Headshacker - how much bad luck can one have?

[splashgirl45]

Don’t be too gloomy , as it’s just started it could be pollen related. As an example I had owned my mare for 2 years with no signs of headshaking, after moving to a new yard she started it, she was a little bit better with a nose net during the summer and didn’t need it during the winter . This carried on for 8 years and I discovered it was the rape that affected her, we had rape fields round our grazing and where we hacked and I suspected that it was the cause.. I had to move to another yard as ours was sold for development , she stopped headshaking straight away so I assume it was because there were no rape fields in the area…

 

[meleeka]

I had a seasonal headshaker. He was on Loretadine (sp?). i think the dose was 1 tablet per 100kgs. They are cheap online in bulk.

 

[ALFF]

Did you have him vetted when buying him (I’m assuming it’s a yes as he was just under £10k). I would run the bloods just to be sure that they hadn’t given him something to mask it for the trial week…

Yes he passed a five stage vetting with flying colours. He was five days into the trial week and in my care when he was vetted so any drugs given before would have likely worn off.

 

[irishdraft]

I was looking up head shaking re a fairly new purchased horse & did read that magnesium in the diet has been found to help in some cases. This could be completely wrong I'm not up on the problem.

 

[Flyermc]

If this was my horse

1. run bloods, you never know what could have been given and would help with return or getting money back if something shows. The fact your horse has got gradually worse may indicate drugs wearing off?
2. Find previous owners if you can (passport, internet searches of the horses name etc) see if you can find any previous history as this could save vets bills/investigations if the horse has already had investigations.
3. Contact vetting vet (long shot) but worth asking if they noticed anything
4. Remember that if you are insured, this will now be recorded and you'll have a year if you want to investigate
5. Have a look on dodgy dealers to see if your dealer has any history of selling dodgy horses
6. Check how the horse was sold (did the dealer own the horse or selling on behalf of the owner?) this might effect the outcome

 

[SEL]

My hayfever is horrendous this year. I'm rattling with tablets and they take 3-4 days to kick in. Today they just aren't working and I'm blaming the elder coming into flower.

The littlest pony is a tree pollen sufferer and gets piriton after every ride (she falls asleep if she has it before) and that helps the head flicking. I notice she takes herself into the shade of the shelter when she's really struggling. It was cooler this morning and she wanted a canter but when it's hot I let her choose her pace. She gets 4-5 piriton but my old boy needed 20 twice a day!

I absolutely get why you're upset (been there with the dashed dreams) but given how horrible my own hayfever is at the moment I'd try piriton and see how your horse gets on.

 

[Sossigpoker]

If you're not feeding salt and magnesium, you should. You need those to balance the potassium in the green grass. My boy is a pollen triggered HS , although his HS takes mostly the form of snorting and rubbing his nose.
He's in a Shakeaze nose net which seems to help a bit , as well as the magnesium and salt

 

[maya2008]

Just a thought also - one of our Welshies was sold to us as having summer allergies. At the first yard the previous owners were at, she needed piriton for part of the summer. They moved, no allergies. Took her back to old yard for an in-hand show… coughing again. Came home, fine. She came here…no allergies. Not a sniffle. So if all else fails, try a different yard?

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I was looking up head shaking re a fairly new purchased horse & did read that magnesium in the diet has been found to help in some cases. This could be completely wrong I'm not up on the problem.

^^^ Yes when mine was trigeminal my vet did say this may help (sadly it didn't) but it has to be the "right" Magnesium and I cannot for the life of me remember which it was. There are two sorts.............. sorry.

Also particularly where we are in the Westcountry (Devon) there is a general deficiency of this mineral in the soil apparently, my vet said, and horses often need supplementary magnesium to make up for this.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

thank you for your reply, your story may not be the happiest but gives me the sense you understand what's going through my head x
My boy hasn't gotten that bad, so I am still praying it's not trigeminal as I am now aware of the mysterious and incurable nature of it

Sorry if appearing to spread doom and gloom. This is why I think you need a firmer diagnosis. Difficult I know, but trigeminal headshaking is fairly easy to spot if you know what to look for and I do think you need to be able to eliminate this at the earliest stage you can for your own peace of mind.

