Do horses have back pain?

There is still some controversy amongst veterinary surgeons as whether back pain actually exists as a clinical entity in the horse. However, the trend is moving towards acceptance.

Assuming horses do have back pain, we must aim to prevent the injury as well as treating the symptoms.

Therefore we must have a diagnosis!

Now, how do you know if your horse has a sore back? Ask yourself the following questions:

Does your horse resents being saddled?
Does your horse buck or shake his head?
Is he stiff on one rein, does he resent collection?
Does he refuse at spread fences or combinations?
Does he become cross-gaited or disunited in the canter?
Does he not travel straight, dip his back when you first get on?
Does he sit on his feed bin?
Does he flinch when you brush him?
Or is he just not performing well?

If the answer is yes to any of these then your horse may well have a sore back, but then again he may also have a perfectly normal back! The complexity of the structure and function of the back and the wide range of non-specific signs of back pain make a definite diagnosis difficult.

To make things even more complicated you can have two different horses with exactly the same problem and one will tell you that he is dying and the other one will go out and win.

If you are unsure if your horse has a back problem think about the onset of signs. Has he always been like it, or was it only after he flipped over backwards in the horsebox? Is it just since you got a new saddle, or since you started playing around with passage?

Sore backs that occur suddenly and are very painful are much easier to identify than those mild niggling on-and-off temperamental changes that creep up on you over six months. Get your vet, physiotherapist and trainer to look at your horse while he’s doing whatever it is that makes you think that he has got a sore back. Make sure that it’s not a lameness that is the underlying cause of the sore back.

Once you’ve decided that your pony has a sore back, is that a specific enough diagnosis? Unfortunately there is still a huge amount to learn about medical conditions that affect the equine back.

With any back problem, no matter what the underlying cause, there will be quite a lot of guarding or spasming of the muscles around the affected area. This restricts the mobility of the spine and is quite uncomfortable. Manipulations, massage and other forms of physiotherapy will reduce this spasming and allow the muscles to relax and return to normal function. However, if the underlying cause is not resolved then the problem will more than likely return (see text `bone spavin and back pain`).

Back pain can be:

Primary - those conditions that specifically affect the tissues of the back
Secondary - as a consequence from a disease/lameness
Tertiary - as a consequence of managerial problems (tack, poor rider techniques..)

Primary back problems

Muscle problems: can be caused by saddle or rider, metabolic disease, myositis
Ligament problems: desmitis, ligament strains and sprains
Osseous problems: fractures, kissing spine, degenerative joint disease, infections

Acute Symptoms: pain on palpation, swelling, after exercise

Chronic Symptoms: poor performance, change in temperament, reduced mobility

Secondary back problems

LAMENESS
Neurological
Dental

Tertiary back problems

Equitation or rider problems
Saddles
Shoeing problems
Lack of ability or fitness

Diagnosis is the key for successful treatment.

It has to be clear that we are considering problems that can be resolved. Symptoms are stiffness in movement, signs of pain when ridden, a lack of symmetry as the horse goes forward. These signs often go with a developing reluctance to be ridden. Horses may bolt, buck, rear or object in some other way.

Where there is any indication of spinal damage, the answer will not be found here. Horses confirmed as 'wobblers' or 'shiverers' generally have irreversible spinal lesions. Any other indication of coordination failure will need clinical evaluation by your vet.

Signs

A horse with back problems is restricted by pain. This may only, or mostly, be apparent when ridden, though movement and tracking are generally evaluated on the lunge. The pain may come from the bony spine or from the muscular system and affects performance.

Asymmetry at rest and in motion is often an expression of upper body problems. It is generally not natural anatomically, but a result of change that affects stride length and movement, leading to discomfort in performance.

Recognising change

The horse should be examined closely at rest from all angles, and also in movement. Abnormality will be most easily seen at the walk and the way this follows through at the trot will tell its immediate significance. If the horse moves better at the trot, there is always a chance it may manage to cope with the problem - though it may not. If it moves more abnormally, it's unlikely that it will.

Such problems may arise at any time in a horse's life. While they are less common in younger animals, a fall when being broken might bring injuries the influences of which only become noticed in time. Horses that slip up, fall, have to correct violently, commonly suffer muscular injury in the process. This may lead to direct, or indirect, influence on the spine. The degree of impact will decide future significance and the influence may be immediate or gradual.

Treatment

Horses suffering from spinal pain need treatment by a qualified physiotherapist.

The treatment involves soft tissue techniques and the use of electrotherapy to stretch out adhesions in muscles, reduce spasm and mobilise deeper structures. Once the musculature is released, the joints are manipulated to regain full range of movement.

General aims of physiotherapy include: reduction of pain, restoring normal movement pattern, increasing and maintaining strength and flexibility. Treatment in the early stages after injury or loss of performance is essential for quick and full recovery.

It is important to use individuals with appropriate training and qualifications; unqualified practice is potentially harmful to horses.