mare suddenly become head shy - suspected fracture or tumour?

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mr_boony

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my mare who normally is extremely crazy to ride but gentle as can be to handle has suddenly become extremely head shy by that i mean if u stand on the near side and touch by her ears she will pull away and roll her eyes but once she realises wat u are doing will stand there and let u touch. if you do it on the other side she is fine. if you put the headcollar on she will let it go over her nose but when the headpiece goes over she freaks out and runs to the back of the stable shaking. i really dont think she is playing me up i think there is pain of some sort there as she has never ever done anything like this. plus this morning i went to work and came home to find her stable door open and the 5 bar heavy wooden gate to her paddock lying on the floor off it hinges with no damage to it, but the bolt on the door which is iron and welded on was popped off! this also is extremely unlike her, i have the vet coming out tomorrow but im wondering whether she is either going blind, has a tumour or fractured skull? when i bought her she had a massive lump under her left eye which looked like she had banged it in the horse box and after aout 4 weeks went down to just a small bump and has stayed like it since, could this have anything to do with it?
 
if she has caught her headcollar on something, or ever trodden on her leadrope for example, then she might have damaged her atlax/axis behind her ears. i always get a good McTimoney Chiro to check them there if this has happened.
as for stable door, 5-bar gate etc, i would want to get to the bottom of how this happened, sounds as if she panicked for some reason.
i had a horse go blind in 1 eye and she became much more careful, not less. hoope you get to the bottom of it, i would definitely get vet to check her over very carefully.
 
thank u, there is a low beam in her stable which isnt a problem unless she rears (which she does a lot when being ridden) she did whack it the first day i noticed she wouldnt have the headcollar on, she may have done it before. really odd about breaking out the stable, there was no sign of distress in the stable it was exactly as it always is, just that the bolt was broke and she wasnt in it!
 
I would echo what Kerilli says. The atlas is quite easy to put out particularly if the horse had taken a bang to the head. If you are riding her you may well notice a slight head tilt which is a typical symptom. x
 
If you are on a livery yard, maybe somebody has caused her to bang her head (I'm trying to be ultra careful here) and there are less 'sinister' reasons for her behaviour than a tumour. Not very well worded but the explanation might be more obvious, if this outside influence has occurred.
 
My mare took the door off its hinges, bolts and all when as I turned around to take her headcollar off she put her head over the door and caught the headcollar on the top bolt - one panic later and off she gwent with the door hanging off her chin. And she isn't very big or heavy. My friends horse took the door off during a nighttime colic attack.

I would guess something has happened to make her like this so suddenly. My girl was terribly headshy with her left ear, but fine with her right one. This was due to ill treatment. Now 15 years later she doesn't care what I do with it. She is partially blind in her left eye, but I can't say it has affected her when I handle her and she sometimes bumps into things on that side, so she certainly isn't super careful about where her head is in relation to things. Give your horse the benefit of the doubt and don't just think she is being naughty. If the vet can't find anything, and the chances are they won't, ask a physio to take a look.
 
thank u i keep her at home and theres only me and dad here and he dotes on her and would never hit her. she only has the head collar on to be lead out to the field i never leave it on in the stable have had horses before catch the headcollar on the door. it just seems very bizzarre she definately isnt being naughty its a definate pain in that area as its almost like shes saying dont touch me because it hurts. my old hunter had moonblindness in one eye but he was very chilled and trusted me completely to be on his left side, if it is a blindness with her shes not the trusting type and could imagine her freaking out if she couldnt see wat ur doing, will see wat the vet has to say.
 
Headshy - don't rule out ear problems. I had a youngster get ear mites, and literally overnight, he became absolutely impossible to bridle, headcollar, brush his head, etc. He would shoot backwards, turning away from me as he went.

Not sure why she would be breaking out, apart from suggestions others have made. Just thought I'd mention ears as another possible cause for her becoming headshy.

Hope it goes well with the vet today - please pop back and update us
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aural plaque is another cause of probs... not sure if it can come on so quickly, but if there is white scale in her ear that is another possible cause of problem. we have a mare in this situation. we cant put a bridle on her without taking it appart... another possibility!
 
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