Anyone with a headshaker or a horse with a pollen allergy?

[WelshD]

Someone mentioned in passing that one of my ponies may be a headshaker.

Given that the pony doesn't actually shake its head more than you'd expect from the usual insect type irritation are there other symptoms that affect headshakers that they may have picked up on? the pony has a few sudden quirks that I wonder if could be attributed to something like this, are allergies and headshaking the same thing or not necessarily linked?

I wish I had quizzed them at the time!!

An experienced person is coming to look at the pony at the weekend to see if the quirks are likely to be stressy behaviour or whether they think vet attention is needed

Nothing dangerous is happening but its a change of character for the pony

I dont want to go in to details in case it leads people's answers but in short if your horse has a pollen allergy or is a headshaker what symptoms other than actual headshaking do they have

 

[Regandal]

I have a 'seasonal' head shaker, he wears a mask for riding in the summer. I have noticed he makes very sudden jerks with his head, almost as if he has been shocked. This happens at random times, in the field etc.

 

[Red-1]

Snorting and rubbing nose on knees is a big one. Sometimes to the point of stamping and getting frustrated.

 

[Luci07]

Friends horse does it. Particularly bad near pollen (rape seems to be really bad). It is helped a bit by smearing Vaseline in his nostrils and a nose net. He is fine and when we go near these fields or trees he seems to want to rub his face and nose. The above measures really do help. Might be worth trying the Vaseline as an interim measure

 

[milliepops]

I have a photic headshaker. So very seasonal. It presents as a very sudden head flick (vertical). Only in bright sunlight and managed at home with a face net. Nose nets didn't do anything to help.

It came on after she was stung up her nose by a wasp there was quite a lot of inflammation at the time (like.. a huge deformity )and I would guess at some kind of nervous damage as a result.

No other symptoms though. I know some with pollen headshaking and it's very similar but managed with a nose net. The main thing is they do it ridden and at liberty.

 

[wyrdsister]

I have a photic headshaker. So very seasonal. It presents as a very sudden head flick (vertical). Only in bright sunlight and managed at home with a face net. Nose nets didn't do anything to help.

It came on after she was stung up her nose by a wasp there was quite a lot of inflammation at the time (like.. a huge deformity )and I would guess at some kind of nervous damage as a result.

No other symptoms though. I know some with pollen headshaking and it's very similar but managed with a nose net. The main thing is they do it ridden and at liberty.

Now, that's interesting - your last statement. I'm starting to suspect my young mare is a seasonal headshaker. She rubs her lip on the ground or on her knee a lot and can sometimes flip her head up and down. (Managed with a nose net and ear bonnet). Some of the research I've read (can probably find the study if anyone is interested) indicated that as much as 50% of horses only show symptoms when exercised. I think the study was on those with nerve pain, so I'm not sure if the same can be true of photic or pollen allergy headshakers - do you have any more info, please?

Op, hope there's something in the above that helps you too. Mine shows no signs at all at liberty and only intermittently when ridden and only in spring/summer (still trying to work out if it's bright light or pollen or something else that provokes it).

 

[Jo1987]

Mine was a seasonal (pollen) headshaker. He would flick/twitch his head in the the field and sometimes rub his nose and inside of top lip on the floor, but was not too bothered by it when not ridden.
When ridden he would refuse to hack out, or if persuaded out would throw his head violently up and down, rub his whole face on his legs, plant and then explode bucking!
With a nose net he was almost entirely cured and was quite happy to go out, only twitching his head very occasionally.

 

[meleeka]

Mine is seasonal. It started the year that rape was grown less than 100'uards from his field. He's worse when he's warm (so when exercised). He snorts and rubs his nose and flicks his nose,almost as if a fly has gone up his nostril.

 

[Hipo]

There is a lot of rape around us this year. My pony has got a bit 'faffy' when we hack, but she doesn't do it in the outdoor school??

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

I knew a headshaker who made a circle movement with his head repeatedly when stabled but was mostly fine in the field and less severe when ridden. Another who was quite severely affected when ridden, to the point you could only walk with the reins on the buckle, because she was throwing her head up every stride and so violently it was painful on your arms/back (and her mouth too I expect). She did it when you were leading her too, but only mildly and very occasionally in the stable/field but that just looked like a normal head flick at a fly (except there wasn't a fly).

