Non-surgical Management for Pain of the Thoracolumbar Spine

Back pain is a common cause for poor performance in the riding horse. Medical and physical therapy may be beneficial in horses with thoracolumbar pain. The successful treatment of back pain requires a good working diagnosis of the underlying site(s) and cause(s) of discomfort thereby treatment modalities can be applied to meet the needs of the individual horse. Often, a combination of treatments and management changes are required in addition to time and patience to achieve best results. This lecture will discuss evidence based treatment strategies for horses with back pain.