work, corrective pole work and corrective lunge work (a lot in walk), and specific mobilising ridden exercises, depending on what I'm doing and what stage I'm at with a horse. This can all be slotted in alongside what you do already...it's about having the specific exercises that work, and understanding WHY you're doing them and HOW to do them correctly for effective results. 

If you're in this position right now with your horse, if you're stuck and need help with how to strengthen your horse up correctly, do get in touch so that I can help you, I have lots of options and ways that we can work together. Go to the CONTACT page here on my website to email me directly and let me know what help you need. 

AND I will be talking about all of this in more detail in my Free Online Training Talk Series on 'Posture & Movement Improvement in the horse' during the week of 5th-9th June.

Please come and join me for the talks, where I will be digging into anatomy, posture, common movement issues, and training. This is a revamped version of my regular Free Talks, and we will be focussing a bit more on the common movement dysfunctions, how they manifest (you might not actually realise that your horse is in one or more of these categories), and what we can do to unravel and improve our horses posture and movement! 

It's always a great week of training, and there are always the 'a-ha' moments for the attendees, where they realise what's actually been going on for their horses - amazing learning! 

***More details and registration: CLICK HERE ***