Page 87 - April 2016

Causes Of Back Problems In Horses
One of the simplest causes of back pain in a horse is a poor fitting saddle. “In my experi- ence, this cause is hugely over-diagnosed,” says Allen. A lot of problems, however, are blamed on poor-fitting saddles that have nothing to do with saddles. Back soreness from a poor-fitting saddle can occur, and usually you can see that the saddle is rubbing and the horse is sore on either side of the withers. This is an area of the back where
we don’t see primary bony problems unless the horse has flipped over backward and fractured the withers. The withers are an area where you can truly see saddle fit issues,” says Allen. Farther down the back, many prob- lems are attributed to saddle fit but are not.
“The second area where we see problems is muscular soreness. The horse may have
overworked certain muscles and developed muscular spasms. These horses often pres- ent with pain and spasm, holding their back rigid. A spasmed muscle can’t grow. It atrophies. We can examine the horse and tell it has a back problem just from the atrophy,” he says.
“The muscle soreness is unrelated to any bony problems. If you rule out bony problems and the horse has mild back pain that comes and goes, it could be muscle soreness. This can be treated with alternative therapies (such as acupuncture, chiropractic, shock wave therapy, etc.) as effectively as any medical treatments,” Allen says.
The third main cause is a bony problem. Primary bony back problems may be due to various factors. “There is considerable debate
as to whether they are developmental prob- lems or wear-and-tear problems. Many may be a mixture of the two. They begin because of malformation or metabolic bone disease during the formative years. Then those kiss- ing spines or the OCD lesions in the dorsal articular processes (deeper in the back) just sit there and don’t manifest until several years later when you ask the horse to do work that bends the back up and down,” he explains.
There are three major primary bony problems in the back. “The most common
is kissing spines, also called impingement of the dorsal spinous processes. These are the long, skinny bones that protrude up from the top of the vertebrae. They are highest at the withers and continue down the back, getting shorter - but still several inches tall. If these protrusions touch each other when the horse bends his back, they can cause pain.”
On the sides of the vertebrae, close to where the ribs attach, where the lumbar pro- cesses articulate, there are joints at the dorsal articular process. One or more of these joints can be arthritic and not cause a problem until later in life. “This osteoarthritis of the dorsal articular process is the number two bony back problem in horses,” he says.
“Number three is spondylitis. This occurs near the far end of the vertebral column and may have the closest anal- ogy to human back pain (where the lower back meets the sacrum). Fusion may occur between those vertebrae. There may be big bony spurs occurring across them at the bottom. This happens in humans, dachs- hunds, horses, etc. In horses it is the least common of the primary bony issues, but it can be dealt with and the horses can con- tinue to perform successfully,” says Allen.
Shock wave therapy is one of several alternative therapies that can be used to treat muscle soreness.
Where’s My Speedhorse?
Did you Move? The Post Office will NOT forward Speedhorse or inform us of your new address.
You MUST let us know!
Call (405) 288-2145 or email info@speedhorse.com
SPEEDHORSE, April 2016 85
EQUINE HEALTH