New horse heading shaking?

[tashcat]

Hi all,

Recently our new boy has arrived - he's 11 and retired from racing about 5 years ago. He's been an absolute sweetheart so far, and settled in nicely.

However he has taken to head shaking. He shakes his head up and down in quite a steady but irritated fashion. I noticed it first in the field, but he seems to be doing it in the stable too. He rarely does it when riding, but if he does mess with his head its a quicker motion and I've assumed its more riding and bit related.

He has moved nearly 300 miles South to get to us, so I've been questioning whether pollen is upsetting him. Also been suggested are flies (which haven't noticeably been seen, but could be very small ones?), and teeth problems. Teeth last done in the summer, I believe he had an absence a few years ago if that is relevant. He apparently also had some really bad tension in his poll a couple of years ago, which was treated with physio. He hasn't been here long - could it be stress?

Any of these sound logical or any ideas what this could be, and how I could eliminate things to find out? I want to make sure he's comfortable and I'm not missing anything. The vet is coming on friday for a general check up so will of course be addressing my concerns with him!

Tea and biscuits for all those getting this far!

 

[eggs]

Could be that he is a headshaker and pollen could be a trigger which is further forward in the south. it is certainly not uncommon for a headshaker to be sold during the winter months when they are less likely to headshake.

My first two thoughts when I started to read your post describing his actions that it is likely to be either headshaking although riding does usually make it worse or flies.

 

[Dazed'n'confused]

It is strange that he does it less when being ridden, however head shaking is such a minefield nothing would surprise me!
My advice would be to keep a diary - time of day you work him & his response, weather conditions, flies seen/not seen, level of distress he's showing at different times/weather conditions & anything else that grabs your attention!
This helps the vet build a picture and is useful for you to look back on should a pattern emerge.

I would re-visit his teeth and poll issues and look at diet.
You could try a full face mask in the field and a nose net when ridden (or even full mask if necessary).
There is loads of info on here re Headshaking - have a look at the one that I started in veterinary re PENS Therapy..... a few of us shared our experiences and there are some other really useful threads leading on from this.
Good luck, I really hope you can get to the bottom of it or at least manage to control it for him.