TB Congenital Malformation 6th & 7th Cervical Vertebrae

This is an urgent must read for all owners of Thoroughbred and Thoroughbred Derivative Horses.

This is the work of Sharon May-Davis through her many dissections per year & as become the first person to comprehensively document and quantify this problem

It includes race horses, OTTB's, QH's, Australian Stockhorses, anglo arabs, warmbloods, standardbreds, etc.

http://thehorsesback.com/c6-c7-malformation/

This article is fully copywrited so this following are just a few notes I made as I read the article.

© All text copyright of the author, Jane Clothier, http://www.thehorsesback.com. No reproduction of partial or entire text without permission. Sharing the link back to her page is fine. Please contact her for more information. Thank you!
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There are good diagrams & at the end several references to more info & research.

These horses are predisposed to (genetically) presenting with a Congenital Malformation of the Sixth and Seventh Cervical Vertebrae plus probability of the first rib being involved also.

It causes Wobbler syndrome, front hoof high/low syndrome, unsteadiness, prone to falling or tripping, uneven biomechanics despite all sorts of treatment. It also involves the nuchal ligament not having proper connection to C6 & C7 causing major unsteadiness.

It stems from one of the foundation horses that Thoroughbreds were bred from centuries ago & is now so widely disseminated throughout the worldwide horse population apparently affecting around 39% of all TB types, any horse presenting with front end problems should be assessed for this condition.

Some forms can be seen on xray while other more serious forms can only be verified by CT scan or dissection post mortem.

However some veterinarians & trainers are now making themselves familiar with this serious issue & can identify the problems while watching the horse move around either in the flesh or by video.

I must say that I have personally seen many TB types that have been unstable in the front end & I recall a member of this forum who had a horse with front hoof high/low syndrome. I have also been asked to assess horses with uneven shoulder development, with uneven scapulas or inability to stand square in the front or needing to always move the front end.
I could even place Sonny in this category since it has always been very difficult to get him to stand square & his front feet are always different even when I have trimmed them evenly. He doesn't trip very often but if worked up, tense & carrying his head a bit high, he will trip & seems weakly connected in his front end. Also there is his inability to get his weight back over his hind & all the saddle fit issues. All these things can apparently be caused by this C6-C7 issue.

I am planning to buy a new riding horse next year after I get my inheritance from my Mother's estate so I will be making sure I learn all I can about this issue & how to assess for it.

Very interesting. I've heard of the differently shaped vertebrae in Saddlebreds in particular that causes the sway back, but that is different and apparently does not usually cause pain or soundness issues.