Advice please - horse has started headshaking

C

Charem

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 October 2010
Messages
1,173
Location
West Sussex
Visit site
Hi all. My boy has, completely out of the blue, started head shaking? It's pretty mild although seems to have progressed from (when he first did it) one or two quick shakes towards the end of a schooling session to doing it every few strides 5 minutes in. He has done it both out hacking and in the school and on the lunge as well as under saddle however I haven't seen him do it any other time.

He has NEVER displayed any signs of head shaking before and is generally not bothered by irritating things such as flies and the like and we live in the new forest so we do get lots of those! He lives out 24/7, is fed good quality haylage and fast fibre with minerals twice a day. The only thing I can think of is that I gave him a full clip (including head + ears) a few weeks back and I think the first time he had a little shake was the day after that although he didn't do it again until more recently. He has had a full clip plenty of times before though I am wondering whether some hair has managed to make its way in to his ear and is irritating him? I should add I have only trimmed the stray hair thats sticking out of his ears and clipped the hair on the outside - wouldn't dream of clipping actually inside his ear! Finally his teeth were rasped in October, both saddles were checked yesterday (he displays symptoms in both) and his back was checked in August.

I suspect I will be taking him up to the vets sometime next week if it doesn't get any better but I would really appreciate some ideas/experiences before hand as i'm getting rather worried!

Thanks
 
Charem said:
I've never seen him do it when out in the field, tied up ect. only when being ridden or lunged.
Click to expand...

I would spend some time watching him to be sure but if he doesn't then it suggests the problem is physical and related to being under tack. Did an EDT do his teeth or the vet? as vets have been known to leave a job incomplete! I would also look at things like tightness of the bridle behind the poll, is it pulling? Check the fit as though for the first time.
 
He is kept at a yard where I work so can see what he's up to pretty much all day.

He had his teeth done by an EDT I use for all the work horses. I usually have a vet do him as he can be a bit difficult but this guy has always been good with the tricky ones without sedation. I'm thinking I may get the vet in to sedate and have a look just in case though.

I don't think the bridle is too tight and it has been on the same 'setting' since March this year when I first bought it without problem, though I will try lunging him in just a cavesson and see if that makes any difference.

Thank you for the ideas. I will try and get a video either today or tommorow to see if that helps anyone shed any light on whats going on!
 
Have you looked inside his ears? White plaques can be very irritating for them. They are very obvious if he has them. I think they are viral and will go in time. One of mine has them dying off at the moment.

Have you changed anything about his diet, even the tiniest thing?

What age is he and what stage are you at with his training. I have found that many 5 year olds will shake their necks at the end of a session of working in outline. It's possible he is finding something is giving him a stiff neck, maybe?

I have read of something very similar before on this forum , after clipping. I wonder if this extremely cold weather lately has been irritating a facial nerve now he's lost his fur?

Will he lunge in a loose headcollar? That would give you a better idea if it is tack rubbing on a facial nerve. Alternatively, loose school in both and compare the difference?
 
Last edited:
I had problems with mine headshaking & tried everything. Since I changed saddle at the end of october he has stopped. Waiting to see if he stays fine or it's just a temporary coincidence.
 
Hello all, just back from lunging the little delight. :rolleyes:

I had him in just a cavesson, when we started it was raining a fair bit and he was really throwing his head around but not in the same way he has been. It was more of an angry 'I don't like this rain' than the funny little twitch thing that has me concerned. Once the rain passed and he had settled down I don't think he did it (or certainly not as much as he has been doing), it's so difficult to tell as its so slight and very quick. I have got some video so will try and upload that at some point although its awful quality and I think my hand shakes so much that any head shaking on my horse's behalf is unoticeable!

I had a good look in his ears and there wasn't anything. I had a quick prod inside and couldn't feel anything obvious but as i'm not a vet I didn't want to go to far. Nothing has changed in his diet either.

