|
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1163
  
Location: Foot of the Smoky Mtns, East Tennessee | We just found out a few months ago that we have a horse with a slight case of Kissing Spine. Had him injected, switched pads and saddles and switched him to left (he got to where his issue was 1st barrel going right). He works great at home and for exhibition (even letting him roll thru like it is a regular run). During a run he stiffed the 3rd and went to wall (like he used to do 1st barrel both going to right). My question is....did your horses refuse every run or was it sporatic? We only swapped him to the left to try to figure out if he is hurting that bad or this is another problem we might be dealing with. Did yours refuse every run? |
|
| |
|
 Texas Taco
Posts: 7499
 
Location: Bandera, TX | I have one with KS. She has perfect days and really bad days. Some days the wrong move would make her very dangerous. Very unpredictable. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 1440
Location: Texas | Mine had some days that were good and some that were not so good. I am going to offer some advice from someone who went though all of that. Go ahead and bite the bullet and so the surgery now and stop running to the left ASAP. Mine had surgery and still could not be run to the right a year after surgery as he still associates it wih pain. Post surgery I tried to go right and he still went up fence. I switched left and he picked it up fast and have never looked back. He is winning and clocking and riding much better now that he is not in pain. If you continue to go left you may cause perminant damage. Just my 2 cents from someone who has been there and done that |
|
| |
|
 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| barrelbasher - 2015-02-08 1:21 PM
Mine had some days that were good and some that were not so good. I am going to offer some advice from someone who went though all of that. Go ahead and bite the bullet and so the surgery now and stop running to the left ASAP. Mine had surgery and still could not be run to the right a year after surgery as he still associates it wih pain. Post surgery I tried to go right and he still went up fence. I switched left and he picked it up fast and have never looked back. He is winning and clocking and riding much better now that he is not in pain. If you continue to go left you may cause perminant damage. Just my 2 cents from someone who has been there and done that
This. The surgery was completely worth it. I'm bringing mine back now and he has zero soreness, and so much mobility back. It's amazing how bendy and strong he is! Mine never quit working, but he just could not physically turn first anymore. Mobility seems to be lost on one side more than the other, so I agree about stopping running left right now and getting your problem fixed before you do any more barrel work.
|
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 1163
Location: Foot of the Smoky Mtns, East Tennessee | Thank you all so much. Makes a lot of sense. :( |
|
| |
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1062
Location: Probably On the Road to the Next Barrel Race! | barrelbasher - 2015-02-08 1:21 PM Mine had some days that were good and some that were not so good. I am going to offer some advice from someone who went though all of that. Go ahead and bite the bullet and so the surgery now and stop running to the left ASAP. Mine had surgery and still could not be run to the right a year after surgery as he still associates it wih pain. Post surgery I tried to go right and he still went up fence. I switched left and he picked it up fast and have never looked back. He is winning and clocking and riding much better now that he is not in pain. If you continue to go left you may cause perminant damage. Just my 2 cents from someone who has been there and done that
yes maam...what this lady says. Just do it. |
|
| |
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 639
Location: God's country...aka TEXAS | The reason they have good days and bad days is because the pain and inflammation from the kissing spines causes extreme muscle spasms. So that's why they can be fine and all of a sudden have an "attack." My horse went through this. The only thing to fix it is the surgery. |
|
| |
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 700
Location: Driving, Grooming, or Saddling for a Kid! | We have the mesotherapy done on one and he is back to running like hes old self. Really like this option. |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 926
| I went to my first race for slow exhibition after my horse was injected and treated with mesotherapy last month. My goal was to see his response, because mine never refused to work, was just very fretful before and after the run.
He had no soreness, even under pretty deep palpation, and has been soft, relaxed and supple at home. However, when he got around the arena and he got pretty fractious. We did lope one pattern and he came back around good, and after we got out of the arena was relaxed and again no soreness noted.
Question is, even with the surgery, did it take a few times for your horses to realize that running barrels was not going to hurt? I've seen 2 doc's on this, both recommend injections and mesotherapy before surgery. I know one good horse that was maintained on injections for almost 10 years. I hate to jump into surgery if we don't have to.
All opinions, experiences, and suggestions are welcome. |
|
| |
|
Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| Did he get fractious as in; "I'm not going in that arena and running barrels. No way, I'm so worried, this is not a good idea, oh gosh I'm starting to freak out."
Or
"Oh my gosh I'm so excited and nerved up to go run barrels!!"
Mine that had ks that was treated with surgery gets all nerved up then wants to go work his guts out. I expect horses to get hot before they have to run. I've only had a few that would walk down the alley flat footed.
But for a true professional's opinion, I would send Dr Honnas your xrays and visit with him. Also consider any side lameness you're currently dealing with. SI, hock, and stifle problems can be pretty chronic because of compensating for a bad back. It all adds up pretty quickly. If his back isn't sore under palpation, maybe something else is bothering him. With my boy, there was NO doubt that his back was hurting terribly, even after injections.
|
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 926
| He is a walk up the alley quietly take off kind of guy. At the race he was pawing, and basically saying.....OMG, I'm going in to try to work but it's going to hurt like a &*#&%)(@!^!!! Poor thing has never refused, just dreaded the outcome.