Mine has asthma - and so I'm having to research various stuff. Interestingly, I came across someone who has found that the same anti-inflammatory treatments that were helping hers with arthritis, were also having a noticeable improvement on her horse's breathing, so it might be worth researching along that line??

For sure, I'd try a nose-net to start with. That would be a start. It is easy to spend a fortune on supplements and for mine ventilpulmin did nothing!

 

[eggs]

It does sound like this is seasonal head shaking. If it is then it is very likely that the horse did not exhibit any symptoms at the sales livery yard. I bought a horse many years ago in November who turned out to be a head shaker the following spring. He had a very good verifiable competition record for the previous years (this was in the days before you could compete with a nose net) so it is very unlikely that he was head shaking then. He was seven when I bought him and a vet subsequently told me that a lot of horses don't exhibit signs until they are 8 or so.

For him rape was a definite trigger and the yard I was at was surrounded by rape fields. Once I moved him his head shaking was much improved. I tried all sorts of things but for him a nose net was a game changer and as he was a seasonal head shaker I only had to use it during the summer months.

It was strange through as I have permission to ride in a local farmer's fields. If I rode on the road beside the field he didn't headshake but when I rode on the field margin beside the road he did headshake - there was a hedge between the two but I never did figure out what was so different being about 2 metres apart.

 

[MystieMoo]

Hello all

Hope it's OK to share a piece of despair.

I've had my horse for a month and a half now, following a year of searching and multiple failed vettings, hours travelling and viewings.

Ive shared and ridden others but this is my first solo ownership horse, a dream that I've been saving for many years. This horse cost me just under 10k which I thought I was lucky for, a stretch of my budget.

This horse came to me on a weeks trial from a reputable sales livery yard. On the last day of trial it toss his head in the air a bit while I was riding. I didn't think much of it, I asked the seller about this and they said they haven't done this before. I truested the seller and told myself it was a matter of dentist and at the time was pretty unfamiliar to headshaking as a whole, and didn't have the luxury of time to assess it. The dentist came and he was back to normal for a bit.

He proceeded to headshake intermittently, would maybe do the odd day but nothing severe so I invested in his comfort like using a micklem bridle and a poll guard which seemed to help and he rode peacefully a few times. Though now looking back it may just have been a coincidence.

Come to month of May, he started doing it more and more, whenever lunged or ridden. I stopped riding and lunged him gently and over poles to keep him strong.

By this point I was starting to research headshaking, with increasing concern.
I went through all the obvious, dentist, saddler, chiro for any soreness, farrier, to no avail. I tried him on anti histamines for a day and a half to rule out allergies with minimal effect. I tried a nose net which also had minimal impact.
One desperate day last week I called my vet for an opinion, already mourning the costs of vet intervention for a horse I have just got, investing so much of my savings into. They said to keep a diary and gradually try things to see what might be the cause, and how to manage him.

This horse is 9 years old, they said if its trigeminal mediated and not allergy related headshaking, then he's likely to have had symptoms before.

So the two possibilities are, he's been sold to me without disclosure of trigeminal mediated headshaking (with a much higher price than he should) or he is allergic to something he hasn't encountered before (that isn't affected by the anti histamines I've already tried him on).

His yard was not a good place and I was looking to move him; took him to a new yard yesterday which might tell us more, if it was an allergy on the other place then he may stop.

I've though about telling the seller who had him briefly on sales livery but to be frank in the horse selling community, people only seem to get abuse when they ask something unpalatable. I don't think she will be at all interested in helping in any way. I have no hope whatsoever of seeing any compensation however unfair or wrong that may be.

