headshaking-update.

[maddielove]

Well so much for it being fixed

My horse has started headshakig again after what i thought was causing it had been fixed.
Her teeth were rasped last tuesday(she has a displaced tooth but this is now under control, she also had some sharp hooks too] and she workd brilliantly a day or two after that but it seems now she's back to headshaking again.
I've hopefully got the saddler coming out to check her next week but the thing is alot of people have said to me that it could be behavioral? I havent really thought that this could be a possibility but just wondering if anyone else has had a horse headshake for behavioral reasons?
She only does it when she is asked to go on the bit/when she would normally go on the bit.
thanks in advance

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Maddielove - this is such a complex area, I'd recommend that you do a bit of research on the internet. Some cases might be behavioural but there is a suspicion that a nerve in the face might be implicated and cold air can exacerbate. There's masses of research underway at the moment and I guess you need to find out what is at the root of Maddie's problem. Some do well in nose guards. Some aren't ridden in the summer when the pollen count is high. Some seem to grow out of it. Some get worse until they can't be ridden at all. It's a huge subject. I'd keep a diary of when/where/what for each time it happened or DIDN'T happen, then see what you can learn from that and if a pattern emerges, and then maybe consider a referral from your vet to a specialist centre? Good luck with it!

 

[kerilli]

totally agree with sunnymum. it is an affliction/disease, you have to remember that they really can't help it and aren't doing it to evade work/p*** you off (sometimes it is totally infuriating though).
some vets are totally flummoxed by it, because it is so diverse and so hard to manage. i would try a nose net to start with, as that works for many horses, and go on from there.

 

[steph21]

When I got my mare I was told that she has to wear the nose net otherwise she head shakes, me being me thought well she wont be wearing it with me

! well anyway after coming back from a hack with my hands red raw I decided to put it back on! she is very sensitive to the change in climate, in the summer I have to keep it on her unless its raining and gail force wind, and in the winter she doesnt need it at all. shes got very TB skin and is always funny about files and comes up in massive lumps if she gets bitten.

If i was you i would deffinatly try the nose net as its works for me!

 

[hannah87]

he could be headshaking for any number of reasons altho as u say he only does it wen u ask to comeon the bit - would indicate that he is finding it hard work or simply evading u by chucking his head. i have a headshaker who ive owned for 3 years, and have now come up with wat i think are his reasons for it.
firstly he very rarely headshakes in the winter, always summer, spring and little autumn. - this leads me to belive it is triggered by a soemthing abd he reacts to that , and its out of his control
secondly he is much better in a nosenet, which reinforces my belief or my first point.
he headshakes on hacks, wen schooling, in his stable etc - somedays he wont ever do it, others its a constant thing (altho it is fairly mild)
However, over the 3 years i have noticed that other factors contribute to it as wel which make me belive wat started as a reaction to pollen, sun etc is now an ingrained habit
for example, he is a v laid back horse but wen he does get upset, shking his head is the first thing he does - he hates having a bath so spends the whole time chuking his head up and down. i have worked a hell of a lot of his schooling rcently trying to build up correct muscles and have noticed a huge difference , his headshaking has lessened, and even in free walk doesnt do it as much. i could go on for longer but as u can see it is a complex thing and i would suggest really getting to know wat triggers your horse, and how u can help them.

 

[maddielove]

Thanks for the input guys.
I am pretty sure it's not pollen/allergy related as it's only when i ask her to go on the bit that she will do this so i was thinking when i ask her to work her back more her saddle could be restricting this?
She does headshake with the flies so will be getting a nose net for this, she did work on the bit when there was flies and shake her head a while ago but this shaking when i ask her to work came on quite suddenly and hasnt worsened or gotten much better, just stayed quite constant bar one day.
The saddler is coming next weekend so wil see what that brings. I tries her in a bit that she used to be in a while ago to see if there would be any difference from that but unforetuneatley not

thanks again x

 

[Lauren1234]

mine's got an allergy and his headshaking is really severe when headshaking, luckily it justr sounds like you have a horse thats a bit sensative to the seasonal changes etc.

 

[maddielove]

Never really thought about seasonal changes actually! thanks for that. I'm going to try riding bareback today.see how she is then!

 

[Halfpass]

Have you recently moved your horse to a different yard? A friend of mine had a head shaker that was quite severe but when she was sold and moved to a different area of the country it stopped completely leading them to believe it was probably some sort of pollen allergy.
They had her investigated for trigeminal nerve problems which is the nerve in the face this can be exaserbated when asking the horse to work 'correctly'.
I also know of another horse that suddenly started head shacking and after lots of investigation it turned out that the horse had fractured its skull when having fun out in the field.
I don't mean to worry you but these things are sorted out easier when diagnosed quicker so wanted to tell you my experiences.
I hope you get to the bottom of it. Keep us all updated.

 

[smellybelly]

i only joined to reply to this thread

i have 2 headshakers, one started 4 years ago, one started 2 years ago.

they have both been to veterinary hospitals, and the worse one has been to derek knottenbelt in liverpool.

the worse one, red, has trigemal neuralgia, its not a rare human disease. she's dangerous to ride when she's at her worst, which is from march to november. the period she's bad in is getting worse every year. she's had every treatment you can think of. she's bad on the lunge/in the field/ridden. the only place she doesn't headshake is in her stable.

the other one, isn't as bad. when he's bad he can be very bad but this is only a couple of weeks of the year in the late spring. his IS pollen related but it is thought that pollen has actually damaged the nerves in his head as he doesn't respond to any anti-allergy treatment.

as i say, the headshaking my two have is very much a disease rather than a biting issue. they don't respond to nose nets nor do they respond to any treatment. its very distressing and if the saddler says its not the saddle i'd get the vet involved asap so it can be sorted before the winter seems as the symptoms might go over the winter and come back next spring.

its getting much more common unfortunately and little can be done as there are so many causes. if you want to chat more send me a message or something as i say i've been through every treatment possible and am now trying something called equi-winner patches so fingers crossed they will work.

i feel sorry for you and your horse, its horrible

 

[maddielove]

well...rode bareback and no joy.
Had a think that it might still be her saddle and she's sore from it. THought about lunging her in the pessoa for a week most days to get her to loosen up and biuld up some more muscle which she appears to be losing from not working correctly.
I plan to invest in a nose net soon as i need on efor the flies so we'll see if that brings any joy and might surprise us!
Thank you all so much, you've been great!