Head shaking problems

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Nutty Chick

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Hi. My daughters new competition pony has settled in with us now for about 5 months and all has been good. She's been out showjumping with good results and schooling well at home as well as in lessons at instructors yard.
Just recently, she has started this annoying headshaking when out in forest or cross country course. She pretty much ok any other time maybe just alittle bit out hacking but not much. This is upsetting my daughter.
Has anyone got any advice on solving this problem? Does it require a calmer to relieve any nervous tension maybe???

Any advice very welcome :eek:
 
Sounds like the pollen from the trees, bushes etc are setting the pony off.

Try a Equilibrium nose net and some of the supplements available for headshakers, Global Herbs do one, hopefully both those will offer some relief.
 
oh thank you. I have got a nosenet at home one of other ponies used to stop dust inhaling, I did consider that.
Is there any other signs than the headshaking that this is pollen, only she is quite stressy with it spinning round and jiggy in the spot, that's why I wondered if it's nervous tension as well.
 
I agree re equilibrium nose nets. My horse seems to have an allergy to tree pollen and I use global herbs pollenex in his feed too which really seems to help but is quite pricey. Other cures (I'm going to try this year) are regular hayfever tablets from the chemist/supermarket in his feed. I have looked into these and there is a bit of a debate amongst horsey folk whether you would have to feed so many to a horse because of the size of them that it wouldn't be effective, however there seem to be a few people who just put one or two in feed and see a great difference. Also I'm going to try and find some very local honey to put in his feed if I can find anyone who keeps bees near enough. Again, some people say this really helps.

My horse is also usually mostly affected on hacks. When he's on the job/in the zone competing or schooling etc it doesn't seem to bother him as much, probably because he's having to focus.

I've never used calmer on mine and probably would only do it as a last resort. He's a pretty extreme case but hopefully it won't come to that. Good luck and PM me if you want any other advice, I've been through it all for about the past 3 years so quite well versed in it!!
 
Just saw your post about being stressy. My horse was a maniac (I took him on as a project) until I figured out what caused it and took action. It is pain and discomfort that causes them to behave like that. Do remember that the pony has been a superstar up til now and is clearly not a bad person, just obviously in a lot of discomfort at times. Also worth getting back and teeth checked if they haven't been done in the past few months etc or the horse has changed shape in it's topline etc. Bad backs can bring it on, but would probably be all the time not just out hacking etc.
 
Thank you Hells Bells, that is a good point. I have got my saddler coming out next week I will get it all checked. Always worth keeping a check on things.
I do think this is stress related, as she is really tossing her head and it's always when we do new things. first time out in forest was the worst and the little spins she does walking backwards abit. Maybe it'll settle in time. I will also keep an eye on the pollen issue.

Thanks again everyone x
 
We have a large horse with a serious head shaking problem. It got so bad at one stage that he use to do mini rears on the spot, then he would stop still suddenly and then gallop at full speed (across his field, not when ridden) almost as though he had been stung by a bee.

When ridden he was stressed and his head would be up and down and sometimes so high he would almost hit my sister in the face when she rode him. We gavehim four years off! he's now come back into work with a nose net, ear covers and is a lot better.

His problem will never go however we have learnt to manage it better.
he has had e verything to try and overcome this problem. He's had MRI scans, Piriton, bute and we even stopped his yearly injections of Flu and Tet due to some advice from overseas (USA & Australia)
He's had his teeth checked, his back checked etc etc etc. It's just a matter of fact that he is highly sensitive to pollens, most of the year round (sadly) :(

When the vet suggested Piriton he was given 10 tablets a day and this was increased to 15. I suffer with hayfever, dust allergies etc etc and sometimes take 2 tablets so giving your pony/horse two tablets is going to have no effect at all.
15 tablets didn't even touch our poor boy and until they come up with a cure or something to help then we have to learn to manage it.

I found that when I first started using the nose net it made him perhaps slightly worse, he would sneeze a lot when I first put on the bridle and curl up his top lip. This doesn't happen much now and he accepts the net and is almost 70% better with it. Although he sounds like Darth Vader when he is working! :D

In the USA & Australia I believe they only vaccine every 5 years (something like that) and we are one of only a few countries that vaccinate yearly. There have been studies on head shaking and vaccinations (for flu and tet) and suggestions that they may be linked? Our horse has certainly improved since not having his jabs yearly. We moved to every five years as suggested by a friend. I'm not suggesting that everyone should do this as some yards wouldn't eccept this and we don't compete him anymore so it doesn't effect competing rules.

There is also suggestions that is you feed your pony honey which is produced locally (it must be made from honey that has been produced in your area from thelocal bees :D) this has some effect and can help then.

Good luck and I hope the pony is beeter with a nose net and some ears :)
 
My mare is a severe headshaker. She started about 7 years ago now and it got worse and worse to the point where she has to wear a nose net when ridden all year round now. She is mainly allergic to tree pollen (process of elimination) and rapeseed - both send her crazy if shes not wearing her net, and even sometimes with her net on she will still want to rub her nose on her leg. Until i knew what it was she displayed similar behavoiur to your horse - she would seem anxious and be jogging on the spot and tossing her head all the time. When she started doing it head shaking wasnt such a common thiing for some reason but i got the vet out straight away and she immediately diagonsed it.

