Q&A Veterinary matters
Our experts
Martina Neidhart DrMedVet MRCVS is the Equine Clinical Director at Ardene House, Aberdeen.
Ben Portus BSc(Hons) BVSc CertAVP(ED) MRCVS is a director at Paton & Lee Equine Veterinary Surgery.
Too close for comfort
What signs might a horse show if he’s got kissing spines? Could he have them without showing anything obvious?
Kendra Price
Photos: Bob Atkins, Jon Stroud
A Martina Neidhart answers: Overriding/impinging dorsal spinous processes, or kissing spines, are a common diagnosis in sport and leisure horses. Generally speaking, kissing spines are suspected when horses show signs of back pain. For example, he might react negatively when pressure is applied along his spine or the adjacent muscles. He’ll often also...
• show signs of stiffness
• have tightness through his back muscles as a whole