I just can't believe that after all the searching and money saving, this dream has become such a nightmare. I picked a healthy fit horse, five stage vetted him, trialled him, did everything I could think of to get a good one, and am now thinking he'll have to be put to sleep within weeks if this doesn't resolve and I can't ride him. Or even if it does resolve, he'll be practically unsellable as I'll have to disclose this on any future sale. I have spent so much money on all this as well, it will take me years to save it back. How much bad luck can a person have? Is this just a sign that I should give up on horses for good?

I've not had a head-shaker, but I can tell you that the pollen is horribly high at the moment as it's driving me mad and I'm on anti-histamines. A few days back, I felt quite under the weather with it and wondered if I was heading towards Covid again.

Definitely give him some good amount of time on the anti-histamines and follow the good advice people have given here.

Good luck. Try not to worry too much at this point and keep us updated

 

[ALFF]

thank you all, you have been wonderfully supportive and given me some hope. He is mysteriously head shaking about half as much at the new yard, though still does it. I'm going to do a Loradatine trial for 2 weeks x also will turn him out in a mask, try a different nose net and add some salt to his diet. Will update soon x

 

[Zoeypxo]

I saw a horse advertised for loan the other day who’s headshaking is controlled by using a titanium mask and some sunglasses
(eVysor Equine Goggles)

 

[w1bbler]

Haven't read all the replies but a friends horse was completely cured when they moved to a track livery. She eventually worked out he could not tolerate spring grass. Could happily graze all winter, but come spring had to be grass free.

 

[Britestar]

Friends horse started in November last year, after 18 months of ownership.

Not classic nose rubbing, head up and down, more an irritation had to the side.
Never did it outside or in the stable, but did get upset when tied up.
Had saddle, teeth (x2), changed bridle, changed bit (x about 5), bute trial, massage, osteo, chiro and nothing made that much difference.

Really felt it was an irritation, so decided to hog her. Gets her forelock plaited for riding and its almost stopped completely. Was she annoyed by her mane touching her ears???

If she offers to shake, a quick bit of lateral work, or change of pace to get her listening and it stops. (That didn't work before).

Most random thing ever.

 

[pastit]

I also suggest wetting the nose net - catches more pollen - at least I like to think so. You can experiment with an old pair of tights to see if a net would make a difference. I had a headshaker who was not seasonal. Turns out at age 6 he had arthritic changes in C6 and C7. In his teens he got coffin joint arthritis in one of his forelegs which was the start of the end. But he was manageable and had a successful competing career. We kept him as fit as possible to build muscle to support his joints, and accepted that some days he needed downtime. Hard ground was a no-no for him for example, so we did dressage on a surface. He had added magnesium and salt in the summer and regular physio - headshaking is tough on the neck and back. He tried his hardest to please when he could - some days I just felt so sorry for him. So I rather hope that yours is just seasonal, if it continues have a look at the rest of the body - there is something that makes that trigeminal nerve fire and I'm not sure I believe that it's something he was born with and just happens..

 

[EventingMum]

If it is trigeminal head shaking it could be sheer bad luck it has just started, it has to start sometime so there is no saying it was present before. Hopefully it is a seasonal thing that can be managed.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Using a Cranial therapist can help with head shaking if you can find one in your area.

 

[webble]

How old is he out if interest? From memory trigeminal headshakers start on average about 7 or 8 and it is more common is geldings.

Mine started in May but progressed over the years to all year round including when not ridden

 

[Hormonal Filly]

Is the nose net big enough? My mare head shakes due to pollen, last year a nose net helped but didn’t totally stop it.

My new yard is in the middle of so many crops, beautiful but the worst thing for pollen allergies. I switched to a much bigger nose net, fully covering (and it’s very deep) both nostrils and she hasn’t head shook once since. I accidentally forgot to put the nose net on one ride a couple of weeks ago, instantly head shook and I had to turn around. My first nose net was just too small.

You can also get bucket type ones for when you ride.

 

[WestCoast]

When I first had my mare after a few weeks she started to flip her nose up coming home out hacking. I was deeply concerned that I’d bought a head shaker.

