Headshaking or am I paranoid?

Caol Ila

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If you watch this video, you'll see that about six seconds in, Hermosa flicks her head. It's the only time she does it in the video.


However, she does this frequently and more emphatically when she's in the field. Especially these days. Right before foaling, when she was doing lots of anxious pacing, she did a lot of head flicking along with it, regardless of whether I was physically there or not. She does a lot of it now when I'm trying to get near her and Caso, and she's moving away from me and wants me to get lost. I've watched her on my camera, and she does it a fair bit when Caso is galloping off and she's running after him. She doesn't do it when she's relaxed, ambling about, grazing. Back when I could do things with her (LOL), she never ever did it with a headcollar on, not once, regardless of what we were doing, and as you can see, it's pretty minimal in the free lunging. She would do it in her old turnout field when under some pressure, like another horse moving her away from the gate. She'd calmly walk away from it, but flick her head a couple times. Could she be a headshaker? Is it just an anxiety thing, heightened by motherhood? Does anyone else's PRE do this? Should I flap?
 

Caol Ila

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Okay, cheers. I've never had a trigeminal headshaker or seen one in person and was thinking, is this how it starts?
 

paddy555

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Okay, cheers. I've never had a trigeminal headshaker or seen one in person and was thinking, is this how it starts?

no, your horse is just being a horse! She's not flicking her head or shaking it. This is nothing like head shaking.
 

Caol Ila

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In that video, she only does it once. Would you guys worry if it's fairly repetitive (under certain conditions)? I've never seen a horse do that as much as she does. It occurred more frequently a few days before she foaled, and she does it more often now than in pre-foal days.
 

ownedbyaconnie

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To me that is a “I’m so sassy and sexy” mane toss.

My pony does like a short sharp sideways flick which you can tell is completely uncontrollable when the pollen is affecting her. Then when her tooth was bad it was a full up down toss that would practically start with her nose on the floor and her head would come up almost to hit me in the face whilst riding.

Then I get a sassy flick like your video when I have the audacity to ask her to work nicely/leave her haynet/say no to dragging me to the grass verge/when another horse dares to come within 10 metres of her.
 

Caol Ila

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Gypsum's approach was usually a straightforward, "I am going to squash you." No sassy head tossing needed.

Is that Kira in the front paddock? That is exactly what Hermosa does.
 

milliepops

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Yes that's kira, Queen of the sassy hair toss.
I have got millie's headshake on video but it's on a stick somewhere not YouTube. It's a very quick flick straight up and down, uncontrolled and not deliberate.
 

Red-1

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Rigsby does it whenever I fail in some way, he squeals really loudly too.

It could be if breakfast is late, if I faff with the haynet, if I ask him to step back when he wants to leave the stable...

He too has a magnificent mane to dance.
 
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