head shaker

[hannah87]

my tb x irish draught gelding is a head shaker and i was wondering if anyone else has dealt with this problem - it is not a learned behaiviour it is definately stimulated by something - he rarely ever does it in the winter - excpet wen overly excited eg stood at a hunt meet - it begins late spring and can vary from non exsistant on some days to horrendous on others - we have bought him a nose net which does help but hasnt solved it - we have also been avised to get him a uv eye mask as aparntly it is the sunlight which triggers it, i have also observed him headshaking in the stable and in the field but not often - although this is definatly not a behavioural vice it is a habit and he does use it to evade the bit which can be very frustrating! any ideas?

 

[carthorse]

I am having problems too.My homebred horse is a headshaker ,he is a very tense horse anyway but his dressage has gone to pot even with his nosenet which usually helps a lot. I have contacted global herbs but they have taken my details but haven't phoned back yet ,they do zephyr polenex and head shaker and calmers so will try to see if anything helps.He is so talented but just can't relax.
I have read that it may be linked to flu vac. and I always thought that because I had it started as soon as I could it had harmed him and would be interested in others ideas on this.If I bred again I would just have tet. vac. then start flu at a later date.I can't stop the vac. because he does riding club and they are so strict.

 

[thecantlefamily]

its a spring summer allergy, a nose net somtimes helps, somthing to do with pollen , etc

 

[hannah87]

i have never heard of it been related to the flu vac i will ask my vet - mostly iv been told its either pollen - hayfever symptoms or the sun light which gives them almost like a piercing headache - apparantly the nose net plays on the nerves in the nose which are simailar to when u put ur finger under ur nose wen u r about to sneeze, like i sed we hav been advised to get him a uv eye mask as it may also be the sun for him - carthorse addict i have the same prob as you when he is just going nicely on the bit he flings his head up and around and gets very distressed - nightmare isnt it!!

 

[carthorse]

Trying global herbs zephyr pollenex to see if it helps.
The site that links it to vacs is capstar ,you will see it if you google headshaking,

 

[custard]

A nose net works for me but another friend tried a leather fly fringe on her horses noseband in desparation and this worked for her

 

[Lozz1uk]

We used to use a cut off pair of tights attached to the noseband - cheaper than a proper horse net, and finer mesh - just not as good a look!

 

[Worried1]

If it is pollen then try Vaseline lightly applied around the inside of the nostrils.
The pollen sticks to the vaseline and the amount entering the respiratory tract is greatly reduced.
Obviously on very hot days this would need to be removed immediately after exercise as it could fry their nose in the heat!

 

[sadowner]

I had a horse vetted last monday and had a 5 stage vetting and had previously been concerned that he shook his head alot so the vet was watching for it. He said if I hadnt mentioned it then he might not have noticed as he was ridden in an indoor school but then the vet asked for the lunging to be outside. The vet thought it was more than likely to be to do with the light and if that was the case they do not get better. Unfortunately the vet said that there is not too much known about this condition so there is no real help. However, I used to have a mare who only shook her head in the summer months and that was def pollen and was helped by a net over the nose.