It’s is possible that her bridle or saddle were bothering her - I swapped to a Henry James headpiece with the cutout poll and very soft fly ears and got a sheepskin saddle pad. But I honestly think that she’d been ridden by someone who overdid the contact and she’d learnt to do it when she was excited or getting tired to release the pressure (she also didn’t have the best looked after teeth when I first had her). Anyhow I learnt to put my legs on and not give her anything to pull against when she started it. She still can pull down the reins on occasion but it’s nearly 2 years later and we’ve gone through two more spring pollen seasons and she’s been fine.

If youre not confident to throw the reins at her and out your legs on yourself it might be worth getting someone experienced to hack her out a few times.

 

[PurBee]

If the head-shaking is caused by light sensitivity, as some have mentioned their is/was - one consideration not yet mentioned is that ryegrass has photo-sensitising compounds in it. All horses that are affected by brighter light days/spring/summer months with headshaking need to be taken off of ryegrass hay/haylage and grazing, to eliminate possible PS.

The photo-sensitising compounds in that specieis of grass, circulate in the bloodstream and cause the skin to be super-sensitive, because UV light reacts with the PS compounds flowing just under their skin in the blood, causing reactive sensitivity. Mostly thin skin areas, especially non-hair/less-hairy places like their muzzles and face.

The effect of photosensitising compounds is well known in the cattle industry, where they feed them on ryegrass leys to fatten them up - so the dairy indistry have many more informational articles on the condition than you’ll find in the equine sector - although thankfully PS sensitivity in horses and the reasons for it are starting to gain traction in equine vet/nutritional circles. Some common antibiotics vets use also contain PS compounds, so if a horse develops head-shaking or skin /light sensitivity while on them or after, they are the likely cause.

The PS compounds in ryegrass inflame the skin - so touch is sensitised, and the bare skin parts are especially sensitive due to UV light. Light-skinned horses are really worse affected, but all skinned horses can have an inflamed effect its just easier to see on white nose snips because they get sunburnt and go crusty/weepy. But darker skinned horses can be feeling it too.

Many people will think its other causes ‘outside’ because the symptoms start ‘outside’ or in spring/summer - whereas UV is everywhere outside, and especially strong in summer, just like pollen - so its really worth considering ryegrass hay/grass diet intake and remove it completely in a headshaker Or a suspected allergy horse.

Ryegrass is soooo very common in horse hays now , im in ireland and cannot find a supplier without ryegrass in the mix.

We have to pull them off and stop feeding all ryegrass to these affected horses to allow the photo-sensitising compounds to clear from their bloodstream via the liver.
If they remain on ryegrass the PS compounds 24/7 - despite the liver always clearing them, re-feeding inntroduces more, so there’s always a flow of PS compounds in the blood, that reacts to UV light.

Change of yards changing symptoms fits with the new yard feeding a different mix of hay to the old yard. Its not necessarily to do with sugary grass/pollen/environmental toxins - it could be as simple as a high PS blood count, due to the hay/forage fed - which, as i said, the cattle industry know a lot about, and hence why theres many GM ryegrass strains being developed, to alter the level of PS in it.

As an aside, laminitis in cows often goes hand-in-hand with PS UV light inflammation skin symptoms - because the PS compounds are circulating in the blood and cause inflammation, they often list ’coronary band inflammation’ in cows as a symptom of Photosensitivity (caused commonly by ryegrass in that industry).

For any suspected allergies/skin issues/touch sensitivity/laminitis - its best to check hay and grazing source to at least elminiate ALL ryegrass PS compounds and wait 2 weeks for the PS compounds to completely clear from their blood, then re-assess symptoms.

I’ve been through the PS symptoms with mine and it took years for me to finally nail-down the cause.

I dont know yet whether theres more PS compounds in ryegrass fresh grazing grass, or whether theres more in the stemmy seed-head hay, i need to dig really deep to find good quality research. My own horses got PS symptoms from the long stemmy hay/haylage. Cows are known to get it from their (very lush long) grazing, so potentially there’s no difference - anecdotally - so its best to avoid ryegrass paddocks aswell as ryegrass hay, if a horse has these clusters of symptoms like allergy/light issues/laminitis/skin itching/touch sensitivity. Just rule it our so the photosensitivity diagnoses can be eliminated completely knowing theyre not eating any PS compounds.

