Koper Equine

   

MaManaging horses with kissing spines—whether conservatively or following surgery—often comes down to one central question:

How does the horse organize and support its trunk during movement?

A 2025 study published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science examined the effects of the ProSix system on posture, movement, and physiological responses during exercise. While the study did not investigate kissing spines directly, its findings offer an interesting perspective on how changing movement organization may influence horses with spinal discomfort.

What the Study Found

Compared with exercising without the device, horses using ProSix demonstrated:

• A small but measurable increase in back angle (from 148.2° to 150.4°)
• Increased range of motion in the shoulder, carpus, and tarsus
• Lower salivary cortisol concentrations during exercise

Together, these findings suggest that external sensory input can influence posture, movement, and aspects of the horse’s physiological stress response.

What These Findings Likely Reflect

The observed changes are best interpreted as functional adaptations, not structural correction.

The increase in back angle may represent a shift away from a more extended or hollow posture toward one associated with improved trunk support and movement efficiency.

Likewise, the increased range of motion in the limbs may reflect:

• Reduced protective muscular tension
• Improved movement coordination
• Changes in motor control strategies
• More efficient distribution of forces throughout the body

Lower cortisol concentrations indicate that the horses were not experiencing increased physiological stress while wearing the system and may have been in a more regulated or relaxed state during exercise.

Posture Emerges from the Whole System

Modern movement science increasingly recognizes that posture is not controlled by muscles alone.

Instead, posture emerges from the interaction of:

• The nervous system
• Muscular coordination
• Fascial tension
• Proprioception
• Balance
• The horse’s perception of stability and safety

This distinction is important.

Muscles and fascia that feel excessively tight are not necessarily strong or supportive. Increased muscle tone often represents a protective strategy rather than optimal function.

When coordination, balance, comfort, or confidence in movement decrease, the horse may increase muscular or fascial tension to create artificial stability.

From this perspective, the changes observed in the study may reflect reduced compensatory bracing and improved movement adaptability rather than repositioning of the spine itself.

What the Study Does Not Demonstrate

It is important to interpret the findings carefully.

The study does not demonstrate:

• Structural stabilization of the spine
• Direct measurement of “core activation”
• Long-term changes in spinal pathology
• Prevention or resolution of kissing spines
• Permanent biomechanical correction

These are important distinctions because they help prevent conclusions that extend beyond the available evidence.

What the Study Does Show

The research clearly demonstrated short-term changes in:

• Posture
• Movement
• Physiological stress response

These findings are meaningful because they show that external sensory input can influence how horses organize movement during exercise.

Where This Fits in Rehabilitation and Performance

Devices such as ProSix may influence movement by altering:

• Sensory input
• Postural strategies
• Muscular and fascial tension
• Proprioceptive feedback
• Coordination

For some horses, these changes may help:

• Reduce compensatory movement patterns
• Improve trunk organization during exercise
• Move with less protective guarding
• Experience greater comfort during controlled work

Manual therapy and movement-based rehabilitation may influence many of these same systems.

Rather than mechanically “fixing” tissues, these approaches may help create conditions in which the nervous system adopts more efficient and adaptable movement strategies.

As a result, horses may temporarily demonstrate improvements in:

• Stride fluidity
• Spinal movement adaptability
• Shock absorption
• Coordination
• Balance
• Movement efficiency

Long-Term Improvement Depends on Training

While changes in movement organization can occur quickly, lasting improvement usually depends on what happens afterward.

Long-term success is built through:

• Progressive conditioning
• Appropriate exercise
• Coordination training
• Thoughtful load management
• Adequate recovery
• Consistently good movement quality

Short-term improvements create opportunities for learning, but repeated movement experiences help those improvements become more durable.

What This May Mean for Horses with Kissing Spines

Kissing spines involve structural changes within the dorsal spinous processes, and those changes cannot be assumed to resolve simply because posture or movement improves.

However, many horses with kissing spines also develop protective movement strategies, altered coordination, muscular guarding, and compensatory loading patterns.

Approaches that improve how the horse organizes its trunk and distributes forces through the body may help some horses move more comfortably and efficiently, even though the underlying bony changes remain.

This does not replace appropriate veterinary diagnosis or treatment, but it highlights the importance of addressing function as well as structure.

The Bigger Picture

This study reflects a broader shift occurring throughout equine rehabilitation and performance science.

Improved movement does not necessarily result from repositioning the body structurally.

Instead, meaningful change often comes from improving how the entire movement system functions.

Movement quality is influenced not only by anatomy, but also by nervous system regulation, proprioception, coordination, movement variability, and the horse’s ability to organize itself efficiently under load.

The Takeaway

This study suggests that ProSix can influence posture, movement, and physiological stress responses during exercise.

Those findings are important.

However, they are best understood as evidence that the system can influence movement organization and regulation, rather than proof of structural spinal correction or stabilization.

As research continues, studies like this encourage us to think beyond individual muscles or joints and instead consider how the nervous system, fascia, biomechanics, and movement all work together to support equine performance and long-term soundness.