I give her global herbs pollen-x from around march until the end of november each year - it works really well with her and no other supplement i have tried has made any difference. it does smell very strong so introduce it very very gradually into her feed as even my mare who is a total pig wasnt too keen on the smell to start with.

http://www.globalherbs.co.uk/equine/pollenex.html
 
Nutty Chick said:
Thank you Hells Bells, that is a good point. I have got my saddler coming out next week I will get it all checked. Always worth keeping a check on things.
I do think this is stress related, as she is really tossing her head and it's always when we do new things. first time out in forest was the worst and the little spins she does walking backwards abit. Maybe it'll settle in time. I will also keep an eye on the pollen issue.

Thanks again everyone x
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I am sorry to say it is not caused by stress but the horse feeling pain through its nose .She sounds like a true headshaker to me and it is typically this time of year it starts to show.Nose nets are the most reliable thing to aleviate the problem it is believed they just break up the airflow to the nasal passages so cut down the painful sensations.All sorts of other things can be done but it is best to talk to an experienced vet about options.
 
janey said:
I might give this a go for our boy, no harm in trying. :D
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I agree - it really is good stuff. I actually took mine off it to see if it made any difference and he has flared up again. Mine is a real fuss pot with food but actually seems to quite like it, or not have a problem with it anyway... maybe cos he's also a poor doer and gets tons of feed to hide it in!! Either way, I agree it's pretty good. As yours is a severe case I would be hugely interested to see if you notice a difference. Also really interesting about the vaccination thing... mine events so I can't get out of it but fascinating to hear that.

I was also talking to my instructor who has come from Spain after many years. She said that she has seen a lot of English horses with allergies come to Spain and be almost cured overnight. She thought it could be the fact the UK is so tiny with so much pollution that exacerbates it. Also maybe the type of trees with have here... not sure how much oilseed rape is grown in spain either...? Also, really interesting that "in the good old days" in UK we never heard of a headshaker. Really the past 5-10 years this has occurred.
 
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Well I might try this pollen-x, because now you mention it she does rub her nose abit on her leg sometimes.
The other thing I could say about her is that she is very sensitive on the top of her head and down mane. She would never let me pull her mane (lots of head tossing and shaking) and I just thought that was manish behaviour but could this be related to a sensitive head.
 
I have done some research and looked into this Pollenex formula and it comes in a liquid and powder. Does anyone know what works best and have any preferences. Found up some nose nets i had stored away and will see how we get on....Will keep you all informed.
 
Def nose net... Gold label also do a suppliment. I have tried anti histamines as well and they seem to make a difference - I did this whilst on the loading dose of suppliement. You can also get nostrilvet, but this didnt help my horse at all - he wasnt keen on snorting it.
 
The problem with headshaking is that what might help one horse probably wont help another either at all or as well. Each horse is slightly different. Some respond to nets, some supplements, some to sprays/blockers like nostrilvet.
Unfortunatley its just a matter of trial and error.
Most importantly you need to establish the pattern of shaking - I made a diary on a calender of the time of day ridden, weather, pollen, flies etc. It helps!
I think my horse headshakes as a combination of pollen - he itches his nose on his leg and the floor and also he is very intolerant of flies. He also hates nose nets and any netted fly masks. He clearly finds them uncomfortable.
I have had great success over the last few weeks of giving a couple of squirts of beconase up each nostril each morning and then before riding. His headshaking has reduced dramatically. Beconase has an anti inflammatory so I can only assume he was feeling hay fever type symptoms. In conjunction his tolerance to the flies has improved probably as a result of a less sore head.:)

If you aren't able to make any progress with this, I would suggest getting a full check up done, including teeth back and saddle.

Hope you get to the bottom of it soon.
 
Does any nose net work? I have a cheap ebay one and wondered if this would be as effective as the equilibrum one?
 
Dizzle said:
Does any nose net work? I have a cheap ebay one and wondered if this would be as effective as the equilibrum one?
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I'm not sure how they work to be honest. I thought they were to block dust/pollen but the holes always look too large?
I saw one design - an old shires one which was discontinued which had a patch of neoprene sown on over where the nostrils would be - so kind of blocks direct air which I thought looked a good idea. Sadly no longer available -worth attempting to make though with a cheap net.
 
Sorry to hear about the problems with your pony - I just came across this looking for Eland Lodge pics link - but anyway, when I read your thread I just had to register and reply.

I lost my advanced event horse this winter to headshaking. He was an exracer I produced from a 5 year old (he was 10) and to say I'm devastated is an understatement. But anyway - while theres loads of great advice above about pollen allergies etc etc this isn't the only cause. When mine started this summer I presumed it was allergy (odd as he'd never done it before, but still) - turns out he had a neuralga in his face. He did have an operation (which apparently has a 50% success rate) to desenstise the sore nerve, but in his case it didn't work and he deteriorated to the point of making himself blees rubbing the nose, and shaking/twitching pretty much all the time. When he began it was very very mild, and occasional, and he never did it at an event (I think maybe adrenalin overrode the pain).

He was not a one off. My vet has treated 2 horses this year with the same condition (ie non allergy headshaking) - both the others were put down too, sadly. Trouble is, vets tend to say its allergy without doing proper investigative work - mine had nerve blocks on his head done to diagnose.

This isn't meant to be alarmist - hopefully a nose net and yours will be fine - but I'm anxious to spread the word this actually fairly common, and that there are an awful lot of horses out there likely in pain because the cause of their shaking hadn't been diagnosed. I can't bring mine back, but I do want to spread the word that not all headshaking = allergy - because thats def what I thought before!
 
I am very happy to say, this headshaking problem has gone away by itself. We have had no more problems from it for ages. Must of been a settling stage as we'd only had pony a short time. Fingers crossed we don't see it again.
 
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