Asthma, head shaking woes

[Horsekaren]

Why cant owning a horse just be easy for 5 mins, I thought i'd cracked it but it turns out summer is maybe just a bit later than last year

Over the last 2 weeks the head shaking is back, its quiet severe, some days unridable, i feel this within a few mins so im not beating him into submission.

He has been throwing his head around, diving his hole nose into the floor, sneezing ect.
Last sunday he was great, couldn't have been more proud to watch him look after a 9YO girl on his back. Fast forward 3 days, shaking to severe to work, tried again the following day, managed 5 mins lunge (i do this to judge the shaking) and then 15 mins light work but after his breathing was very labored (could be heat ect)


He has asthma but i thought this was only in the winter, and had cleared up now living out... the breathing yesterday made me wonder if perhaps that is the Asthma rearing its head (has shown no signs for about 8 months)

i have him on Cetrizine Antihistamines (30 a day)
Hilton herbs shake no more (been on this for about 5 days)
Vit E oil
Nose net
full fly mask
salt

Winter before last he went on to steroids for asthma, didnt really make any difference then it cleared so he came off them. We tried an inhailer and a nebuliser but for love nor money he will not accept anything be squirted up his nose, even the nubuliser the smell of the drug he just explodes, its dangerous. And that isnt me not trying, i spent hours, i had horsemanship trainers try and help and we just couldn't make any progress.

If this continues i will call the vet out but i know its just going to be another merry go round of trail and error.

Does anyone else have these issues in summer? has any thing worked?
I keep reading great things about hack up bespoke but would that just be more wasted money?

 

[ihatework]

How frustrating and disappointing.

‘Hopefully’ it’s just a short lived reaction to a specific pollen that has come out.

You are doing all the main things.

A couple of cheap things that might be worth trying are nostrilvet (an inert powder that lines nasal cavity) with Vaseline rubbed just inside nostrils - can just about get a shaky 5* horse around a test minus nosenet like this.

Other things get expensive, in no particular order ...

Allergy testing, then specific immune vaccines to the identified allergens

PENS

Grade 4 laser (this has had surprisingly good effect on another one)

 

[LaurenBay]

I used Liquorice Root Powder for mild COPD. It worked a treat. Not sure if it will even touch your boy, but it was super cheap to buy so even if it does not work you will not have lost alot.

I'm frustrated for you!

 

[Leo Walker]

You can try hack up bespoke but please be aware what you are buying. Its not bespoke, when you actually get a list of ingredients its nothing special and you get a large price tag to match. I wont use them on principle as the whole premise is a lie and there are much better things out there. Start by working through IHW list. I'd make sure the dose of salt is 10gms per 100kgs of bodyweight as well, as theres some limited evidence it can help with head shaking, and most people feed much smaller amounts

 

[Horsekaren]

its is so disheartening, I think this will now set in until the end of july / august where i recall it improved last year.
I'm sure this is why he has never held down a home for very long in the past.

I think nostrel vet sounds fantastic but i wont stand a chance of getting it on him. Even Vaseline is a struggle, this time of year i think all the nerves in his nose go crazy.... I read something that head shaking feels like when a human wacks their funny bone, tingly and kid of numb.... lord knows how they came to that conclusion but it does make sense with his reactions.

I did contact them and was sent a list
Zeolite
magnesium
milk thiste
garlic
MSM
Ginger

Not blown away but the list by any means.

 

[GoldenWillow]

For the first year my cob who has equine asthma which is badly triggered by pollen has started headshaking. A nose net helps quite a bit but a full face mask helps even more but I need one that has a long nose cover. In his case he's at his worst in strong sun which the vet says is the UV light triggering pain in his trigeminal nerve. It's been trial and error to see what helps and what seems to be the trigger and I'm not sure we're there yet as he's mainly fine on the beach even when very sunny.
One supplement that seems to have helped more than any others is Global Herbs Pollenex but it's hard to get hold of currently.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

WE had severe head shaking last year & he received various treatment but it was 12 months before we knew 100% what was causing it. Come this spring/summer we think he fell in the paddocks whilst yomping around & bruised the nerves in his face & that set him off. He has had some shaking this year but only a little so this year it's pollen. We have helped him by having him wear a nose net whilst being ridden. Each morning before he goes out & each evening before bed we give him a spray of 'Beconaise' up each nostril. It seems to help him a lot. We can still go show jumping & ride him without problem.
Cheapest 'Beconaise' at moment is at either Tesco or Boots where you'll get 2 for £6.

 

[Chippers1]

Mine developed bad head shaking this year which I realised was due to the rapeseed pollen (his field and the yard are surrounded by it this year!) and I actually found the Vaseline in the nostrils to be the most effective thing. Luckily for him the flowers are gone now and he's topped shaking completely (further cementing my theory it was the rapeseed) - would he tolerate that?
Mine is very funny about having his nose touched too but once I got a little smear in I could finish it without him reacting too badly.

 

[ihatework]

WE had severe head shaking last year & he received various treatment but it was 12 months before we knew 100% what was causing it. Come this spring/summer we think he fell in the paddocks whilst yomping around & bruised the nerves in his face & that set him off. He has had some shaking this year but only a little so this year it's pollen. We have helped him by having him wear a nose net whilst being ridden. Each morning before he goes out & each evening before bed we give him a spray of 'Beconaise' up each nostril. It seems to help him a lot. We can still go show jumping & ride him without problem.
Cheapest 'Beconaise' at moment is at either Tesco or Boots where you'll get 2 for £6.

Just be careful if you are competing under rules, Beconase is a steroid and would be technically prohibited. How much locally acting steroid would get into the wider bloodstream is debateable but I wouldn’t risk is affiliated

 

[Leo Walker]

its is so disheartening, I think this will now set in until the end of july / august where i recall it improved last year.
I'm sure this is why he has never held down a home for very long in the past.
I read something that head shaking feels like when a human wacks their funny bone, tingly and kid of numb.... lord knows how they came to that conclusion but it does make sense with his reactions.

When you bang your funny bone its actually the nerve in the elbow getting bumped so that weird feeling is the nerve having been whacked. If it is that it will feel like that and could well cause electric shock type pain when you touch him. I've got extensive nerve damage, its vile and I wouldnt wish it on my worst enemy!

 

[mavandkaz]

If the things you are using aren't working then you may well have to go down the vet route to pinpoint the cause.
For what it is worth, my head shaker is on Hack Up (and yes it is not bespoke, but they will tweek it if you can guide them to the cause of the head shaking) and it makes a real difference. I also find it much cheaper theb others (was previously on pollenex).
I also feed electrolytes as there is some evidence that salt imbalance has an effect.
Grass also has some effect, where possible you want them on 'old' grass rather then short/growing grass.
I did do some reading into accupunture and accupunture with electrodes to help with the nerves that miss fire. If it's really bad there is the option of PENS(?) but I don't think it has a good success rate

 

[ITPersonnage]

Just wanted to say "keep the faith" you know your horse is a star just waiting to feel better, and I know from your previous posts that you will do whatever you have to do to beat this, even if it's just nursing him though these weeks. Try the vet, they may just be able to find an answer but if not, remember the good days and hang on to those memories, they're just around the corner I am very sorry that he's going though this, it must be awful to see...