Understanding Kissing Spine—and How Movement Training Helps Horses Recover

Kissing spine is a condition in which the bony projections along a horse’s spine begin to touch or overlap, often causing discomfort, tension, and performance challenges. While the diagnosis can feel overwhelming, it doesn’t have to be career‑ending. Many horses return to comfortable, confident work with the right rehabilitation approach.

What Causes Kissing Spine?

The exact cause varies, but several factors contribute: genetics, conformation, saddle fit, training methods, and even emotional stress. Horses may show symptoms such as a hollow back, resistance under saddle, difficulty bending, irritability, or an underdeveloped topline. Some horses with severe radiographic changes show no pain, while others with mild findings struggle significantly—highlighting the importance of looking beyond the x‑ray when assessing the horse's outlook and determining next steps.

Traditional Treatment Options

Veterinarians may recommend medical therapies such as NSAIDs, corticosteroid injections, mesotherapy, or shockwave. In more severe cases, surgical options like ISLD or SDO can help reduce pain and improve mobility. Bodywork modalities—massage, myofascial release, chiropractic, and physiotherapy—also play a valuable role in reducing tension and restoring comfort.

Rehabbing the Kissing Spine Horse with Movement training

Even once the pain has subsided, horses often default to old, dysfunctional movement patterns as a result of their posture, conformation, training program, or other physical and mental factors. If the horse doesn't carry himself correctly during ridden work, or even on his own in turnout, he can end right back up at square one.

Kissing spine horses frequently struggle with chronic tension in the extensor chain, fascial restrictions along the topline, and difficulty telescoping the neck forward—key components of healthy posture.

This is where movement training comes in.

Movement retraining teaches the horse to:

• Release tension in overactive muscle chains

• Activate weak or “shutdown” muscles

• Lift through the chest and base of the neck

• Develop balance and stability before impulsion

• Build a functional, elastic topline

  
  

When done correctly, movement training restores mobility, improves posture, and helps the horse move in a biomechanically sound way—often reducing or eliminating kissing spine symptoms.

My online course "The Equine Posture and Movement Training Masterclass" teaches my step-by-step process to rehabilitating a horse by using movement training.

The Bottom Line

Kissing spine isn’t just a structural issue, it’s usually also a movement and posture issue. With proper veterinary care combined with patient, thoughtful rehabilitation, you can support the comfort, strength, and long‑term soundness of your horse.

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