Do you own a headshaker...

[ldlp111]

Just wanted some more info...on symptoms and what works for you...

What symptoms does your horse have and what do you find works for him/her be it a suppliment, nose net etc.

Thanks

Also in NL

 

[Leam1307]

My mums horse when we first got him would almost try to break your nose constantly when being ridden, he threw his head in the air that much...

I read somewhere that some horses have a problem trying to swallow with a bit in their mouth and therefore throw their heads to help them... we took his flash off...and hey presto... he only occasionally does it now when hes fidgetting, usually on the way home from a hack and being asked to stop rushing. Not sure if yours has a flash on or such but its an easy thing to try first before spending money on supplements and nets etc.

 

[louisem]

I had a really bad one. A hot-headed mare too. Tried lots of things,all mentioned already. The only thing that worked for her was the Dy'on cut-out-poll bridle. she just couldn't stand pressure on her poll and also became much easier to handle. Also stopped using a headcollar and used a neckstrap instead. Not a classic headshaker (allergy) but this is how I found the solution.....

 

[mystiandsunny]

I have one with a pollen allergy. She gives a sudden, involuntary twitch with her head from time to time, and tends to rub her nose on things a lot when it's bothering her. She's managed on Global Herbs Airways Plus powder. Dosage varies according to the time of year, but you usually wouldn't notice she has a problem, as the supplement fixes it .

 

[kerilli]

i've had a couple. one, i had a specific homeopathic remedy that worked on him. he would chuck his head about quite violently on sunny days in winter, when it was buggy, when there was that fine misty summer rain. he'd stop when there were fences to concentrate on but the rest of the time on bad days it preoccupied him quite throughly. he'd try to strike out at butterflies too, i found that a bizarre symptom. he was much worse with a nosenet or a pair of tights on his nose, that made him frantic to get it off. that particular homeopathic remedy worked but nothing else did.
oh, i forgot, pollen made him worse, rape seed pollen made him frantic. he lived in the middle of an organic farm for a few years and that's the best he ever was. no chemicals, no rape pollen, happier horse.

another was far worse, it preoccupied him to the point where he'd trip a lot. he'd headshake in the field without even a headcollar on. nothing helped him, he was terrible. i had a long chat with Professor Knottenbelt about the horse's extreme symptoms and on the strength of that made the v hard decision to pts. i'd bred the horse and gave up with him when he was about 10. he'd never even been to a competition (was bred to event) but his headshaking really made him suffer.
so, in some it's manageable, in some... really not. PK compared it to shingles of the face in humans if it is that bad and that is horrifically painful apparently.

 

[be positive]

I have had two in the yard that both presented as headshakers and were examined by their vets.
The first came to me at livery having had two years turned away because he was so bad and the owner did not know what to do with him. He was seen by my physio who found his saddle had pinched him behind the withers and this caused the twitching/headshaking a change of saddle and plenty of correct work he became a different horse 6 months later it started again but a wider saddle and more physio cured it, he went on to do BE with no more problems.

The second came here a few months ago with a two year ongoing headshaking problem, again the vets said classic headshaking having examined him thoroughly and treated his ears, thought to be the problem area. His owner was getting very stressed as she felt it may be time to consider pts if he got worse over this summer. A bit of detective work resulted in me guessing that a small piece of tooth left when one was removed two years before may be causing the problem, despite the dentist regularly visiting and saying it would not cause any problems, end result fragment of tooth removed, one very happy horse and even happier owner.

So basically what I am saying is do not always assume a headshaker is classic look for other reasons not just the obvious it worked for these two.

 

[Rachmeister]

Like kerrili I have had two, the first allergic to tree pollen so she was bad from late Feb to May, but seemed to make her sensitive on bright windy summer days too. Symptoms went from constant twitching of her upper lip to wild head tossing, snorting large amounts of milky mucus and nose rubbing. Dressage could be like riding a piece of electricity but putting a jump in front of her made her forget her symptoms for a while. A homeopathic vet sorted this out too, to my amazement, changing the composition of the remedy until it was most effective. She had the odd bad day when dressage was a challenge but still got to intermediate BE. Still going strong now at 23. Symptoms got less over the years.