Ryegrass as a small % of the diet is ok in an otherwise healthy horse, but as many hays are 70% ryegrass with some feacues thrown in - thats a lot of PS compounds constantly flowing through their system, and UV light - which even exists on cloudy days, just not as strong as clear days - is THE trigger for PS compounds to produce inflammatory symptoms.

 

[Snapshot2016]

NAF do a supplement called shake relief, The rep said she had one horse trialled on it who was about to be PTS and it saved its life! could be worth a try

 

[paddy555]

Because this has started in May it really does sound like an allergy of some sort, tree pollen can cause problems so can rape if you have any growing nearby.

started for us in May as well, always in the same places. Took a while to realise that the gorse had completely overgrown in many places (like around 6 ft high) their heads were perfectly in line with the gorse flowers and pollen. Affected both horses who were ridden together so definitely allergy.

This seems to be a very bad year for pollen, a lot of vegetation seems to have got a "boost" from last years drought and has gone into overdrive (a bit like sycamores)
I find a bucket nosenet plus a full length riding facemask helps. Also carefully selecting riding areas out of overgrown, or trees hanging over the road areas.

 

[Replay]

If the head-shaking is caused by light sensitivity, as some have mentioned their is/was - one consideration not yet mentioned is that ryegrass has photo-sensitising compounds in it. All horses that are affected by brighter light days/spring/summer months with headshaking need to be taken off of ryegrass hay/haylage and grazing, to eliminate possible PS.

The photo-sensitising compounds in that specieis of grass, circulate in the bloodstream and cause the skin to be super-sensitive, because UV light reacts with the PS compounds flowing just under their skin in the blood, causing reactive sensitivity. Mostly thin skin areas, especially non-hair/less-hairy places like their muzzles and face.

The effect of photosensitising compounds is well known in the cattle industry, where they feed them on ryegrass leys to fatten them up - so the dairy indistry have many more informational articles on the condition than you’ll find in the equine sector - although thankfully PS sensitivity in horses and the reasons for it are starting to gain traction in equine vet/nutritional circles. Some common antibiotics vets use also contain PS compounds, so if a horse develops head-shaking or skin /light sensitivity while on them or after, they are the likely cause.

The PS compounds in ryegrass inflame the skin - so touch is sensitised, and the bare skin parts are especially sensitive due to UV light. Light-skinned horses are really worse affected, but all skinned horses can have an inflamed effect its just easier to see on white nose snips because they get sunburnt and go crusty/weepy. But darker skinned horses can be feeling it too.

Many people will think its other causes ‘outside’ because the symptoms start ‘outside’ or in spring/summer - whereas UV is everywhere outside, and especially strong in summer, just like pollen - so its really worth considering ryegrass hay/grass diet intake and remove it completely in a headshaker Or a suspected allergy horse.

Ryegrass is soooo very common in horse hays now , im in ireland and cannot find a supplier without ryegrass in the mix.

We have to pull them off and stop feeding all ryegrass to these affected horses to allow the photo-sensitising compounds to clear from their bloodstream via the liver.
If they remain on ryegrass the PS compounds 24/7 - despite the liver always clearing them, re-feeding inntroduces more, so there’s always a flow of PS compounds in the blood, that reacts to UV light.

Change of yards changing symptoms fits with the new yard feeding a different mix of hay to the old yard. Its not necessarily to do with sugary grass/pollen/environmental toxins - it could be as simple as a high PS blood count, due to the hay/forage fed - which, as i said, the cattle industry know a lot about, and hence why theres many GM ryegrass strains being developed, to alter the level of PS in it.

As an aside, laminitis in cows often goes hand-in-hand with PS UV light inflammation skin symptoms - because the PS compounds are circulating in the blood and cause inflammation, they often list ’coronary band inflammation’ in cows as a symptom of Photosensitivity (caused commonly by ryegrass in that industry).

