Equine Insights: The Veterinarian’s Role with Kissing Spines | Part 3 of the Kissing Spines Series
Posted by Dr. Hilary Clayton on 13th Jul 2023
Part three of the deep dive into the reality
of kissing spines.Horses afflicted by kissing
spines become more painful when ridden because the rider’s weight
causes their back to hollow and presses the spines
closer together. The horse tries to reduce back
movements by tensing the muscles; as a result, the back stiffens
and ceases to swing.It doesn’t take long for
a horse to realize that pain is associated
with having the tack on, and this may lead to an
aversion to being saddled with th
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Equine Insights: Better Understand Kissing Spines in Horses & Signs | Part 1 of the Kissing Spines Series
Posted by Dr. Hilary Clayton on 13th Jul 2023
Better understand
Kissing Spines in Horses.Last
time I described the structure and mechanics of the horse’s back. In this blog,
we’ll explore the most common vertebrae disease in the trunk region: kissing
spines. Let’s dive into how to better understand Kissing spines in horses and
the signs. Despite its friendly-sounding name, this can be a harrowing disease
for the horse.The Equine Vertebra AnatomyA
vertebra consists of a cylinder of bone called the body. The body contains an
arch that
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Equine Insights: The Trunk – How to Better Understand your Horses Back Biomechanics
Posted by Dr. Hilary Clayton on 13th Jul 2023
Each part of the locomotor
apparatus plays a distinct and different role in locomotion. The horse’s trunk
is the central part that unites and coordinates the haunches with the forehand.
In addition to transmitting propulsion forward from the hind limbs, the trunk
supports the body organs and carries the rider’s weight. In my previous post,
we looked at how the different body parts work together to produce the horse’s
extraordinary athletic prowess.Diving into the
biomechanics of a horse a
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