My other one is a 14.2 Irish jumping pony who is very sensitive to rape pollen and the rape harvest. It came on at 7 years old and makes him very stressed and miserable, with nose rubbing, snorting and head tossing. When he hacks out he tries to create his own nose net by putting his nose in the tail of the horse in front. The first year was awful but last year we managed it almost 100% with turnout only when he was wearing a head to tail bug rug, fly mask with ears and covering his nose, nose net when ridden, inside 24/7 during harvest and the thing that made the most difference was global herbs pollenex, which I know because we couldn't get it for two weeks in high season and he suffered without it. if it really is like shingles in the head for a human his whole head will feel intense nerve pain - my aunt had this for months and I thought it was going to kill her, she lost faith and wouldn't eat. She's ok now.

If you can work out what sets them off or makes it worse you will have a better chance of dealing with it though I agree with kerrili that there are some you can't help much. Good luck.

 

[kerilli]

if it really is like shingles in the head for a human his whole head will feel intense nerve pain - my aunt had this for months and I thought it was going to kill her, she lost faith and wouldn't eat. She's ok now.

yes, PK told me that the %age of suicides among adults with the condition before modern painkillers was shockingly high.
this is what decided me tbh... my lad had it SO badly, he suffered year round, even out in the field. not every day thank heavens but a lot. i'd tried everything really. poor boy.

i agree about looking at other avenues though. i was told years ago about a horse which suddenly started violent headshaking. they pts and did a post mortem... to find a plastic bag stuffed down its ear, totally out of sight (obv done deliberately but some sick **** who i hope rots in hell).
it can vary from mildly annoying to totally impossible.

some horses will cope better on a firm elastic contact, others will be panicked by that if they're having an episode. it really is a nightmare.

 

[KatB]

My mare is a mild headshaker which only started after she damaged her eye and had to have multiple stitches in her lower eyelid. Since then she's been a heashaker at certain times of year and if snow for example hits her face. She only does it in a bridle/headcollar, and doesnt do it when working into a contact or jumping. She wore a nosenet last year, but wont have it on this year! I am v.tempted to try a micklem or dyon bridle to see if it makes a distance, but my physio and osteo always comment her poll is fine which I guess is where these bridles would relieve pressure. She wears a fly veil and padded poll bridle where permitted in competition, but tbh its getting less and less so hopefully that will continue!

 

[TarrSteps]

I know a couple that improve without nosebands, and one has improved markedly after being switched to a hackamore for other reasons. Alas, neither an option for a competition horse outside of sjing.

Antihistamines help some but by no means all, and they are not comp legal.

I have no doubt nose nets help some, although I've not had luck with them.

There is no doubt in my mind at least some cases stem from discomfort in the neck or back - you can almost feel the current running up the neck.

 

[Tempi]

Blossom is a headshaker, she has to wear a nosenet all year round which really helps. At the moment she is on Feedmarks Clarity, although i'm not sure its actually helped at all. Last year I fed her Global Herbs Pollen-X which was excellent.

Bloss is allergic to pretty much all types of pollen. She headshakes in all weather aswell (not just sun which I know some horses only head shake in).

Interestingly I had my Bowen therapist out to do a routeen session with her last weekend and she said she can cure her headshaking. I'm very sceptical about this as to me its an allergic reaction so i'm not sure how it can be cured.

Anyway she is giving me half price treatments on the basis that she will cure her and that she can use Bloss as a case study to go on her website.

If anyone is interested I will post updates of how it is going, treatment starts on 29th. She will also be taken off her supplement then so will just be on the treatment alone.

ETA - Bloss's is nothing to do with tack as she headshakes in the field aswell and has to wear a full face fly mask that covers her nose from about mid Feb to November when she is turned out.

 

[be positive]

Tempi its interesting that someone thinks that it is going to be cured, if an allergic reaction you would not think this possible by therapy of this type. My physio never said she would cure my horse, despite a very clear reaction to pressure when she examined him, he was also doing it when turned out all year round so it was assumed to be an allergy. I think she felt that it would improve but not totally stop, so we were all rather surprised especially his owner as she had written him off after the vets had treated him.

I hope it does work for your horse as well as it did for mine.

