Experiences with Head Shaking

[marble]

Hi all,

My 6yr old homebred has recently starting head shaking so I'm looking for some advice. He had always been sensitive & as a 4yr old did demonstrate the behavior for a few days, but it soon settled down.

However, it started again about 2 weeks ago. I am speaking with the vet & he is due in for a once over next week but there is something that I can't explain.... In the morning he is absolutely fine & works well, but the later in the day it gets the worse he becomes to the point he is un-rideable. Has anyone ever experienced this before?

Before this he was out competing well at BE90, teeth, back etc all regularly checked. I am currently trialling herbal supplements & have used a nose net, face mask, different tack with no effect but it all comes back to the point that he is OK to ride in the morning but not in the afternoon?

Has anyone ever experienced this before?

Also posted in the Tack Room

 

[hobo]

I will follow this thread as my youngster is also head shaking she is just about 5. It started about 6 weeks ago, I always ride midday so do not know if it is worse afternoon against morning. Net seems to help but bought ones only last one ride because of bushes by gateways. I am going to try vaseline , the other day I rode in an indoor school and she seemed ok until she got a bit tired and we mentioned that she was not shaking. Her teeth were done in December but when she has her jab next month I want the vet to check what he can. She is very good to bridle and she is the sort that would let me know if it was the bridle hurting her. I have wondered about getting her back checked so that is maybe something I should do.

 

[splashgirl45]

I find that mine headshakes when oilseed rape is in flower and I use an equilibrium nosenet which does help although not stop it completely..she only started it when I moved yards and we had oilseed rape all around us...I changed yards this winter and so far she hasn't started headshaking, fingers crossed!!!!

 

[Hollyanna]

Hi there, My horse twizzles her ears and shakes from the ears (if that makes sense!?). She has a bit of sweet itch so is very sensitive, she headshakes if there are a lot of midgies around and also if the base of her ears get sweaty. I have tried lots of things, but resorted to using fly veil which really helps and recommend a ride on fly rug too. Not sure if this will be of any help, but thought it may be of use!

My other horse was a really bad head shaker (couldn't see where he was going it was that bad) and it turned out he had an old injury to the poll, had some treatments from chiro and never looked back!!

 

[BDyasmine]

definitely try a nose net, i had one who was similar, this time of year he would start head shaking and the nose net pretty much stopped it as it was some kind of allergy/hay fever.
i never noticed if he was worse int he afternoon or morning, but thats because i always used the net. however as a sufferer of hay fever myself I am much worse at certain times of the day, so I guess it could be the same for them?