Headshaking - ideas please?

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Jackobean

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Was wondering if anyone has some ideas.........

Have just acquired a new youngster - she's rising 4. Been broken in about 4m & is going really well. She's excellent in every way, the only thing is she head shakes - well, it's more like a exaggerated nod. It's really annoying & I can't work out why she may be doing it. Back, tack, etc all good. I know she is teething as we found 1 of her teeth the other day so it could explain it. I've never had a teething youngster do this b4 though?

The longer she is ridden, the more she does it which makes me wonder if she may be uncomfortable - but as mentioned tack/back ok. Maybe it's just a bad habit or the way she was broken in ?? Any suggestions ?? :confused:
 
My mare Fleur is a seasonal headshaker which I manage with a nose net, when I bought her though she had bad ear mites which the vet treated with some dog ear mite stuff, she nodded her head every stride & waggled her ears constantly when ridden, might be worth giving it a go?
 
My headshaker was much worse when he was younger and it also got worse the longer he was ridden.

His 'triggers' are mostly bright light (think of that bright white summer light or flashes of low winter sun) and flys/webs/hair etc touching his face unexpectedly.

He improved as he learnt to carry himself (and me!) better and also once I found a saddle that didn't restrict his shoulder at all. His original one was fine according to the two fitters who looked at it - he just didn't agree!

Nose nets made him worse (he hated the 'touch' sensation) as did a bitless bridle (too much pressure on the nose).



Having said all of that my friend's 3yo nods when her teeth are playing up; we leave her for a while til they settle and she's fine again.
 
I'd check that the browband isn't a bit short. I had a youngster that did this and she too got worse the longer she worked. We realised that the browband which had fitted her perfectly had got a bit tight at the base of her ears as she grew.
 
My mare used to head shake - got worse the longer she was ridden and she used to get extremely agitated by it.
I'd echo the post above and check that the brow band is loose enough. For a sensitive sort too big is infinatly preferable to a snug fit. For my mare the prob was around her nose. A nose net was a nightmare as it just had her flinging her nose on anything to rub and try and rid herself of it - wall, road, anything at hand! I tried that for all of 1 min! No noseband helped alot after trying all diff types. Nothing just seems to bother her less. I have also trimmed her whiskers right off. I know people prefer not to do this but she seems to be hypersensitve around her nose and keeping them trimmed keeps her happyer and less agitated by little itches. She also needs her teeth doing more than the recomended 9 months or so. At least every 6 months as she gets small sharp edges to her back teeth which really bother her. It has been about 7 months since changing the above and she is out of the habit now when being ridden, and I have introduced a broad loose caversson so that she can get used to it and understand that it won't cause discomfort. We do dressage so she needs to be able to tolerate and be comfortable wearing a noseband.
With headshakers it really seems to be a case of just working through the possibilities. Each horse seems to have a sep set of triggers!
 
Some youngsters will toss their heads as they get tired. You say she is "rising four" but that must mean she is only three and a bit :) and she has been backed four months and is still in work so she was backed at three?

You also say she gets worse the longer she is ridden. Maybe she is just tiring. I usually use an elasticated standing martingale on youngsters if they need one at all. I don't like the way a running martingale plays on the reins, but a standing can nip a habit (if that's what it is) in the bud.:)
 
Yeah she was backed 4m ago, so at 3. Early foal so is 4 in 2 months.

The head shaking starts almost as soon as she starts riding but does get worse as she gets tired. The noseband suggestion is interesting. I have her in a comfort bridle with a wide, padded noseband. Her previous owner however (who broke her in) didn't use a noseband so it could be irritating her I guess. Brow band is fine, if not a little on the large side so I don't think it's that.

Being the age she is & the amount of ridden work she has done she is obviously very unbalanced, I have wondered if this may well be contributing. she's never been schooled & the work I have been doing is in the school. She does head shake when hacking but not as much.
 
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