 

[wench]

Henry did it during the spring, but only when ridden. Came to the conclusion it was a mixture of pollen, and tiny little flies going up his nose that he was allergic to. His nose started to run, and he wanted to itch it, which was when he started flinging his head about.

Tried suppliements, but as he wasnt fed everyday, very hard to tell if this had an effect on him or not. 10 antihistamines before riding seemed to help a little, but a nose net stopped all of it. It definatly wasnt back/teeth/tack. His back and teeth were done regulary, and he did it when wearing different saddles/bridles/bits.

 

[Clava]

Head shaking is also linked to potassium spikes in Spring grass, I know two HSers who stopped when removed from grass. Feeding salt (which is often low in diets) can greatly help reduce potassium levels.

Interesting info here and worth a read, symptoms that can appear polllen are not always (unless tested).

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/equineheadshaking/?prop=eupdate

Borrowed from another site
Potassium levels can soar in grass causing a chain of reactions on other minerals.
http://www.calmhealthyhorses.co.nz/whattodo.php#salt
http://beefmagazine.com/mag/beef_dont_short_salt/

Have a wander around the site on the first link. http://www.calmhealthyhorses.co.nz/bbs/zboard.php?id=gra

 

[DuckToller]

I have a 14.2 connemara x that headshakes. He does it all year but is much worse in the summer. He is more of a nose-scratcher - he stops dead, throws his head down and rubs on his fetlock. Only sometimes he doesn't actually bother to rub, the head goes down, the leg comes forward, and then he doesn't rub, it's as if the itch has gone again. Bizarre.

We have discovered that a nose net drives him crazy, and he is better if ridden with a thin bit, so he is currently in a myler snaffle.

He seemed hugely better when ridden in a hackamore but only for the first two hacks - he was then back to normal, which was disappointing as we thought we'd found the cure.

He goes best on a long rein on a hack, and he never does it when cantering or jumping, but the second he stops the head goes down and the leg comes forward to rub. We are so used to it we don't worry about it, but you do need to sit up after cantering!

 

[flyingfeet]

I have my first headshaker, does it in a headcollar when being lead from another horse, so not connected to bit

A nose net has worked really well, so now I just always ride him in this. He still tosses his head more than my others, but its not a problem

 

[Renvers]

i've had a couple. one, i had a specific homeopathic remedy that worked on him. he would chuck his head about quite violently on sunny days in winter, when it was buggy, when there was that fine misty summer rain. he'd stop when there were fences to concentrate on but the rest of the time on bad days it preoccupied him quite throughly. he'd try to strike out at butterflies too, i found that a bizarre symptom. he was much worse with a nosenet or a pair of tights on his nose, that made him frantic to get it off. that particular homeopathic remedy worked but nothing else did.
oh, i forgot, pollen made him worse, rape seed pollen made him frantic. he lived in the middle of an organic farm for a few years and that's the best he ever was. no chemicals, no rape pollen, happier horse.

(

Kerilli - can i ask what homeopathic remedy you used? One of mine sounds exactly like yours and would be interested in trying a homeopathic remedy; as I have changed from sceptic to believer after using it successfully on myself.

Tempi - I would be interested in hearing how Bowen helps you mare.

 

[kerilli]

Kerilli - can i ask what homeopathic remedy you used? One of mine sounds exactly like yours and would be interested in trying a homeopathic remedy; as I have changed from sceptic to believer after using it successfully on myself.

Tempi - I would be interested in hearing how Bowen helps you mare.

the homeopathic remedy was put together by a friend of a friend, and i paid for it every time. unfortunately someone 'shopped' her for it because she wasn't a vet so she had to stop providing it to people for animals. trust me, i begged and begged, the horse was competing at Intermediate level at the time and this stuff she sent totally turned off his symptoms, but she absolutely wouldn't budge. gutting.
i tried various other combinations from Ainsworths etc but nothing worked as well as the first stuff had, nor would she tell me what was in it.
i tried that very expensive homeopathic stuff from America on my really terrible headshaker (the one i pts eventually), can't recall the name of the company now (something Star?) on 1 horse, had good results (it's expensive and complicated, they send loads of different things for you to try, combine etc), then they made an error in their recommendations and changed what he was on to a different combination, and we never got the improvement again even when we went back to the one that had been working, very frustrating. all credit, they gave me a full refund though.

