Osteopathy for Equine Kissing Spines

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A horse that is reluctant to work, shows sensitivity over its back, or begins refusing fences is not necessarily misbehaving. It may be living with kissing spines — the common name for dorsal spinous process impingement, a condition in which adjacent vertebral processes make contact, causing chronic pain, compensatory muscle tension, and restricted movement throughout the thoracolumbar spine. Gina Hluska's thesis approaches this well-known but poorly understood condition with the kind of measured scepticism it deserves. One of its most useful contributions is the early distinction between radiographic findings and clinical disease: many horses show imaging evidence of overriding spinous processes and remain entirely asymptomatic. This means diagnosis must integrate clinical observation, lameness evaluation, and behavioural assessment — not radiography alone. The core of the paper examines how osteopathic intervention can address both the structural impingement and the wider musculoskeletal compensations that accumulate around it. Spinal mobilisation, articular balancing, and techniques targeting sacroiliac and lumbosacral restrictions are explored in detail. Alongside these, the thesis considers complementary modalities — including PEMF therapy, kinesiology taping, and extracorporeal shockwave — as part of a coordinated treatment approach. Hluska draws a compelling parallel with human spinal manual therapy research, where thoracic manipulation has been shown to reduce pain through descending inhibitory mechanisms. The suggestion that similar neurophysiological effects occur in equine patients is plausible and well-supported by the existing veterinary literature. The economic argument for early osteopathic intervention is also made clearly: reducing the need for surgical procedures, preventing secondary lameness from compensatory loading, and extending competitive careers all represent tangible benefits. This is a thesis that rewards careful reading — it raises as many useful questions as it answers.