28/05/2025
In April 2019, Paulick Report ran a story by the late Denise Steffanus titled “Kissing Spines: A Manageable Disease, With the Right Treatment Program.”
Perhaps it’s time to renew that discussion.
A little background form the story.
Yankee Tar (a.k.a. Leo)’s owner/breeder, a wonderful woman, was now very concerned about his future. No one had ever mentioned to her that his back was sore – just told her that he was “uncontrollable” at times after his retirement and during his rehoming period. Dr. Maloney and I discussed at length my options and the feasibility and logic, frankly, of adding this horse to my farm as I was longing for something to ride consistently, and my other horses are lawn ornaments for different reasons.
We decided on chiropractic work immediately, special padding, sacrificing my favorite Hermes saddle for one more suited for him (but which I can’t stand). His breeder kindly agreed to sell him to me with an agreement that if he deteriorated, we would make alternative arrangements for him – whether it was just staying with me as another decoration, finding a place where he could be a walking trail horse, etc., but whatever the result was, she wanted to be assured that even a humane closure decision would be a choice before him being mishandled as a result of pain.
As I sit and draft this, I have just come up from the barn, four years to the day, countless wonderful rides, and many pleasure show championships later.
This is a great read and one you should definitely check out! https://ow.ly/92me50W0l4O If you have questions for Dr. Liz, regarding kissing spines please reach out to us either on our website here https://ow.ly/Hl6X50W0l0o or call 508-520-4722. Paulick Report
