Could my horse be a headshaker, have a bit problem or something in his ears??

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ponyforever

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Hi
I bought a 6yo 16hh Irish Sports Horse who past a 5 stage vetting. He is currently in a basic fixed ring jointed eggbutt snaffle and a martingale. However, when I hack him out on the roads about half way into the hacking he begins to shake his head up and down and if I loosen the reins he will put his nose to the floor (we hack for around 45 mins sometimes less).
I don't ride with an abnormally firm contact or make him go in an outline on the hack. I also have noticed when he is in his stable he will rub his neck and ears on the stable frame and when i put his bridle on he 'chomps' on the bit and streches his nose to the floor. He also 'chomps' on the bit when his head shaking begins. He wears a drop nose band however this is normal, if anything worn fairly lose.
His saddle has been fitted and he is well in himself.
Any ideas??
Thanks.
 
How long have you had him?

How fit is he?

Have you had his saddle and back checked?

How much work did his old owners do with him?

I used to have a TB that shook his head up and down when he was tired like he was saying oh my back is killing me....
 
Hi Thanks for your reply,
I have had him for a month and he was in light work when I got him due to the weather. I would say he is fit for light work to medium work at the moment.
I have had his saddle checked briefly but since I purchased him he hasn't had his back checked.
 
I have had a headshaker and this is the time of year it would start, if you rule out all other possibilties and think that it may be headshaking get a nose net and try that.

Have a look up your horses nostrils as mine always looked a little inflamed when he was being affected it does sound like it could be that as the warmer they get with excersise it tends to get worse. Mine also used to try and put his head on the floor before i got the nosenet.

The quicker i got the nose net on mine the better if you have some success with a nose net it is worth getting a field relief one they wear in the field during the summer also when my boy was at his worst i used to put bonjela on his nostrils and a squirt of beconase then the nose net on and this seemed to stop it.

It was the tree blossom that made my horse worst he wasnt too bad in open fields but its different things for some.

Thier is a couple of supplements Naf does one but never used them also feeding local honey is supposed to help and giving them pollen tablets.

Some horses are photic headshakers so its sunlight that bothers them and they wear a full facemask so you need to establish if he is which your horse is.

Oh and if you get a nosenet equilibruim ones are best you can get them on ebay second hand sometimes but sew a bit of elastic round back to go under horses chin as they can throw them off the end of thier nose if they shake the head it makes them 100 times more effective i found.
Sorry for epic post but i now it can be distressing for rider and horse there is lots of info on the net about it, just takes a bit of trial and error to get what works for your horse good luck.
 
Would have said, get teeth and back checked deffo. Then saddle if nothing else. Check his bridle isn't pinching behind his ears etc etc....I would be tempted to take the martingale off, he's still quite young, so he may just be reacting to that. Bruce has a tendency to flick his head about, and when out on a hack I don't ask for a schooling outline, but I push him forward with my legs into my hands, to keep him occupied. Sister says it may be a young horse reaction, that it is a sign he is 'mentally tired' if that makes sense/is of any help to you??
 
Your horse's actions sound exactly like mine. He is a seasonal headshaker and also last summer had an asthma attack and was diagnosed with summer pasture copd. He's worn a nosenet from February to December for the last few years and I've found that it definitely makes a difference. The up and down shaking can be very wearing for a rider and not nice for the horse either! To be honest - supplements etc do not make any difference, and unfortunately headshaking (they say) gets worse as they get older! I like th tip about the elastic under the chin to keep the net in place! I have found that a flash is pretty effective too!

Do try the nosenet though - it should make all the difference. But I would also be aware that poor quality hay/haylage may also affect your horse - so if in doubt feed the best haylage you can or alternatively soak your hay well.
 
Oh yeah s*it, silly me. Bruce HATES flies, wears a nosenet all summer long, seasonal headshaker, doesn't go up and down though, shakes his head from side to side. Would look into teeth first deffo.
 
i would say saddle issue if he is stretching down a lot - my horse had a lot of the symptoms of yours, turned out to be the saddle for the most part.
 
One of the most common and over looked causes of a headshaker is a browband that is too short, resulting in pulling the headpiece up behind the horse's ears and irritating the hell out of him/her, it will make them sore in some cases so would continue to hurt even with the bridle off.
Can you comfortably get 2 fingers (adult fingers not childs) under the browband?
If so then you should be able to rule this out, Oz :)
 
unicornleather said:
One of the most common and over looked causes of a headshaker is a browband that is too short, resulting in pulling the headpiece up behind the horse's ears and irritating the hell out of him/her, it will make them sore in some cases so would continue to hurt even with the bridle off.
Can you comfortably get 2 fingers (adult fingers not childs) under the browband?
If so then you should be able to rule this out, Oz :)
Click to expand...

I found this when my 5 yr old grew unexpectedly. She was fine at the beginning of a hack but after 30-40 mins she would start to shake her head. I thought at first that it was because she was getting tired but then I realised that she had outgrown her browband. Fortunately that was easily sorted.
 
Dear OP,

I feel my respose was too short. basically it could be *anything* - i think if you are lucky your horse is a seasonal headshaker as it can be controlled to some extent ad treatable mostly. Unfortunately my boy was not a seasonal shaker and it took 3 years to get to the bottom of it.
It is somewhat complicated by my boy having a deviation of the muzzle, and a paralysed ear, so suffers from nerve sensitivity in the face just to start ;) this did contribute to his headshaking in a small way.

