equine kidneys

Question
I have purchased a great young show horse. He has a sore back and lots of $ later, he is better but wrings his tail with longer saddle. Can his kidneys be sore?

Answer
Linda:

In a word, no. I have never seen a horse with "kidney pain" unless they had stones or pyelonephritis. Those conditions are extremely uncommon despite that lots of people equate their perception of "kidney pain" with such signs. In reality, this is most often a lameness, often hind end lameness, pelvic lameness and/or an associated back problem. My strong recommendation is to get a good lameness vet to go over your horse. I just dont believe that horses get sore kidneys unless there is a serious medical problem that is always accompanied by other very serious clinical signs. This is not a kidney thing in your horse. If you cannot be convinced or consoled by my words, have your vet do blood work to evaluate kidney function. This is the serum creatinine. When this comes back normal, then Id strongly recommend emphatic pursuit of musculoskeletal pain with a lameness or due to primary back pain. good luck to you. Feel free to contact me again if you have any other questions.