The Horse First: A Veterinary Sport Horse Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In part 2 of this series, Dr. DeClue continues her deep dive into kissing spine, including some eye-opening data regarding its prevalence across the world.

Some highlights in this episode include:

• The prevalence of back diseases in horses. 5:37
• Impingement of the dorsal spine. 10:55
• Kissing Spine Syndrome in thoroughbreds. 14:43 
• Kissing spine in horses in Malaysia. 21:45
• Radiographic findings supporting a developmental vs. acquired etiology. 33:05
• The 2023 paper from italy on kissing spine. 42:43
• Are kissing spine lesions painful? 47:16
• Stretching the dorsal spine. 52:43

Countless hours of research have culminated in today's episode on kissing spine in sport horses. Dr. Audrey DeClue pulls knowledge from decades, centuries, and millennia of data on kissing spine to learn more about this affliction that has impacted dogs, cats, humans, otters, horses, and even dinosaurs. 

After some time on the road with show horses, Dr. Kate Workman (Denali Equine in Southern Pines, NC) realized her true desire was to put the wellbeing of horses first. While dealing with a particular case, one of her colleagues recommended she listen to The Horse First Podcast. She then reached out to Dr. Audrey DeClue, who, after hearing about the case, decided they should meet. 

In this episode, you have the opportunity to hear more about that story as well as insights from both Dr. DeClue and Dr. Workman on topics such as shivers, lunging, limbs, shoulder girdles, and more.

In this episode, Dr. Audrey DeClue addresses the top causes of lameness in sport horses. These include injury during competition, injury during training or overtraining, injury during turnout, and lower limb abscess farrier work. But the number one cause of lameness? Equipment.

Listen as Dr. DeClue shows how to find the pain that drives lameness. 

When body lameness in your horse only occurs when they’re moving, it is positional lameness. In this episode, Dr. Audrey DeClue breaks positional lameness into two parts and urges more critical, rational thinking within the veterinary profession in order to put structures together and create a more accurate diagnosis. She’ll discuss how positional lameness is a subset of body lameness, but worth examining to create better outcomes for horses in general.

In this episode, Dr. Audrey DeClue focuses on the impact that the axial skeleton has on the performance of your horse. This often overlooked connection can provide significant insight on body lameness. 

Poor performing sport horses with a difficulty in diagnosis often receive SI injections. And while this can offer some relief, there is hope beyond injections for horses with sacroiliac injuries. In this episode, Dr. Audrey DeClue addresses these injuries with a different perspective than you might commonly find. 

It can be scary to hear the words 'suspensory ligament injury.' But in today's episode, Dr. Audrey DeClue brings some hope to the discussion.

She talks specifically about these injuries often being secondary to something else, which can provide for more options when moving forward.

In today's episode, Dr. Audrey DeClue is focused on the importance of communicating well with others based on the strong communication you've built with your horse. 

She also discusses the prevalence of suicide within the veterinary community and how we can be supportive of each other during times of extreme stress, trauma, and burnout. 

In this episode, Dr. Audrey DeClue aims to help riders, owners, and trainers take notice of things going on with your horse and point them out to your veterinarian.

Taking special note of the subtle things you see in the day-to-day and asking about them can make a big difference in proper diagnosis.