Heres what i tried, you can do the same
* bridle/bit - i changed into fixed rings, eggbuts, mylers, straight bars, nathes, and happymouths. he is currently in a loose ring french link happymouth. I tried riding in a hackamore. Bridle-wise i rode without a browband for 8 weeks and when a browband was put back on it was an extra full ( on a cob bridle lol ) when the browband was put back on, i set it way down so it actually sat on the bone above his temples ( his are deformed slightly anyway ) and batted away anyone who tried to put it right ;) I also spoke to Stroud saddlery in regards for them custom making a bridle for his head, but settled on cut back and padded head pieces instead - im not sure they made a difference though. i also considered a dyon difference bridle.

* ears - my horses ears are kept trimmed, but it made no difference if they werent. i asked vet to investigate for a poss ear/gutteral pouch infection but he was clear. i keep the bridlepath short, and make sure headpiece does not sit on top of bridlepath.

*teeth - a dentist picked up on tightness through his TMJ - his teeth, despite his deformity, were fine.

*back - 3 different osteopaths looked at him and all of them couldnt find a reason. I called out osteo #4 to deal specifically with the TMJ - he had fortnightly treatment for 3-4 months. im not sure it made much difference, but it is possible as it was around the same time as he got his new saddle.

* tack - this is where i had a breakthrough. my horses saddle didt fit, even tho my saddler was happy to take my money for callouts to tell me it did fit. I went through about 10 brands of numhnas as all seemed to slip ( actually due to bad saddle ) but i find he goes best in the griffin hiwither with sheepskin pretty much exclusively. i got a 2nd opinion on the saddle, theres no way it fit, and within weeks of new saddle my horses shaking improved considerably.

* riding - noone wants to admit this.. but i would say my riding had something to do with it too - i wasnt allowing enough stretches - if my horse is allowed to stretch down in warmup he would go better. Schooling and hacking should be kept fun and exciting - if he is bored he will shake, put his head on the floor ( but not rub ) and chew his bit furiously. i ride long and low for first w/t/c on each rein and allow frequent opportunities to stretch, and also laterally to each foot when mounted, he loves to do this.

* treatments - i tried all the seasonal/photic nets and fly hats. They had no effect my boy hates flies too and has been known to throw a paddy if turned out without his fly rug on, despite it blowing a gale! So fly hat and rug at all times for my boy. supplements had no effect.

* behaviour - a small part of my horses problem is behaviour. i am led to believe he has been doing it most of his life so it is a habit. But strangely, not once has he ever done it when competing - i think he is so excited he forgets.

So, in conclusion, given my experiences

with my boy, the majority was the saddle, compounded by nerve issues in his face due to deviation and a small part behaviour. Now he very rarely shakes and you would never guess him to be a headshaker.


Wow that was a rant and a half!! I really hope you get to the bottom of this OP! and i hope your horse is a lot easier to diagnose/control than my boy. if you ever have any questions, feel free to PM! xxx
 
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unicornleather said:
One of the most common and over looked causes of a headshaker is a browband that is too short, resulting in pulling the headpiece up behind the horse's ears and irritating the hell out of him/her, it will make them sore in some cases so would continue to hurt even with the bridle off.
Can you comfortably get 2 fingers (adult fingers not childs) under the browband?
If so then you should be able to rule this out, Oz :)
Click to expand...

What a really good point and something i have never thought of, i have just changed my 'too tight' cob browband to a full browband as i noticed it was quite tight, will see if it makes a difference.

My mare head shakes and wears a nose net year round, when she is really bad she wears a full face mask, i also put a little bit of vaseline at the bottom of her nose.
 
Would also recommend getting back checked. Last year our "back man" picked up on poll pressure which he thought was caused by a violent head shake but that was then causing further head shaking!

Also agree if they shake offer a loose rein regularly. If they are having a shake offer a loose rein but keep riding forward with your seat.
 
digital angel i love your post!
my mare headshakes, she is 8 but hasnt done an awful lot (she is only really starting proper work again this year after a year off following a bad start) so it is hard for me to say when it started, we have started hacking this year and she has been a bit of a moo! will throw her head down when mounted to itch it on a foreleg and generally fidgets, she settles once out but as soon as she is asked to work from the bit she tends to shake (she is quite happy to follow another horse on a loose rein and will halt).
I am in the process of trying to narrow down the problems now...
1. she is a sometimes stroppy welsh chestnut mare :eek:
2. she gets sweet itch and seems to react to anything
3. she is always itchy! no matter how often she is told off for itching her head on me the urge is strong and she still does it!
4. she hasnt done a lot so it is hard to say what is misbehaving & what she is not sure about.

i had the saddle a couple of weeks ago, her bridle fits well, im not convinced she likes her bit, but she defo needs a new saddle, i hadnt managed to get a rewaction ou of her with a lot of poking and prodding but the saddle fitter found the right spot to make her pull a face.
She has been ridden once in a treeless saddle with an improvement in just one ride so im hopefull that a new saddle will make a difference, teeth have been checked recently but if no huge improvement will be checked again and back man next on list so fingers crossed! has anyone had any experience of blood tests for allergies? she has remained itchy over the winter (although not to the same extent as the summer) and will shake regardless of how sunny/grey it is and a windy day doesnt seem to make any difference.
 
my boy is a little itchy - he knows he gets one rub after work as a treat but never tries to itch at all when being ridden. He doesnt has sweetitch, but his mother does!

Have you tried lungeing? first lunge without any tack, then add roller, then saddle, then bridle, then sidereins. this should give you a clue as to where the issue stems. my horse almost never headshook on the lunge, even with a contact supplied by the sidereins. this helped me narrow down the issue quite considerably - in theory it ruled out the saddle, but it was only with a rider on top that the saddle became an issue. but it ruled out contact/bit issues.
 
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