Head shaking triggered by rain?

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Testy

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I posted a few months ago about my horse headshaking. He used to be a mild head shaker only during summer when there were loads of flies etc.

This year he began shaking during cold weather and rain. It's at it's worst whilst its raining, he's unrideable. As soon as he gets back in his stable he's fine again. Even if he just pops his nose over his door whilst its raining he'll start shaking but will stop when he backs away from the door.

He still shakes more in dry weather than he has done previously, though I can control this to an extent with a nose net, although it is getting worse and during the rain nothing helps.

Vet has been out, eyes, ears and teeth checked, nasal scope - all ok, and his trigeminal nerve blocked which didn't stop him - it was raining that day and he was just as bad after the nerve block.

I've tried pollenex, feeding magnesium, feeding salt, nose sprays, piriton, shake free and 3 lots of acupuncture and its as bad as ever! So does anyone have any suggestions that I could try next?! My vet has suggested periactin although as its an antihistamine I'm not too hopeful as I can't see how this would help as rain is the main trigger.

I'm calling the vet tomorrow to discuss but in the meantime does anyone have any suggestions or know what has helped a head shaker like mine?!
 
Thanks for the link, that's really interesting.
No I didn't remove him from grass, there is no fatty paddock at my yard though, just loads and loads of grass! It's definitely something to think about as we've only been at current yard since September, so maybe this is the reason.
 
Try a full face fly mask. I rode my mare in a shires fine mesh one and as stupid as it sounds it did the trick!
 
Hi,
I have got one who is exactly the same. His previous owner even had him scanned for a brain tumour, he had every test known to man and it was all negative. He hates rain and wind, he used to shove his head in a bush rather than get it wet. He improved a lot with a nose net for riding.
He is hogged and I wondered if he was just being extra sensitive from not having as much protection as he would with a mane ! I am trying a different route of desensitising him now, he has always been somewhat pampered and mostly lived in, but I have got him out in all weather 24/7 now, he has definitely improved for it, it's been heavy rain here all day and he has been happily grazing all day with no excessive head shaking that I have noticed. It may be coincidence, but I do sympathise with you, I used to think his head was going to fall off :-/
 
Thanks Ella19, we have tried the full face mask, it helps on dry days but not rainy ones!

Tadah my boy stands with his face in a hedge too or with his nose to the floor if there's no hedge nearby. Poor lads.
 
Testy said:
Thanks for the link, that's really interesting.
No I didn't remove him from grass, there is no fatty paddock at my yard though, just loads and loads of grass! It's definitely something to think about as we've only been at current yard since September, so maybe this is the reason.
Click to expand...

I know it sounds odd, but it can make a huge difference. Hope you find the answer. So far my mare is still shake free, but if I let her on the longer grass for a bit too long I can see it in her face that something will trigger the odd flick (flies, dust, pollen, rain drops). Worth at least trying if you get the chance. The salt is to lower potassium spikes and wont work if the horse is still getting high levels of K in grass or feed (seaweed for example).
 
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