Can kissing spine create issues that training cannot solve?

Yes, and being honest about that reality is one of the most important things a veterinarian, trainer, or knowledgeable horseperson can do for a horse owner facing this diagnosis. Kissing spine exists on a spectrum, and while many horses with mild to moderate cases respond well to a combination of veterinary treatment and correct rehabilitative riding, there are cases where the structural damage, the degree of pain, and the horse's individual sensitivity to that pain create a situation that training simply cannot overcome regardless of how skilled, patient, or systematic the approach. Recognizing where a particular horse falls on that spectrum requires honest veterinary assessment and an equally honest evaluation of the horse's response to treatment over time. The cases most likely to have limitations that training cannot resolve are those where the contact between spinous processes is severe, where multiple vertebrae are involved across a significant portion of the thoracic spine, where chronic inflammation has led to bony remodeling or fusion of the affected vertebrae, or where the horse has developed secondary muscle tension and pain patterns throughout his entire topline and hindquarters in response to years of compensating for the primary discomfort. Behavioral problems rooted in kissing spine pain can also become self-perpetuating in ways that complicate the training picture even after the physical pain has been addressed. A horse that has spent months or years associating being saddled, ridden, and asked to collect with significant back pain develops strong negative associations with those activities that do not automatically disappear the moment the pain is managed. The anticipation of pain produces the same defensive behaviors — bucking, bolting, rearing, refusing to round — even on days when the horse is physically more comfortable. The honest answer for owners dealing with this diagnosis is to let the veterinary findings and the horse's actual response to treatment guide the conversation rather than hope or optimism. A horse that receives appropriate treatment and progressively shows improvement in comfort, willingness, and movement quality is likely to have a manageable or even full working future. A horse that receives repeated treatment and consistently returns to the same level of pain and resistance may be telling you something that training cannot change. In those cases the welfare conversation shifts to an honest evaluation of what kind of work the horse can do comfortably, what kind he cannot, and what the most humane long-term management looks like for that individual animal.