It is amazing that lack of knowledge about back problems in horses has persisted for so long. In this modern age of medicine you would have thought that veterinary surgeons would have developed techniques and skills for diagnosing and treating every conceivable type of back pain in horses. The truth is, however, that few veterinarians recognize the extent of back pain among performance horses, and most veterinarians lack the training and experience to successfully treat chronic back pain in horses.

This should surprise no one, since the same is true in human medicine. If it were not for chiropractors, most all of us would have chronic back pain. Traditional Western human medicine has very little to offer in diagnosing and treating most types of back pain, and traditional veterinary medicine follows traditional Western human medicine.

Chiropractic

In general, veterinarians have been skeptical of the value of chiropractic in treating horses. The argument has been that the horse's spine is too large and covered with too many ligaments and muscles to manipulate. During the past decade, however, some veterinarians who have become educated in chiropractic have been proving that this science has something to offer in treatment of back pain in horses. But, currently, there are so few true experts in equine chiropractic that it makes it very difficult for the horse owner to find useful help in this area.

Dr. Sharon L. Willoughby, with degrees in chiropractic and veterinary medicine, described the use of chiropractic in horses, at a recent meeting of the American Association of Equine Practitioners. She said that chiropractors deal almost exclusively with the pathologies and dysfunction created by vertebral subluxations, but that the traditional veterinary definition of a subluxation as an incomplete or partial dislocation is not an accurate definition of the vertebral subluxation as described in chiropractic. Nevertheless, she said that "subluxations" may alter neurological function of the spinal cord, the spinal nerve roots, and portions of the autonomic nervous system. Altered neurological transmission is caused by pressure or traction on a nerve, changes in cerebrospinal fluid flow, vascular flow to neural tissues such as the endoneurium, or alterations in axoplasmic flow.

Acupuncture

Another technique in wider use for the treatment of back problems in horses is acupressure, or acupuncture. Massage is a form of acupressure, which requires detailed knowledge about acupuncture points in the back of the horse. A knowledgeable veterinarian can both diagnose and treat back pain with the use of acupuncture.

Equine acupuncture, in America, includes a wide variety of methods of stimulating acupoints. In addition to, or instead of, traditional Chinese acupuncture needles, veterinarians are using small injections of various substances, including saline.

In a paper presented a few years ago at a convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, Dr. B. B. Martin, Jr. said, "Traditional needling, laser stimulation of acupuncture points, and injection of saline solution near acupuncture points were equally effective in treating horses with chronic back pain [in a study he described]. . . Each acupuncture technique has some advantages and some disadvantages. . . Most horses improve after 5 to 8 treatments."

Computerized saddle fitting

The source of back pain in horses is usually an ill-fitting saddle and/or a rider who does not ride properly. Saddles often do not distribute the weight of the rider appropriately. Too much pressure in one spot for too long a time creates saddle sores and tends to make various back muscles sore from trying to reduce unacceptable saddle pressure.

The development of a new computerized analysis process called the Saddle Tech System expects to revolutionize the way saddles are fitted and even designed. The guts of the system, the Horse Sensor Pad, is placed under a saddle and rider and connected to a computer. The pad is a pressure transducer pad arrayed with 256 sensors on a 24 inch by 27 inch surface. The pressure over the entire pad is visualized in a graphic on the computer screen and/or on a hard copy printout. It looks much like the image from thermography, with the various colors representing degrees of pressure.

"Saddle Tech is an objective and accurate way to analyze saddle fit," Robert Ferrand, president of Equi Tech explained. Ferrand, developer of the system, has been studying ways to enhance the usefulness of the device in veterinary practice. Currently the system sells for over $15,000, but Ferrand is hopeful that before long he can cut the price in half. His desire is to sell only to veterinarians, and to have a veterinarian supervising the use of the system at all times.

Ferrand has studied the progression of tissue damage due excessive chronic pressure, and he has sponsored several good field studies to show the value of his system. He describes four degrees of tissue damage from inappropriate pressure:

Discomfort- indicated by attitude change in the horse or perhaps slight swelling.

Bruising- inflammation indicating capillary damage.

Hair loss- due to damaged follicles. White hair replaces lost hair if it come back.

Ulcerous condition- an open, oozing wound with swelling.

Initially Ferrand thought the best use of the system would be for saddle makers and maybe saddle retailers to determine how a particular saddle fits on a particular horse. Since then, however, he has realized that evaluation with the system requires experience and dedication that most saddle dealers do not have and are not willing the acquire. This is why he believes saddle fitting should fall under the supervision of a veterinarian.

Saddle fitting could be done by a veterinarian as a part of a physical exam of a performance horse. After all, performance is dramatically affected by the saddle fit. Saddle fitting would be an important aspect of a lameness exam and/or diagnosis of suspected back pain in a horse.

In an article on the practical use of this system (in The Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, Nov. 1994), Dr. Joyce Harman wrote: "The data [from SaddleTech] need to be handled in a similar manner to ultrasound data as it is always open to interpretation, and consequently mishandling of data can lead to malpractice claims or injuries to riders who falsely believe their saddles are fitting properly." She affirmed that this technology can have a profound effect on the horse industry in the next few years as scientific data can be gathered concerning one of the important aspects of the poor-performance syndrome.

equinevetnet.com - HORSE HEALTH BULLETINS

By William E. Jones, DVM