I went to Weatherford Tx. and seen Dr. Hand.  on the xray which he has an amazing machine! and facility! Showed 6 spots touching, 3 rubbing and the 7th one which was the very end (these in the loin area) was sticking straight up.  At first he said we wont do anything with the 7th one bc not touching and he should be fine but when they called after surgery he ended up having to do something with the 7th one.  I pick him up next friday.

Many Prayers that this was a successful sugery and that the recovery goes well!

My daughter has a mare that we think she has ks.

Called Iowa state College. 

We are going to take her there. 

What was your rough cost. 

Prayers for quick and complete recovery

This is the 3rd day after surgery! I got pics of him and I am shocked at how good he looks and bright eyed!  I wish I could post a pic of his back for you all He has stitches and staples and looks like a towel stiched to his back but not a towel  Ive never seen anything like it. course not around horse surgeries alot lol  He comes home this Friday! I will know more later today.

and as far as price I dont know yet. But I know places are different and the area.  But I wasnt going to just anyone on this surgery!  I know that I picked the right place!

I think the hardest part will be not stressing over him being in a stall and messing everything up!  The vet hasnt told me what all we are going to do but I have googled and ask but like 30 days in the stall 

Horse be good for bout a week and then he runs circles in his stall and fast too! So I will be asking for something to keep him chilled!!!!

on my break ill try to post a pic from my phone on here.

Pics yet?!!!

This is the day before surgery

bout 2 weeks before the day I took him to Weatherford I injected his back and I didnt ride or do anything with him.  I have been fighting his topline and and I was losing hips, trying to find the right feed for him and ....

Pain can make a really huge difference in horses body and topline! I didnt realize how much he changed in such a short time! I'll have to dig for a pic of what he looked like before the back injections. I did treat for ulcers with Draw and Im sure that plays a part in the change.  But Ive treated him before for ulcers and didnt see this change.  When I noticed the change at the clinic I knew I was making the right decision fixing his back!

I am so guilty of this too, but I think we get so focused on feed, feet, legs, and ulcers that the neck and back gets left out!  We should really look at the whole body bc it does take the whole body to perform.

In the 2 years I had this horse I never thought to check his back!

There is just sooo many variables!

When I looked up Kissing Spine I could find what it means and bout surgeries but couldnt find much on what happens after surgery.  I dont mind updating as I go along if anyone wants me to. 
Dr. Hand told me he would tell me every step to take to the day we make our first run and how to take care of him!  I told him I dont want to wing it!  I have learned alot of exercises but I want to do the right exercises for our problem.

I will have saddle made for him  my saddles doesnt fit him anyways.  I had to give Robbie Phillips back the saddle I had made for him.  Robbie said that we will make another one for him when closer to time! That was so awesome of him!  He said we can make a saddle that will be open in the spine area not laced all the way back and we can make a round skirt maybe.  But Im going to talk to the vet bc if I fix the problem will I need to worry bout saddle if it fits him? I dont know. Actually it looks like he was cut all the way almost to his withers so may not matter anyways bout the shortness of the skirt.  I will know more when I pick him up this friday, but I am surprised he cut that far up bc it was the last 6-7 vertabraes.

Its always a new journey with each new horse I get! I never get something with the same problem that I know how to fix! lol 

Also, after his 2nd surgery which was the bone chip removal bout 2 years ago, the last vertabrae that we know now was sticking more straight up which Dr. Hand said was unusual, and my other vet said weird lol. Anyways he had a quater size hair that would stay raised up on that spot of the vertabrae, if I got him adjusted by the osteopath the hair would lay down for awhile. so I kinda judged when to adjust him which doesnt really make sense bc of the vertabrae it should have stayed up!  It never seem to bother him and Dr. Hand didnt think he have to do anything but when he got in there he ended up fixing. 

His first 2 surgeries I was there he laid down like he would in the pasture.  and got up just as easy.  They said same thing happened on this surgery too.  Anyways no one knows why that vertabrae done what it did and why the hair did what it did right after his 2nd surgery.  Be interesting to see what the hair does!

my pics are bigger on here and I can see them better!  You can see he has a scar at the end of the blue thing that is the area of the raised hair! so something happened that I dont know about and probably in my pasture or stall while he was stalled up recovering from the bone chip removal!

Aww, he looks very bright :) Hoping for a quick and easy recovery. I've never seen pics of a post surgery KS so that's pretty neat. Thanks for sharing! Keep us updated on his progress.

I, for one, would love it you documented on BHW your horse's road to complete recovery. I have a feeling that I am going to be facing this at some point in the future. Prayers everything goes as planned and your horse has a successful recovery. 

I swear he has a relieved look on his face.  Prayers continuing

that is a towel btw

I steal them from my vet everytime I'm there and keep them in my boat. 

yup! but Ive never seen one sewed up like this and used like this.  I think it comes off Friday.

Please keep us updated.  We all need to be better educated, I think Kissing Spine is a lot more prevalent than we think.

It is, both vets I go to for special issues like that say around 40% of horses have it to some degree. How they are affected by it ranges. Like my mare was fine for a long time with a 90lb rider, no issues. But I'm not 90lbs and now she shows issues. And there's multiple surgery types as well.....OP, which procedure did yours have done? Please keep us updated either way.  

The towel being stitched in his back, is it to keep the incision clean?

He shaved bones and did something with the ligament. He said bone doesn't take long to heal it's the ligament that takes a long time. 
I did talk to vet on phone today he said that there was no swelling at all! He really went on bout how there's no swelling!!! And he has a stint that supposed to stay in for 10 days. I pick him up tomorrow! He said he didn't cut all the way up towards the withers. It just looks like it bc of the stint 
I'll be the one taking everything off like the staples and stitches and the stint I think 

also he said since problem is fixed I can ride in a regular saddle as long as it's fits.