Bowen... hmmm, I'd be interested too. tbh it depends totally on what is causing the headshaking, and that can be many different things. If the trigeminal nerve is permanently damaged (through early exposure to EHV for example) then I cannot see how Bowen or any other treatment could help it.

 

[Tempi]

I will do a sort of 'blog' on how the Bowen treatment goes, i'm very sceptical to say the least but am always open to giving these things a go as I've seen the wonders this lady has done with mine and other peoples horses - she has really transformed them. Bloss certainly responds really well to Bowen in general so it will be fascinating to see how it goes.

 

[kerilli]

absolutely, fingers crossed.

 

[Renvers]

Tempi - look forward to it

Kerillie - thats awful that she was shopped, I did go online and found a site natural horse supplies do a couple of remedies.

One of the ones they recommend is Echinacea to boost the immune system in the horse, wonder if that is part of the issue in some cases...

 

[LaurenB]

I did own one, he's now a companion. tried everything under the sun from simple things nose nets, inhalers, all supplements, vaseline, 50 tablets a day, they were human neuropathic drugs (which bless his heart he took) you name it we tried it, had him operated on, got on him after the coil surgery and he'd stopped, I cried my eyes out I was so happy but he then started again 2 months later, wasnt safe to ride and from the amount of pain the vet said he would be in it was just kinder to stop riding. Sold him for peanuts to a lovely lady who I'm still in touch with, he was my horse of a lifetime, the vet said it always happens to the best and starts around the age he was (7/8). In some ways I wish I'd had the guts to pts as I know that it will get worse.
There are different types of shakers and some can be cured so good luck, I just pray I never have another unfortunate enough to be a headshaker heartbreaking!

 

[asset2004]

My mare has showed symptons the last 2 years, its hard to ride her and I try to keep her in on bright sunny days.
yes Tempi I'd be interested in a follow up.

 

[Pep12]

I had a lovely lad (now sadly no longer with us) who was a classic seasonal/pollen headshaker. He would start the second the yellow flowers appeared on the gorse and would tail off around October time as the poloen disappeared. he used to do the head flick and nose rubbing things. he started when he was 11.
Only thing that worked for us was the nose net. In the field a full face fly mask with nose worked to keep him comfortable but if it was a very polleny day I would keep him in. I hated watching him rubbing and rubbing his nose on the ground and fence posts etc.

Ridden with the nose net he was great but had to tuck it in to his noseband in the start box for XC as he said he couldn't breath in it when he was galloping. It would have to be straight back down one he was finished. Bless him. Heavy rain we didn't need the net but light drizzly rain and windy days seemed to make him worse.

Echinacea helped to reduce his shaking but no supplements for headshaking worked. He had Bowen regularly as maintenance and it never helped with his head shaking . I hope you get to the bottom of it and find something that works.

 

[measles]

Measles, elder son's pony , was photosensitive and on sunny spring and summer days wore a nosenet attached to him caveson. That removed the slight head shake completely.

 

[Mildred]

My first ex-racer Charlie was a headshaker, I think due to pollen - he'd constantly try to rub his nose on his knee (or the ground - far from ideal on a great big clumsy TB with feet like dustbin lids) or toss his head up and down. A nose net really helped. It was a lot of years ago but Im sure I also used to ride very early which helped.

 

[numptynoelle]

Please excuse my ignorance but what is a "hair gland"? Is that the same as a hair follicle or sebaceous gland?

 

[smokey]

Please excuse my ignorance but what is a "hair gland"? Is that the same as a hair follicle or sebaceous gland?

And how do you "cure" them?

 

[whizzer]

How do people keep nosenets in place? I've just started using one but it seems to flap about a lot & not stay in place. The flapping annoys horse who then starts waving his head about even more & this then obviously makes the net flap around again! Due to this not even sure if it's helping with the headshaking!

 

[smokey]

So why are you asking on every head-shaking thread if anyone has a horse they would like to loan out? Surely if you just want to cure these horses you could have given that information out ages ago? . Sorry to sound doubting, but if you have a cure you must be worth a small fortune! Or is it the case that you want a new horse?