Horse scratching nose when riding???

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Kayleehan

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Hiya...
My horse has recently started wanting to constantly itch his nose on his leg and snorting/sneezing/headshaking but not really excessively. It's not a leg problem he itches in a different place all the time it's always his nose.
Thinking maybe it's the pollen as it's nearing summer? Didn't have this problem last summer. Nose nets? Alternatives to nose nets? Everything up to date.
 
You could try a nose net one of my horses does it but it didn't make any difference to him, I think his is nerve damage in his face his had 2 guttural pouch infections and vet said it can damage the the trigeminial nerve that runs down the face, it's worth looking at the fit of your bridle as it can pinch the ears or can put pressure on areas on the face which can cause head shaking.

My horse also has regular treatments from a sacro cranial therapist which really helps.
 
Mine gets this. He has allergies and then gets sinusitis and that causes very severe headshaking and the other symptoms you mentioned. It's successfully treated with a steroid called prednisolone.
I also use a mask on him, I don't know if it does much. The headshaking stops at dusk and starts up again at around 9am. Another thing that works when he is very bad is bringing him in to a stable and closing the top and bottom doors.

We don't know what causes the allergies, we assumed it was pollen. He didn't get it a couple of years ago and the difference between that year and the others was that he was given haylege instead of hay over the winter. So this winter he had haylege and he hasn't had headshaking so far this year. Last year it started at the end of February so it's looking good.

I don't know why it comes on in spring, summer and Autumn if it's caused by him getting hay at winter, but we'll see.

I don't know if any of this will be helpful to you, but that's been my experience.
 
I use a nose net and antihistamines all the way from March to sept. I’m convinced the hayfever gives him bad headaches as his behaviour gets really erratic if I don’t get on top of it in time (rodeo’d me off this week and generally anxious and tense.)
 
Can also be a calming signal. A reaction to stress like yawning or the famous licking and chewing. There’s a book about it by Rachel Draissma. Called Calming Signals I think.
 
My boy does this through summer, a nose net didnt help, nothing did. I tried piriton but he had a reaction to the piriton so now i just let him itch his nose when he needs to otherwise he starts trying to kick himself in the face. Not ideal but i think it is better to allow him rather than to force him to suffer until we find an answer.
 
Horsekaren said:
My boy does this through summer, a nose net didnt help, nothing did. I tried piriton but he had a reaction to the piriton so now i just let him itch his nose when he needs to otherwise he starts trying to kick himself in the face. Not ideal but i think it is better to allow him rather than to force him to suffer until we find an answer.
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The active ingredient in Piriton is Chlorphenamine maleate is it worth trying a different tablet with a different ingredient?
 
What type of bridle and nose-band does your horse get ridden in? Repeated nose scratching can be a sign of a tight or poorly fitted nose-band, which makes their faces go numb, they then scratch their nose to try and get the feeling back. Might be worth a look at general bridle fit if it doesn't improve soon.

Let us know how you get on.
 
Horsekaren said:
My boy does this through summer, a nose net didnt help, nothing did. I tried piriton but he had a reaction to the piriton so now i just let him itch his nose when he needs to otherwise he starts trying to kick himself in the face. Not ideal but i think it is better to allow him rather than to force him to suffer until we find an answer.
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It may not be allergy related if you read my post further up it can be the bridle putting pressure on the nerve in his face, chances are if he only does it when ridden it could be this.
 
Pinkvboots said:
It may not be allergy related if you read my post further up it can be the bridle putting pressure on the nerve in his face, chances are if he only does it when ridden it could be this.
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I doubt it would be his bridle, the noseband is very lose (last hole) i can get 3 -4 fingers under it easily. His bridle hasn't ever changed and he doesn't do it in winter. It doesnt help that he has his mustache which im sure scoops up flys ect.
Having seen his reaction to Piriton i'm a bit scared to try anything again :( Already doesnt seem as bad as last year so he may have moved away from a irritant (fingers crossed)
 
Interesting point about the bridle. Even before before mine got allergies he has always needed to itch his face a lot when his bridle was removed.
This is both in a normal bridle and a micklem.

I've recently started using a bridle without a noseband or browband and he doesn't itch in that.
 
Horsekaren said:
My boy does this through summer, a nose net didnt help, nothing did. I tried piriton but he had a reaction to the piriton so now i just let him itch his nose when he needs to otherwise he starts trying to kick himself in the face. Not ideal but i think it is better to allow him rather than to force him to suffer until we find an answer.
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If the only symptom is wanting to itch his nose I wouldn't medicate it. All medicines have side effects, some worse than others.
 
mule said:
Interesting point about the bridle. Even before before mine got allergies he has always needed to itch his face a lot when his bridle was removed.
This is both in a normal bridle and a micklem.

I've recently started using a bridle without a noseband or browband and he doesn't itch in that.
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I think i might remove the brow band and nose band to try it. Do you just use a standard bridle but removed these bits? Can you compete in low level shows in this type of bridle set up?
 
Horsekaren said:
I doubt it would be his bridle, the noseband is very lose (last hole) i can get 3 -4 fingers under it easily. His bridle hasn't ever changed and he doesn't do it in winter. It doesnt help that he has his mustache which im sure scoops up flys ect.
Having seen his reaction to Piriton i'm a bit scared to try anything again :( Already doesnt seem as bad as last year so he may have moved away from a irritant (fingers crossed)
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Its not always the nose band it often is a too tight brow band and head piece, it can often be the buckles that sit on the side of the bridle, they should be at eye level not high up as there is a bone that sticks out putting pressure there can cause issues, it's worth checking it can make a massive difference to some horses, my other horse is not sensitive to the bridle at all but the other one will let you know if it's not right.
 
Horsekaren said:
I think i might remove the brow band and nose band to try it. Do you just use a standard bridle but removed these bits? Can you compete in low level shows in this type of bridle set up?
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It's actually a nylon strap connected to a bit. It's hard to explain but I'll take a photo and upload it today. I'm sure you could make it work with a normal bridle too.
I think for showjumping and xc you can use any type of bridle but you need a noseband for dressage.
 
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