For any suspected allergies/skin issues/touch sensitivity/laminitis - its best to check hay and grazing source to at least elminiate ALL ryegrass PS compounds and wait 2 weeks for the PS compounds to completely clear from their blood, then re-assess symptoms.

I’ve been through the PS symptoms with mine and it took years for me to finally nail-down the cause.

I dont know yet whether theres more PS compounds in ryegrass fresh grazing grass, or whether theres more in the stemmy seed-head hay, i need to dig really deep to find good quality research. My own horses got PS symptoms from the long stemmy hay/haylage. Cows are known to get it from their (very lush long) grazing, so potentially there’s no difference - anecdotally - so its best to avoid ryegrass paddocks aswell as ryegrass hay, if a horse has these clusters of symptoms like allergy/light issues/laminitis/skin itching/touch sensitivity. Just rule it our so the photosensitivity diagnoses can be eliminated completely knowing theyre not eating any PS compounds.

Ryegrass as a small % of the diet is ok in an otherwise healthy horse, but as many hays are 70% ryegrass with some feacues thrown in - thats a lot of PS compounds constantly flowing through their system, and UV light - which even exists on cloudy days, just not as strong as clear days - is THE trigger for PS compounds to produce inflammatory symptoms.

@PurBee This describes my horse 100%. I have spent months trying to solve. Have changed his grazing (he spent 3 weeks having overnight turnout in a field that was predominately rye and had clover in it, plus he was having alfa a oil as his only bucket feed.) I suspected the grazing was causing problems so changed field, changed hard feed, changed chaff, changed hay, even tried moving to a livery yard for 3 weeks..... Sometimes he seems fine (eg in American barn - no UV light) But he is ultra sensitive to touch and saddle gives him sore back (many saddle fitter visits and different saddles). He has become very grumpy / border line aggressive. UV sensitive. Bloods showed high liver enzymes so we put him on milk thistle. He is black / dark brown all over - no white bits. This has been going on for 6 months now, and I cannot get on top of it.

 

[PurBee]

@PurBee This describes my horse 100%. I have spent months trying to solve. Have changed his grazing (he spent 3 weeks having overnight turnout in a field that was predominately rye and had clover in it, plus he was having alfa a oil as his only bucket feed.) I suspected the grazing was causing problems so changed field, changed hard feed, changed chaff, changed hay, even tried moving to a livery yard for 3 weeks..... Sometimes he seems fine (eg in American barn - no UV light) But he is ultra sensitive to touch and saddle gives him sore back (many saddle fitter visits and different saddles). He has become very grumpy / border line aggressive. UV sensitive. Bloods showed high liver enzymes so we put him on milk thistle. He is black / dark brown all over - no white bits. This has been going on for 6 months now, and I cannot get on top of it.

The UV sensitising compounds eventually clear via the liver, only when the source of photosensitising agents are removed. Thus, if the horse has a pre-existing liver issue, it will be harder for the liver to clear the PS compounds, and will take longer. The liver can be compromised through dealing in the past with ragwort, or with plant toxins, or with moulds from feeds, usually hay. Ragwort poisoning episodes kills liver cells always making a liver that bit more ccompromised anyway, and those horses should avoid ryegrasses, as they wont have the capacity to clear PS compounds from the rye quickly enough causing a build-up in circulating blood.

My gelding got an acute attack of PS years ago, primarily because he ate poisonous buttercup in haylage, which compromised his liver function dealing with the toxins, which then went on to cause a secondary UV photosensitivity symptoms, because he was also eating rye mix haylage, so unable to filter-out adequately the rye PS compounds due to his compromised liver. The hives were huge, weeping. Inflammation went haywire. He decided himself to stay in the shade. Took weeks to filter out and recover fully.

