horse head problems?

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SarahRicoh

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Iv noticed a few threads on this lower down but mines slightly differebt and didnt want to hijack other posts!

My new poby head shakes. He was very overweight and not been ridden for a long time and iv bought him back into work.

Iv looked at his teeth and they seem fine and he accepts a contact nicely.
Im thinking its either back or schooling issue?

I would say its his back but its not constant. It seems random but theres obviously a link. Im going to get his back done asap but im sure its not his back.

He literally throws his head in the air,tossing it quite violently and snatches the reins or hes the complete opposite and very overbent.
At first i thought it was excitability then stress now i have no clue as it seems random.

If he does it and i squeeze him forward and hold a firm contact he stops but drops his head and goes overbent.. I dont know if hes trying to avoid the bit or what? I thought it was because he was getting wound up behind my other horse,put him infront,no change :/ i thought it was cz i was restricting him/slowing him down. Loosened reins and let him canter on,still did it.

Yet other times he w t c fine. He does it at all gaits :/ any ideas?
 
Headshaking unfortunately is a very complex issue with many presumed causes.... I have had 3 headshakers - it is worth while cheking all the usual, back, teeth, tack, but IME this hasn't been the issue. At this time of year with all the harvesting going on, it can cause (in very basic terms) neural reflex activation in some of the nerves in the head/face, and trigger off a headshaking response (especially likely if your pony has runny eyes/noes/sneezes). Take a look at http://headshakingsyndrome.com/index.html

I have had some success in using a nose-net (best is Equilibrium), smearing vaseline around the nostrils in an attempt to minimise sensitisation, not riding in light wind, light rain, high pollen counts....

Get your vet to do a thorough check, this can be a very debilitating condition, but bear in mind some of the top competition horses are known headshakers, so good things can be acheived if you manage it ok!! Hope this helps.
 
I rode my friends horse which did exactly the same as yours I advised her to get the vet which she did and it turned out he had the navicular. So although he didn't look lame to the untrained eye he was obviously very sore especially in transitions and canter. He now has remedial shoeing and his schooling has improved greatly.
My own horse although didn't shake his head he started to refuse to do a circle on the right rein which was strange and I thought it was his back etc but after tests with the vet it turned out to be a foot imbalance so I always get the vet out now instead of back man/dentist etc as I would have wasted my money if I had.
:o
 
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