In a retrospective study of 118 French Trotters, a team of veterinarians found that horses with back pain had more severe and localized lesions identifiable on X ray than horses with no evidence of back pain, but even pain-free horses had lesions of the vertebral column.

According to the researchers, back pain is a major cause of altered gait and performance in horses; however, only a few studies assessing the equine back using radiographs (X rays) have been performed, particularly in Standardbreds.

To investigate the frequency and location of the most common lesions from the 14th thoracic vertebrae (T14) to the third lumbar vertebrae (L3), veterinarians reviewed radiographs from 102 French trotters with back pain and 16 without. The two main anatomic structures of interest were the dorsal spinal processes (DSP, the bony part of the vertebrae extending up from the spinal column) and the synovial intervertebral articulations (SIA, the joints between each of the individual vertebrae along the spinal column)