Head Shaking

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KateStartin

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My horse has just began head shaking, it seems fairly inconsistant at the moment with him having a bad day then having a week when he is fine. Other night he was really upset in stable and kept us up all night. He was wiping his nose on the door, really agitated then holding his nose under the dripping haynet. Something was obviously really uncomfortable and he didn't know what to do with himself. I turned him out in the middle of the night, he seemed happier out. He has been having NAF supplement which seems to be working at a high dosage.

The vet cam out today and has said to take him off supplement for time being and wait till he has a bad do. He has left me a short term steroid injection so i can give him it. The theory being if the steroid works we are definitely dealing with an allergy. Both me and vet are 90% certain it is a pollen allergy but want to be sure.

Has anyone got any experience of head shakers, how do you manage them? Have they got worse, better or the same over time?. What supplements/nose nets have worked best?

I am quite gutted because i am so excited about this horse and he is just ready to affiliate dressage and eventing! Any advice or experience would be really helpful.

Thanks.
 
No experience myself Tate, but I try to be clued up about it. It's a continuum, ie there's a low end and a high end with the low end being a horse that eg rubs his muzzle on his leg after a sweaty ride and the high end being a dangerously unrideable horse. I think some horses are much worse in the summer and some people swear by nose nets. I think there's lots of Forum members who have first hand experience and will be able to help. The reason I replied was because I didn't know if your vets had explained the risks attached to steroid injections for horses? Be alert for fast onset signs of laminitis. Again, I think there's Forum members who have experience of this - I haven't but I was cautioned about the use of steroids for different problem with my ned.
 
THE expert on HS is Derek Knottenbelt at Liverpool Vet School.

There is also a lot of useful nfo on here:

http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/dbs/research/headshaking/

The key ingredient in most supplements seem to be Magnesium and various anti oxidants which may act to stabiliase neurological symptoms: very few HS's are actiually allergic to pollen - its ususally more complex than this.

The most successful solution for ridden horses seems to be a nose net (the half net from Equilibrium is dressage legal), but it soumds as if your poor horse has symptoms when not ridden too.

I would start to keep a diary of your horse's activities / symptoms as the key seems to be to identify triggers and then try and avoid these .

Good luck. It's a most frustrating condition for both horse and owner, but a lot of competition horses do seem to cope with it, with the right management.
 
Thanks for the reply. I have spoken to my vet about the laminitis risk. He said this steriod would be out of the system within 12 hours therefore would present a very low risk. It is not a management plan just a means of diagnosis. ie if it helps then we can rule out a whole lot of causes and vice versa. I will be watching him like a hawk though!

He seems to be at his worst in his stable a night which i don't think is that normal, not so bad when being ridden at the moment, thank god. We have had a bit of problem on a couple of hacks and one morning when i had to put him away when lunging because he was not happy. He always seems to settle in the field, unfortunately 24hr turnout is hard due to lack of grazing. The only thing i can think of for this is that when he is grazing his nose is brushing the floor. Also when he is stood about in his stable his full attention is possibly on the irritation in his nose.

Any other suggestions would be great though!
 
My mum's mare does the same, only she does it when shes tired and agitated
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also when shes scared =/
x
 
My horse was a headshaker before it became so common. I tried homeopathy, chinese herbal medicine and various supplements. He was only bad from spring to summer, stopped through the autumn and winter. Nose veil stopped him doing it at all. Found he was alway better on a loose rein, any restriction made it worse. Also, a dab of Vicks Vapour rub around the edge of the nostrils seemed to help.
 
My horse started headshaking in May and a nose net helped but didn't stop it. I think his headshaking is fairly mild, a bit nodding up and down, shaking of the ears and trying to relieve the itch in his nose. He normally starts about 45 minutes into work or sooner if we are doing something more exciting. I've been using NAF Shake Relief for the past week and it does seem to be working but that is on the maximum dose. I've ridden him for a week without the nose net. He only does it when I'm riding. He lives out 24/7 and I haven't noticed him rub his nose or do anything unusual while in the field.
Hope you find a solution. I was gutted when I discovered it as I had really stretched my budget to buy my horse and was horrified when i discovered this. I've calmed down a bit now, at least the Shake Relief was working for you as well until the vet told you to stop it.
 
my horse is a headshaker in the spring/summer months.

He started headshaking about 4 years ago out hacking - then he has progressively got worse and now does it in the school as well. I've tried nose nets, nose bags, supplements galore and nothing seems to work. I am giving the new NAF shake relief a go and he's been on it for about a month. It seems to have worked in that he is not doing it so violently but it hasn't stopped it.

