Head tilting to left when ridden

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Emma1703

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My mare has just come back into work after three months off (long story short ligament strain in her back which is all fixed now). Before she went out of work she was holding her head to the left, she's only been back in work two days but she's still doing it. I think it may be partly learnt behaviour as was obviously relieving her head to some extent when her back was sore.
She does it with other riders too and on the lunge so I don't think it's something I'm doing. We're only doing walk and trot at the moment but when we're trotting it feels like she's pulling my right arm out its socket as she turns her head to the left so much.
Has anyone got any tips to stop this?
 
If she has only been back in work for 2 days after 3 months off I would be doing straight line work only in walk on a long rein encouraging her to stretch down and use herself, it will take some time for her to forget that the back hurt and start to work evenly,it will depend on how long she was carrying the injury as to how long it will take to recover.
I guess you have been doing some lunging as part of her rehab so she will be reasonably fit but it is not the same as carrying a rider especially following a back injury so go back a step and take time before pushing on in trot, time spent now walking and regaining her confidence will be worthwhile, if it continues get her hind legs looked at as sometimes it comes from not wanting to take the weight or push through behind rather than a simple schooling or evading issue.
 
Good suggestions and worth ruling out first. However one of my daughter's sensitive ISH's mirror's her head tilt. She has a bias to tilt her head because of significant injury when she was younger and he tends to mirror it. If you rule out anything else - look to rider straightness.
 
Her saddle and teeth were done just before she went out of work. The head tilt was happening before we found the problem which would suggest it isn't the saddle anyway and more learnt behaviour. Hopefully she will start to straighten up once she's back in a bit more work.
 
Shay said:
Good suggestions and worth ruling out first. However one of my daughter's sensitive ISH's mirror's her head tilt. She has a bias to tilt her head because of significant injury when she was younger and he tends to mirror it. If you rule out anything else - look to rider straightness.
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I agree with this. check rider straightness too.
 
If several different horses are displaying the same problem then I would definitely look to it being a rider fault.
 
It's likely to be linked to the injury .
I would be getting an assessment from a acpat trained Physio .
A quick fix while riding might be to raise the hand on opposite side for a few strides if the horse corrects itself praise it and return to riding normally .
 
I would always get a physio out after a horse has had time off due to an injury as they have often been compensating due to the injury which can cause a load of problems.
 
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