It's never *just* kissing spines...

Here’s something else from my new collection I think y’all might want to see:

This is a section of thoracic vertebrae (T16/17, so on the part of the horse’s back you sit on to ride)

This segment has “kissing spines” which you can see by the top bits of bone touching.

But the point I want to make here, is that the “kissing spines” - the part you can see on an X-ray- are touching without being fused.

So we might consider that a moderate case of kissing spine?

But then look at the facet joints - hard or impossible to see on most spinal X-rays. That is some gnarly remodeling.

And then look at the view from the bottom and see the “lipping” remodeling of the bone around where the intervertebral disk would sit.

Those of you who know what you’re looking for may also appreciate the remodeling of the rib articular surfaces!

My point is, with back pain a radiograph to look for kissing spines is not able to fully rule out impingement in other spinal joints.

“Mild” KS can actually be a symptom of a much bigger problem somewhere else in the vertebrae that we just can’t see.

Want to learn more about how to manage a horse with a spine like this? I have a class for that! Find it here.