My dressage instructor uses ventolin inhalers and says that it works a treat. Might be worth asking your vet about these things before opting for steroid injections? Also local honey is supposed to be good or just feeding antihistamines again is supposed to work. I fed local honey when I was at uni and he was sooo much better (unfortunatley they don't make local honey in greater london!)

Good luck and keep us all informed - its a condition that's becoming more common.
 
Derek Knottenbelt's team at Leahurst are having quite a bit of success treating headshakers. Our horse, who suddenly started headshaking in the spring of his 5th year, was diagnosed as an idiopathic headshaker and has been up to Leahurst for two lots of surgery (thank heavens for insurance!). The first op didn't work, but it was a pretty new procedure that they'd tried on only a handful of horses. They've since modified the procedure slightly and our horse's second op has made a considerable difference to him. He still headshakes in some conditions (e.g. in dusty and polleny environments where there are more physical triggers going up his nose) but the rest of the time he's fine. I ride him with a nosenet, but am not sure if that makes any difference. I've also got him on NAF Shake Relief which does seem to help. One thing we haven't yet tried but which has apparently worked for some (including Carl Hester's Valegro), is riding in a double or a flash. Apparently there's an acupressure point under the horse's chin, just where the curb chain sits and for some horses applying pressure to that point has helped their headshaking.

There's a very useful Headshaking Q&A paper on Leahurst's website (go to the client referral section), which explains the theory behind their surgical procedure. Obviously, some horses, who just have a seasonal allergic reaction, may respond to other remedies (NAF seem to be having good results with Shake Relief). For our boy, nothing else had worked but, thanks to Leahurst's intervention, has been transformed from becoming unrideable to just completing his first affiliated dressage competition. While he will always be a headshaker, and will have bad days, the condition is completely manageable. It has meant picking my times and places to ride (damp, still, early mornings are ideal - no shortage of wet mornings here in North Wales!), but at least I can still ride him.
 
There was a post about this recently and somebody recomme nded Tescos Nasal spray. Tried this yesterday and it seemed to work. Just did a couple of prays up his nostrils.
 
our boy head shakes at this time of the year and a equilebrum nose net STOPS it and he wears his net until november. It's worth a try you buy the nose nets from saddlers £25 also try alergy tablets for humans they might have an effect.
 
Thanks for all the replys, they really are appreciated. With all this rain he has been fine so i think it is looking like a pollen related problem. I have got a lot more options to try now when the sun comes out!.
 
Sunnymane I know just how you feel when you say you stretched your budget to buy your horse and are gutted that you've found it's a head shaker. I got my mare mid May this year and once I'd had the saddle fitted and started riding her she started head shaking. Of course the old owner said she never did it with her (& to be fair she didn't do it when I tried her or when 5 stage vetted) although she did overbend and turn her head to the right quite a bit in walk, which my vet says is a sign of head shaking (so I suspect she may have done it in old home). I've spent all my pennies on her and am very upset she's a head shaker but like you have calmed down a bit now. She starts by shaking her ears from side to side then the up and down motions start and then after a while she'll snort and want to itch her nose. I've not found the nose net helps but am determind to find something that will.

It's reassuring to know there are other people with the same problem who are finding ways round it. I'll post again on here if I find a good solution for mine.
 
I'm another one with an ideopathic headshaker.

Nose nets don't work for us neither does magnesium. I've been using NAF Shake relief for about ten days and have seen some improvement.

However, I have found his symptoms are less when he's working 'properly' so if we're hacking and he starts to 'flick' or bend to the left I immediately increase my contact and make him concentrate in an outline. This seems to distract him from the sensation.

Having said that I cannot ride in the early evening (once it gets midgy) as it is too uncomfortable for him. I also avoid tracks with long, nose height (he's 15.1hh) grass or weeds.

It's a frustrating condition but manageable once you establish what your 'triggers' are. We have a variety (strong sunlight, midges/flies, grass pollen, cobwebs) and work around those. I found the best thing to do was take note of what happened and in what circumstances and go from there.
 
Hi sorry to hear about your horse. I have had the same problem. Does he get worse when faceing into the wind or when being ridden into the wind? My horse did its was due to nerves being stimulated up the horses nose. I was refered to a vet called Mr. Nuttanbolt at the University of Liverpool (Leahurst). I hope this will help you and good luck.
 
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