He will be 13 next year, i've had him since he was a 4 yr old. He previously evented before he broke down in 2010 with a DDFT injury to his near fore. Restarted him in 2011and 4 months in he did a proper job of his tendon and had an op on it in Aug of that year. Restarted him again March of this year and touch wood he has been going really well and we were just about to enter a dressage comp end of this month but this latest problem seems to have put an end to that :(
 
My girl shakes her head, tried and checked everything and then I noticed (after staring at her ears for a long time) whilst trotting her that her forelock blows back and touches her ears whilst trotting and cantering, but what I did notice is that she does it more towards the end of a schooling session when she is sweating... So I now put her forelock in a plait and tuck it under her browband and she doesn't seem to do it, apart from when she is really sweaty and has beads of sweat running down her ears, then she has a little shake, might be worth just trying plaiting the forelock if you have exhausted all other possibilities...
 
Cedars said:
Have you just clipped his whiskers off by any chance?
Click to expand...

Yes I have although they have grown back a fair bit now and could do with being chopped off again -yes i'm one of those who likes clean shaven horses...:o

I've pretty much always taken them off and never had a problem before.
 
I feel ur pain i have a horse who started head shaking in march this year. I checked everything, went on trials of different medication then she went to the horsepital, had scans, nothing, they nerve blocked her sound on the part of the face where the optical nerve ends thats the only thing that made any difference. Shes still doing it now despite many saying it will prob go away over winter. Insurance have now accepted a loss of use claim.
 
I know some people were talking on another part of the forum about how taking whiskers off can induce headshaking.

I take all of Puzzle's off too :P
 
it could be a sign of muscle tiredness, I would get an instructor to see you ride and take advice there first. A friend done this and it has stopped.

no harm in making sure all checks are not over due back, saddle, bridle and teeth.

Mine does it sometime just as a resistance to contact, but only in walk when ridden and does stop.

Good luck
 
HHO online cliche........but I would get the vet out on monday. There could be something in the ear, there could be a muscular issue, a bad tooth, a neurological problem, a back issue ..... i would get it checked out just in case.

That aside, is it worth trying bitless if nothing is found ?

Let us know how you get on. TS x
 
One of the most common causes of headshaking and largely overlooked is the browband being too short.
It has the effect of pulling the headpiece up onto the back of the horse's ears, irritating them.
To eliminate the browband see if you can get 2 adult sized fingers under it with ease when on the horse,
if so then you can cross it off the list, Oz
 
Our horse did this when we first got him, we had his teeth checked and they were well overdue to be done, once we had them done the head shaking stopped I know you've already had teeth done not long ago but maybe it might be worth having them checked again in case a problem has arose since the last time.
 
Mine started out of the blue as well, would only be this time of the year (october earliest) he was about 7/8 i think. He would constantly rub his nose and eyes and get very upset and frustrated with it.

Vet had no idea what the issue was (no discharge or any other signs of something to treat), i used to ride him in those face nets (the nose one and the face mask that attaches to bridle) over winter.

It was only winter that this happened and we never did get to the bottom of it (he's retired now - not due to this) he used to stand and 'nod' in the field, the real head tossing and rubbing ridden only. The masks stopped it completely ridden and he was happy in the full face fly masks in the field.
 
Mine started doing this Back in Feb 2010. The vet checked EVERYTHING and nothing seemed to be the cause.
But we moved him as he was no longet suitable for the riding school. Once moved he stopped, and then only did it when he was near the place again - so I put it down to psychological in a dislike for where he had been and what he was doing.

He was fine for all of 2010 and then start of 2011, then in the june 2011 he moved to my friends as a ridden companion and he was ok for a while, going well then all of a sudden he started it again, BUT he also had a complete personality change - he was nutty and a danger, so I had him back and my mate took him and he went to a local yard where again, TOTAL personality change and he was chilled to the MAX..........that was for 8 months. Until the head shaking came back in the feb- march, jsut mild but it was there.

Turns out that it was neurological - he most likely had a lesion pressing on his spinal cord in his neck and was not something they could source.
 
My horse did this since we got her. She would also start about 20 mins in and continue to shake her head the whole ride. We tried different bits, had her back and saddle done etc which made no difference. Then used a padded bridle which wasn't tight and she still did it! Her teeth needed doing, but after that she still did it, but much less. We then got a micklem bridle (about a month after her teeth been done) and she hasn't done it once since! Don't know if it was a coincidence with anything else but will keep using it while its working :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top