Head shakeing

[ameeyal]

Im writing this on behalf of my friend, she has a throubred {sp} that she has had for about 8 months, she has no past history on her {i wouldnt go in to detail} and is about 7 years old she does a lot of head shaking {not very violent} its now winter and she still does it, in the summer she did try a nose net a few times but it didnt make to much of a differance, she is now thinking of trying a martingale, any ideas??

 

[brucea]

does she only head shake when ridden?

 

[ameeyal]

Yes i think so.

 

[brucea]

Then check the bridle for fit, look for rubbing on the poll, check the bit for size.....

If it is when ridden it is likely to be discomfort or frustration rather than alergy.

 

[emmachiro]

Get her back/neck/jaw looked at by professional fully qualified chiro/osteo/phys, could be due to pain in these areas.

 

[Frozen Hoof Boots]

had this with my youngster. New saddle, changed browband, headpiece, new bridle, changed bit (lots of different ones), had teeth done, removed wolf tooth. You name it I did it all. Nothing improved it.
Rechecked his saddle (turned out to be incorrect fitting by saddler) and was pinching .
Had to have back physio and I changed saddle. Hell of alot better since, although still very early days as now I have to teach him out the habit. I do ride in a running martingale and it does limit the shake but having a few lessons have helped me to ride better and to teach him to work long and low. I ignore the shake and make him work correctly.
I find once he's working well and concentrating the head toss stops and once he realises the pain has gone well hopefully we'll be back on track.

The Physio and saddle for us were the breakthrough.
Good luck cos it's not always an easy one to solve trying to get to the root of the problem.

 

[alsiola]

Get her back/neck/jaw looked at by professional fully qualified chiro/osteo/phys, could be due to pain in these areas.

You could even consider a vet...

 

[emmachiro]

You could even consider a vet...

Professional osteo's/chiro's/physio's can only work with referral/consent from a vet, so they would already be aware of the complaint...

 

[ameeyal]

Thank you for the replys just an update, yesrerday we went out jumping and her horse bucked her off {which she doesnt do} then she refused to move forward when she did move she bucked, reversed backwards, so we decided to call it a day {we went around somerford park farm ride, we were only there 15 minutes } any way when we took her saddle of i felt over her back, to which she kicked out, problem solved {or just started} she has has a new saddle.