Your boy having been on clover and rye fields, potentially has liver compromise due to the legume clovers, which then causes a back-up in the blood of PS compounds from the rye. Clover is known to grow moulds which are toxic to horses, especially long-growth clover. Moulds compromise their gut function and liver. If he has been off all legume and ryegrass feeds, stick with that, and its great youre using milk thistle to help the liver. There’s are some equine liver strengthening and detoxifying herb mixes available you may consider trying.

Also worth considering popping him on a gut bacteria supplement to aid immune system regulation and digestion after potential mould exposure. There‘s a mix prebiotic from equibiome i use and like to give whenever health issues crop up: https://www.equibiome.org/product-page/equibiome-prebiotic.
I also like protexin gut supplements.


With him being dark skinned he wont be so obviously seen visually to be suffering from PS toxicity as his skin is unlikely to burn easily being black. Yet being sensitive to grooming, touch, tack pressure is a sign there’s a full body skin inflammation occurring and PS sensitivity can affect the whole skin of the body.

Im not 100% anti ryegrass for horses, but for horses that have health issues, causes unknown, then i’d try to keep ryegrass out of the diet so the PS effects dont complicate matters.

Legume alfalfa is high protein but not know for mould issues, unless made badly and baled damp. Whereas clover actively growing in fields fresh can develop equine toxic moulds that then will compromise liver/gut. Its usually the lower leaves of long clover that will develop mould, and as horses are able to graze tight, unlike cows, horses are more susceptible to eating those lower clover leaves. Cow fields of ryegrass and clover are truly the worst for a horse. Well done for following you gut and pulling him off.

If you can night graze him and barn shelter him in the day, that will help the skin sensitivity calm down by reducing exposure to UV rays, while the body clears toxins and PS compounds. Be strict about cutting-out all ryegrasses from feed, and be strict about hay quality smelling good and being completely mould-free while his liver enzymes are raised. You could try timothy haylage from well-known uk suppliers if your hay quality is borderline, as well-made haylage is mould-free. Unfortunately i cant recommend a ryegrass-free mixed grass haylage supplier from a good uk brand, as one of them included buttercups which started my geldings own issues. Be very careful of mixed grass haylages, as buttercups are very common in hay fields, and are ONLY safe to ingest when fully dried in hay. In haylage the toxins remain because the forage is baled damp to ferment it.

 

[soloequestrian]

My boy started headshaking when he was about 12 - I'd had him for a couple of years by then so I know it was new for him, and his environment hadn't changed. He wears a nose net but by accident I found that a fly mask has the same effect. He has a full bucket-type nose net for schooling. Could you try starting with the bucket net plus a fly mask and see if the total coverage helps? I'm not sure what triggers mine but it doesn't seem to be pollen related. He hates things hitting his face (the first time he did it was during a hail storm), doesn't like wind and I think bright sunlight maybe has an effect too. Now he has a nose net all the time (ridden) you wouldn't know that he has a problem.

 

[ALFF]

Hello all

I thought I'd update. I've tried a nose net to ride him and also put him on a fly mask for the turnout pen. His headshaking reduced to almost zero in the last 1.5 months, I even forgot it and started targeting his other problems like being spooky as hell in new yard, having a dull coat and not putting on condition. I was about to try some ulcer stuff on him to see if it helped with that (lot cheaper to try than to scope him).

But I gave him any ulcer stuff, this week the headshaking is well back. There have been no changes to his life and suddenly he struggles to keep a canter with so much tossing nose net suddenly not effective.

For me, life has been generally too much and I don't think I can handle this too. My cat just died and I am having all sort of issues with family.

I can't be funding a million vet visits, having just set my wallet on fire with ulcer sachets and before that a yard move, and before some other stuff.. You get the picture.


What's the way out of this that's best for all involved. I am not coping here.

Thanks xxx

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Sorry your having such a hard time I know it can be tough vets and treatment is not cheap, I would seriously consider having your horse checked for ulcers if you are suspecting that because that can cause all kinds of things.

Also is the tossing only in canter?

Could it be saddle or back teeth even I know it's all money but all worth checking before getting a vet.

Also feeding magnesium this time of year can help with head shaking.