Wither / back soreness

Question
HI Lana, Would appreciate your advice. I run a rescue and am thinking about taking in a 5yr.old QH with a serious problem. The horse was purchased as a 3yr,old by his current owners. Who have continued to ride him even though he is in obvious pain in the wither area. As soon as a rider mounts this saddled horse he rears and sits down. If he is bareback he is fine. A chiropracter stated that the horse has a pinched nerve, their vet agrees. Their vet wants to send the horse for a bone scan before doing radiographs? Doesnt make sense to me !!!! But i hear this vet is into making $$$$$. They now want to donate the horse to our program as he is "dangerous". They have tried diferent saddles and still get the same reaction. I believe this horse can be helped with accupunture etc.... I would have a full set of radiographs taken of course. The horse is highly reactive to his withers being touched. What do you know about wither soreness? What about fractures of the withers? Are these things with lots of rehab able to be corrected. I have talked to many people about this horse and truly belive this is not a training issue. Any advice would be highly appreciated.   Lisa

Answer
Hi Lisa;

First, I always say go with your gut instincts.  

Fractured withers occur fairly frequently, and that will show up on x-rays.  Most of the time they'll heal and be mostly an ansethic issue, not an atheletic issue.  You can get some muscle atrophy, but that can be helped with massage and acupuncture.

I have a mare that had fractured withers...happened when she was a baby, before I purchased her.  They've begun to calcify now (that's how I discovered it).  They've never been a problem.

You may also want to try another chiropractor and consider sedation for the adjustment.  It's very difficult to adjust C6 and C7 (very deep into the neck and extend between the scapulas) and also T1-T5/6 which form the 'withers'.  T8/9 are right where the saddle would sit.  When under sedation, it's much easier to adjust the withers and for the chiro to really get in deep between the scapulas.

I'd also hazard a guess that none of the saddles tried fit this horse and it's very common for saddles to be placed too far forward.  Not that this horse will be fixed by this at this time, but once the withers have been addressed this will be very important as the horse may have 'memory' issues of the pain, even after it's long gone.

I'm not sure what the reasoning would be behind having a bone scan done prior to x-rays.  That's kind of like putting the cart before the horse, unless this vet specializes in this and has seen many horse behave in this man and has stastical data to support the need for the bone scan.

This horse is still very young and if the x-rays don't show anything irreparable, I'd say he'd be worth a shot.  You might also consider ultrasound.  X-rays will show the bones, but it won't show damage to tendons or ligaments in the area.  If there's some torn soft tissue, that might be a deciding factor and also change how you approach rehab.

Be sure to look at all areas of this horse, especially if x-rays show an old injury.  This horse will have had to have compensated in other areas of his body and if he's rearing and sitting down, he may have issues elsewhere that don't show up until after the withers feel better.  You might need to be in this for quite some time until you've got him right poll to dock.

Again, I can't emphasize enough to listen to your gut.  And I wish you much luck and success with your rescue and with this horse if you decide to take him on.

Sincerely,

Lana Reinhardt
www.eq-paradise.com