Is this head shaking?

I

Ilovefoals

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I got my boy this time last year and the weather was quite hot. We have these big black bugs up here that seem to be around for a few weeks at a time then disappear. He really became agitated around them, throwing his head and doing a lot of snorting. The vet saw him for something else and commented on his snorting and head tossing but it resolved once the weather became cooler and the bugs disappeared.

Fast forward to this year. The weather has been rubbish and 2 weeks ago I came off and broke my collar bone so he's had time off. My instructor came to ride him on sat and it was hot and the bugs were out. He was awful. Tossing his head, trying to rub his nose on his leg, constant snorting. Then the same yesterday. He was so upset that he was walking into the fence and when trotting was virtually unsteerable :( I'm really upset and worried. These bugs are not like flies. They don't gather round his face like flies do. They are literally just aimlessly flying about and mating but there are a lot of them hanging in the air. So I'm not sure what to make of it. Is he just reacting to them? Is this proper head shaking? I don't know anything about the condition unfortunately. Any experiences or advice?
 
My new section d does this and we too have big ugly dangly legged flies bumping around, the nose rubbing is more pollen related I would suggest. I just put her in a nose net and she was 80% better. Pollen will pass, anything I have ridden with this issue is worse in may/June with the tree pollen. Hopefully yours is the same, head shaking 'syndrome' is much worse and can be totally debilitating.
 
I remember from last year that when the weather cooled and the bugs were gone it stopped and he was fine after having winter off and coming back into work. Hoping that he will go back to normal soon as its awful to watch :(
 
I think coupled with the nose rubbing it could well be head shaking. However, I know which bugs you are talking about and they have made our pony flick his head in a similar way to head shaking.

Try a nose net as one head shaker I had was totally "cured" when ridden in one. Another I knew was just as bad with a nose net on. Has your horse always rubbed his nose on his knee?
 
Out hacking he will want to stop and rub his nose and has always snorted a lot as well out hacking regardless of time of year. He's never wanted to rub his nose in the school. It's quite hard to tell what's usual for him as tho I've had him a year he was off most of last summer with a foot abscess that wouldn't drain. Then he grew so much he had 4 months off over winter. I watched him in the field the other day and even with a mask on he was flinging his head and walking across the field with his head so high it was practically upside down :( I'm going to get a nose net today for instructor to ride with tomorrow. Forecast is colder and wet so hoping no bugs around and we can see if they are the issue.
 
It's the shear mass that upsets horses, they really don't mean any harm, they're just so caught up in the short cycle of feeding and mating. My lad isn't that keen on them, our lot are late this year (usually see them at the beginning of the month, I call them May flies although that's another insects name).
 
Shadeyoak said:
Is this your pest?

http://www.uksafari.com/stmarksfly.htm

If it is, then they disappear soon, and things will go back to normal.
Click to expand...

Wierd - I'm SURE we don't have those down here (although we have most other nasty bugs!) I'm really upset about this for Ilovefoals, because her big baby is one of mine - and he only ever showed a VERY brief period of 'headshaking' - and that was when he managed to cut his tongue! He IS a 'sensitive' chap (despite being a 17.1 pure-bred ID) - he didn't like seeing himself in the mirror when he first went into an indoor! :rolleyes:)
 
Could be either tbh, but the nose rubbinbg does ring slight alarm bells to me...

Does he do it in the field too?

Also are the head flicks vertical, as in sharp movements up and down? If so that is head shaking.

I hacked out a head shaker for a friend for a couple of months and the movements he made were very different to a horse just being irritated by flys. He would only do it from may - oct but when it was bad he was very hard to ride.
 
Mine will snort and flick his head when he gets hit by a bug, and to be honest it's more of an evasion tactic, as he doesn't do it at all when he's concentrating!! He's better in a fly veil, so might be worth trying one!
 
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