BY JENNIFER WOOD/JUMP MEDIA

Palm Beach Equine Clinic is one of the foremost equine surgical centers in the world with three board-certified surgeons on staff, including Dr. Weston Davis. As a busy surgeon, Dr. Davis has seen many horses with the dreaded “kissing spines” diagnosis come across his table.  Two of his most interesting success stories featured horses competing in the disciplines of barrel racing and dressage.

Flossy’s Story

The words “your horse needs surgery” are ones that no horse owner wants to hear, but to Sara and Kathi Milstead, it was music to their ears. In 2016, Sara – who was 17 years old at the time and based in Loxahatchee, Florida – had been working for more than a year to find a solution to her horse’s extreme behavioral issues and chronic back pain that could not be managed. Her horse Two Blondes On Fire, a then-eight-year-old Quarter Horse mare known as “Flossy” in the barn, came into Sara’s life as a competitive barrel racer. But shortly after purchasing Flossy, Sara knew that something wasn’t right.

“We tried to do everything we could,” said Sara. “She was extremely back sore, she wasn’t holding weight, and she would try to kick your head off. We tried Regu-Mate, hormone therapy, magna wave therapy, injections, and nothing helped her. We felt that surgery was the best option instead of trying to continue injections. We were told surgery could be more beneficial.”

At the time, Sara and her primary veterinarian, Dr. Jordan Lewis of Palm Beach Equine Clinic (PBEC), brought Flossy to PBEC for thorough diagnostics. They determined Flossy had kissing spines. 

Kissing Spines Explained

In technical terms, kissing spines are known as interfering or impinging dorsal spinous processes. The dorsal spinous process is the bony part sticking up from each vertebra. Ideally, the spinous processes are evenly spaced, allowing the horse to comfortably flex and extend its back through a range of anatomic positions. But with kissing spines, two or more of these bony extensions get too close, touching or even overlapping in places.

This condition can lead to restrictions in mobility as well as discomfort, which ultimately can lead to back soreness and performance problems. And over the long-term, kissing spines can contribute to additional issues, such as bone cysts or sclerosis, the thickening of bone, or new bony deposits at the margins of the dorsal spinous process. 

“The symptoms can be extremely broad,” acknowledged Dr. Davis. “[With] some of the horses, people will detect sensitivity when brushing over the topline. A lot of these horses get spasms in their regional musculature alongside the spinous processes.” A significant red flag is intermittent, severe bad behavior, such as kicking out, bucking, and an overall negative work attitude, something that exactly described Flossy.

Lakota’s Story

With dressage horse Lakota owned by Heidi Degele, there were minimal behavior issues, but Degele knew there had to be something more she could do to ease Lakota’s pain.

“As his age kicked in, it was like you were sitting on a two-by-four,” Heidi said of her horse’s condition. “I knew his back bothered him the most because with shockwave he felt like a different horse; he felt so supple and he had this swing in his trot, so I knew that’s what truly bothered him.” Though she could sense the stiffness and soreness as he worked, he was not one to rear, pin his ears, or refuse to work because of the pain he was feeling.

Heidi turned to Dr. Davis, who recommended a surgical route, an option he only suggests if medical treatment and physical therapy fail to improve the horse’s condition. “Not because the surgery is fraught with complications or [tends to be] unsuccessful,” he said, “but for a significant portion of these horses, if you’re really on top of the conservative measures, you may not have to put them through surgery.

“That being said, surgical interventions for kissing spines have very good success rates,” added Dr. Davis. In fact, studies have shown anywhere from 72 to 95 percent of horses return to full work after kissing spines surgery.

After Lakota made a successful recovery from his surgery in 2017, he has required no maintenance above what a typical high performance horse may need. Heidi attributes his success post-surgery to proper riding, including trot poles that allow him to correctly use his back, carrot stretches, and use of a massage blanket, which she has put into practice with all the horses at her farm. Dr. Davis notes that proper stretching and riding may also prolong positive effects of injections while helping horses stay more sound and supple for athletic activities. 

Lakota, who went from Training Level all the way up through Grand Prix, is now used by top working students to earn medals in the Prix St. Georges, allowing them to show off their skills and earn the qualifications they need to advance their careers.

Flossy’s Turnaround

Flossy was found to have dorsal spinous process impingement at four sites in the lower thoracic vertebrae. Dr. Davis performed the surgery under general anesthesia and guided by radiographs, did a partial resection of the affected dorsal spinous processes (DSPs) to widen the spaces between adjacent DSPs and eliminate impingement.  

Flossy’s recovery was going well until five days after she returned home when she started to colic. While she should have been on stall rest for four weeks, Sara had no choice but to take her out and walk her every two hours in order for the impaction to pass. Luckily it did, and it did not affect her surgical recovery. Sara took her time bringing Flossy back to full work. Within days of the surgery, Sara saw changes in Flossy, but within six months, she was a new horse.

“Surgery was a big success,” said Sara. “Flossy went from a horse that we used to dread riding to the favorite in the barn. It broke my heart; she was just miserable. I didn’t know kissing spines existed before her diagnosis. It’s sad to think she went through that pain. She’s very much a princess, and all of her behavioral problems were because of pain. Now my three-year-old niece rides her around.”

Sara and Flossy have returned to barrel racing competition as well, now that Sara graduated from nursing school, and have placed in the money regularly including two top ten finishes out of more than 150 competitors recently.

“I can’t even count the number of people that I have recommended Palm Beach Equine Clinic to,” said Sara. “Everyone was really great and there was excellent communication with me through every step of her surgery and recovery.”

By finding a diagnosis for Flossy and a way to ease her pain, Sara was able to discover her diamond in the rough and go back to the competition arena with her partner for years to come.