 

[catembi]

Mine has pollen allergy. His eyes run & he rubs them a lot. Global Herbs pollen-ex manages it pretty much completely. I get a tub when his eyes start running - they haven't started yet this year. He doesn't head-shake.

I did have a head shaker who was exactly as Jo1987 describes. Completely unrideable & dangerous. Fine when not ridden; head shaking would start within a few minutes of ridden/lunge work starting.

 

[Clodagh]

I have just had my horse PTS (well, last autumn) in part to his headshaking. He also had bad hocks but the headshaking was the last straw. He would do the random head flick all year round. He couldn't bear anything touching his whiskers, that last summer he couldn't eat bucket food as couldn't put his head in the trug. He could eat hay and grass. Bright sunlight was unbrearable, also cold wind and any precipitation even drizzle.
He wasn't always that bad but got a lot worse over the last 12 months. I think he had trimigial nerve problems but as he was also lame behind it was not worth investigating. I tried the usual supplements and lots of salt - the salt did help a bit, as did MagOx.

 

[Gazen]

I have a head shy headshaker.
The combination of a Micklem bridle with a nose net has reduced the problem significantly. I tried him the other evening with no nose net and he couldn't keep his head still at all. I can't put a martingale on him as it makes it worse because when he throws his head the bit pulls on his mouth and he is very sensitive in the mouth. He will buck you off if you are not quiet with the hands.
I also ride in either a fly veil or a full fly mask (the ones he wears in the field) which keep the flies away from his ears and eyes.
He has come a long way in the 9 months I have had him as I can now brush his face and stroke his muzzle. He likes his ears being massaged and scratched under the forelock. Oh, and we have also let his whiskers grow.

 

[BBP]

Mine gets a very tight face, in that he wrinkles around his eyes and nostrils and just looks a bit pained and sad. Before I treated him with antihistamines he was very sensitised to everything including noise, one sniff from me and he would freak out. He got very stressed. He does little flicks rather than big headshsking movements and has a huge big phobia, overreacting wildly if they hit his face. With nosenet and antihistamines he is much better but I can still see the tight face.

 

[Identityincrisis]

I am beginning to wonder if my boy is becoming sensitive to pollen? The last couple of times i have ridden he has started poking his nose and violently snorting, only in trot though. He has had a lingering cough though which is finally clearing but pollen is now on my mind, any thoughts?

 

[WelshD]

Thanks everyone I have read and digested every answer given

I have someone coming to look at the pony this evening who is very well respected at getting to the bottom of horsey issues. I will decide where to go from there I'm going to see if they pick up on anything before I start giving my thoughts - Identityincrisis I will let you know if I get any information that may help you

Someone also pm'd me to say check the sizing of the browband which could be significant as the browband has recently replaced one that did not fit correctly and I guess the pony could be remembering some discomfort so thats something else to mull over

 

[Identityincrisis]

Thanks everyone I have read and digested every answer given

I have someone coming to look at the pony this evening who is very well respected at getting to the bottom of horsey issues. I will decide where to go from there I'm going to see if they pick up on anything before I start giving my thoughts - Identityincrisis I will let you know if I get any information that may help you

Someone also pm'd me to say check the sizing of the browband which could be significant as the browband has recently replaced one that did not fit correctly and I guess the pony could be remembering some discomfort so thats something else to mull over

Thank you, I'd appreciate it, hope you find a solution x

 

[Antw23uk]

I posted a while ago about my mare headshaking whilst ridden. She was snorting, groaning and grunting and coughing and head shaking but only whilst being ridden. A nose net has helped enormously and she is on a Hack Up supplement although cant say I've noticed her being better since the nosenet so jury's still out on the supplement.

 

[spotty_pony]

My Appy is a seasonal headshaker - he has hay fever like symptoms and I believe it is caused by rape seed and am also thinking tree pollen might be playing a part too. He wears a nose net to be ridden in from April - October and is on Global Herbs Pollen-ex syrup version which seems to help a lot. He has a bit of a dry cough, is a little bit wheezy when hacking close to crop fields, gets runny eyes and nose which is solved by using the supplement and sneezes quite a bit. His head shaking symptoms are mainly sudden small jerks, rubbing nose on leg, itchy nose and occasionally stamping a front leg and head shooting up as if something has flown up his nose. All of this is very minimal with use of a nosenet though.