any advice with this (head nodding)

[maxi737]

hello
i have a 15 year old gelding who has for the last 3 months has started nodding his head up and down in trot, in walk and canter he is fine, i have been lunging him and still he nods his head and also nods when he is out on his own. i am not riding at the moment because he was also nodding when i was troting him and i did not know if i was doing the right thing by riding him. before i stoped riding he would do evrything i asked him, also to mention he is a lazy horse so any pain i should think he would not want to do anything, we were hacking out up and down hills no problem and riding in the school was no problem. and even now i am not riding him he is turning him self out and seems fine but when he trots he still nods his head like he is in pain. i have had a vet out he has had his back checked,neck,legs etc etc and he does not seem to have any pain, if anyone has any ideas on this matter your comments would be appreciated very much as i do not know what to do, i did have someone else riding him and she had a very funny hand which did not have a lot of strengh and i know she used to pull him in the mouth a lot, could this be something to do with it? he seems to do everything and seems very happy in himself but has this nodding head could this be a habit he has picked up?

 

[Achinghips]

Can only speak from experience- you've had the vet out so nowt wrong there. I don't know your riding skills/level, so sorry if I'm off the mark, but what are your hands/elbows like in trot, are you balanced, sure you're not holding onto his mouth to remain upright? Unlikely, as you say he's the same on the lunge, is his bit fitted ok? Wish I could get my girl to keep her head lower in trot!!

Could be a habit he's picked up from the other rider?

 

[Ella19]

Sounds awfully like my pony when the hayfever season starts. She doesn't rub her nose, she is fine in the field apart from slight clear discharge from nose and eyes. She went really lethargic last summer, which I put down to heat then she started to nod and throw her head around in trot, nothing in walk and canter. Turns out it's a pollen allergy. A nose net has sorted that problem out, I bought her the equilibrium one after much reasearch and it's the only one you can compete in. You get 3 nets for about £30, well worth the money, if you rinse the net every time you use it it lasts forever! She carried on nodding for the first two rides but it was reduced and stopped totally after the third. She's been without net all winter but as soon as my hayfever started she started to snort, sneeze and nod in trot. I've put the net back on and she's stopped again.

Perhaps worth a try?

edited to add she was 6 when this developed, never happened before. Worth seeing if any local farmers have planted rape seed near your grazing this year as that often triggers it!

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

As Ella19 has said, headshaking is a condition that can range from the almost invisible, where the horse may only want to rub his nose on his leg after a sweaty ride, right up to where the horse so violently stamps and twitches and throws himself around that he is unrideable. If your horse has recently started this odd nodding and he even does it when loose woth no rider or tack, then it could very well be a low-grade form of headshaking. Headshaking is a very tricky condition and there are a range of things to try. Some seem to work for some horses, others don't. If you search headshaking on this Forum you will get a huge amount of information.