Displeasure during saddling and/or mounting.Pain sensitivity while being groomed or when the back is touched.The back pain can manifest itself in a wide variety of symptoms: What are the symptoms of a horse with kissing spines? The disease can affect any horse, but thoroughbreds and warmbloods seem to be affected more often than other breeds. Diagnoses are made most frequently in horses between the ages of five and ten. It occurs most typically in the last thoracic vertebra, over which the saddle rests and the rider sits. The lack of space reduces movement in the spine and causes pain during exercise, and the rubbing of the spinous processes leads to inflammations and subsequently to bone distension and growths that can cause the horse great pain. Kissing spines (or kissing spine) is the common term for when dorsal spinous processes are so close together that they touch and may even overlap. In a healthy horse, the distances between the spinous processes are evenly spaced, allowing the horse to bend and arch its back easily through the use of its back muscles. Each vertebra has a bony upward protrusion known as the spinous process. The individual vertebrae are connected by ligaments and surrounded by muscle. Forehand and hindquarters are the piers, whilst the 18 thoracic, 7 cervical and 6 lumbar vertebrae form the elastic bridge we know as the spine. The back of a horse can be compared to a bridge construction. Below, we discuss how back problems arise and how they can be treated, with exercise and supportive measures playing an important role.įirst, let’s take a look at a horse’s back. A diagnosis doesn’t necessarily mean the end of your horse’s career, however. Kissing spines is the name of an equine disorder in which the spaces between dorsal spinous processes are dramatically reduced to the point where these touch.

Kissing spine in horses