Looking back, he started having issues just about 3 months after I started entering him at age 4. Then I got hurt, then he got hurt, and we were off about 7 months...and of course he got better. Then we made some runs early in the spring last year, still not quite right, thought it was hocks, treated hocks, and voila...ended up finding the back issue in June. I'm thinking because the problem spanned over 18 months, and he was only 4 when it started, it's just going to take him a few times to discover it isn't going to hurt.
As far as Honnahs viewing the xrays, I've had 2 vets look at this, one that Honnah's refers his imaging issues to, and they both have a healthy professional respect for one another, and the other one that saw him, and the xrays, trained under Honnas. I'm OK with what they've done. My deal is they are looking clinically on what's the traditional protocol, etc. Where I'm looking at it as I know the horse, I see what's happening every day, and maybe I need to decide do I do 2 sessions of injections/meso or just 1 and if it's not a raging success, move straight to surgery.
|
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 1440
Location: Texas | I would do another round of injections. I understand that you like and respect the vets you are using but why not go straight to the source and have Honnas evaluate him? I am all about going to the expert in the specialty situTion and when it comes to KS he has by far treated more KS horse than anyone in the region. |
|
| |
|
Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| barrelbasher - 2015-02-10 11:40 PM
I would do another round of injections. I understand that you like and respect the vets you are using but why not go straight to the source and have Honnas evaluate him? I am all about going to the expert in the specialty situTion and when it comes to KS he has by far treated more KS horse than anyone in the region.
Exactly. He's the authority. Why not use him? Plus, he'll give you a treatment quote over the phone and adhere to it. I've found that specialists are worth every minute and dollar you spend on them. Honnas is, and for me was, no exception. I have my horse back bigger and better than before. |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 462
Location: Louisiana | classicpotatochip - 2015-02-11 6:36 AM
barrelbasher - 2015-02-10 11:40 PM
I would do another round of injections. I understand that you like and respect the vets you are using but why not go straight to the source and have Honnas evaluate him? I am all about going to the expert in the specialty situTion and when it comes to KS he has by far treated more KS horse than anyone in the region.
Exactly. He's the authority. Why not use him? Plus, he'll give you a treatment quote over the phone and adhere to it. I've found that specialists are worth every minute and dollar you spend on them. Honnas is, and for me was, no exception. I have my horse back bigger and better than before.
Stop all the wasting time. I did injections, shockwave, ran back and forth to Weatherford and Bryan spent enough money on maintenance to almost get the surgery. Yes she would work for a little bit but never stopped the gate issues. I am only a couple weeks from sending her to Aquatred. Dr Honnas did her surgery and I wish a million times over I would have skipped all that nonsense in the beginning. So excited to get her back going and see how she reacts. So far she is amazing. Love Dr. Honnas, had it not been for him and his staff my mare would be a Heavenly Angel right now. She coliced bad right after surgery and by the grace of God they saved her. 24 hour care at his facility. Can't say enough good about them.  |
|
| |
|
 Veteran
Posts: 178
| What is the recovery time after the surgery? |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 926
| Just saw an article about a british study a few years ago. Surgery improvement rate 95%, medically treated improvement 42%....sort of confirms most of the posters that say to just do the surgery.
So recovery from surgery to first barrel race if the horse is fit at time of surgery, is what 8 - 10 weeks? |
|
| |
|
Boot Detective
Posts: 1900
| The bottom line is this: If you have bones rubbing bones and pinching nerves and muscle in the process, no injection is going to fix that. If they truly have kissing spine, surgery is the ONLY way to fix it. I had one and it was driving her crazy. Had no idea what was wrong with this mare until we xray her back. She had the surgery and it took her close to a year to mentally realize she doesn't hurt anymore. It will take about 90 days or more to get back to riding because the skin around the incision will slowly heal and hair back over. My mare was ready to ride sooner but the saddle pad would rub that spot raw so be prepared to pony them or aquatred them for a while to get them in shape. Keep in mind, if it fixes your horse it is well worth the wait. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 1440
Location: Texas | Recovery time varies based on the horse, but from date of surgery ti the time I was cleared to ride him was 4 months. We were back running at the 6 month mark. Like others have said you can waste a lot of time and $ trying to dodge the surgery bullet but in the end I paid more for injections and diagnostics thAn the actual cost of the surgery. |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 926
| I worked my horse at home, and already I can tell this injection thing isn't going to work. Earlier in the week, he stopped wanting to pick up his left lead...usually an indicator. So, I worked him on the pattern at a gallop at home Friday. He was doing everything he could to avoid getting around the left turn, and he's not a cheater. So I think surgery is the next step for us, not another round of injections.
Thanks everyone for your input. |
|
| |
Folks on-line