Head shaking?

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Starbucks

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What causes it? My mums old horse seems to be getting worse with it and it seems to bother him quite a lot.

On bad days in the spring / summer months he spends time with his head stuck up my horses arse making him walk round and round the field, then when he’s in he has his face in his net, not eating it just in it!

Not fly related as he does it when no flies are around. He’s got a hat for the field and a nose net for rides but doesn’t seem to be that much comfort for him.

Is it like hay fever for people?
 
Starbucks said:
What causes it? My mums old horse seems to be getting worse with it and it seems to bother him quite a lot.

On bad days in the spring / summer months he spends time with his head stuck up my horses arse making him walk round and round the field, then when he’s in he has his face in his net, not eating it just in it!

Not fly related as he does it when no flies are around. He’s got a hat for the field and a nose net for rides but doesn’t seem to be that much comfort for him.

Is it like hay fever for people?
Click to expand...

It can be caused by a whole lot of things:
1. Photosensitivity - bright light (some people have this which makes them sneeze in sunlight). Solution is to buy a fly mask which filters a lot of it out.
2. Trigeminal nerve damage - causing neuralgia - painkillers can help, but difficult to get to the bottom of.
3. Allergy to pollen - at this time of year it could be tree or oil seed rape pollen. Solution is to try nosenets, or vaseline inside the nostrils, or try human hayfever solutions such as Beconase or the Nostrilvet. In bad cases, steroids can help.
4. Teeth - sharp teeth when ridden/eating - solution is obvious.
5. Insects - particularly blackflies in ears - good fly mask or spray.

Hope that helps -and hello, Starby.
S :D
 
Thanks Shils!

I'm not sure what #3 means! But of the options it sounds like pollen. He does it on nice days but not always with days with bugs around and carries on in his stable. He also looks how I feel when I have alergies (insane ichy inside of nose).

Do you know if you can get horsey anti-histamines??
 
As well as Shil's suggestions one of the most common causes of headshaking and largely overlooked is the browband being too short.
It has the effect of pulling the headpiece up onto the back of the horse's ears, irritating them.
To eliminate the browband see if you can get 2 adult sized fingers under it with ease when on the horse,
if so then you can cross it off the list, Oz
 
cremedemonthe said:
As well as Shil's suggestions one of the most common causes of headshaking and largely overlooked is the browband being too short.
It has the effect of pulling the headpiece up onto the back of the horse's ears, irritating them.
To eliminate the browband see if you can get 2 adult sized fingers under it with ease when on the horse,
if so then you can cross it off the list, Oz
Click to expand...

Thanks, it's not just when he's riden it just bothers him on warmer days, read above.

We will see how he gets on but it does seem to bother him so will consult vet if needed.
 
My horse has a pollen allergy. He gets Allergallay (sold by horsehealth) during the growing season and wears a nosenet in field and ridden. Helps enormously
 
Whilst I know many Peoria dislike doing so in conversation with my vet recently he said the first thing he recommends to people is to remove whiskers. This came about as my one eye horse showed a little irritation and he trimmed the few eye lashes he still had off. It worked for him!
 
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