Pony head flicks when something is above their head.

[Leahwood]

I recently purchased a pony in January. Unfortunately we were not aware of this. We did have the mare 5* vetted as we unfortunately were not able to go and see her prior purchased and this was not picked up. When she arrived we noticed that she head flicks when she goes under things. So when going into a stable she will flick her head so her nose hits the frame of the door. We did have a nasty incident with her as she was in the stable and head flicked and hit her nose on the roof and continued to head flick 2 more times hitting her head again , untill we put a towel over her eyes. We managed to get her out of the stable safely. We thought she might be a bit head shy , but you can throw things around her head and she doesn't batter an eye lid. If she is grazing and you are above her head she will suddenly throw her head up and flick her head. She has managed to hit me in the face a couple of times. We spoke to the owner , who had her before the person who we bought her from and the confirmed that she has always done this with them. Unfortunately they had the same incident with her I'm the stable and she had to be sedated by the vet to get her out of the stable safely. She is 6 years old, 7 in July. I will take her to the vet next week. Just wanted to see if anyone had experience this before as it is very odd

 

[View]

This made is doing her very best to tell you something is wrong, going by this and your other thread.

Please get a good equine vet to have a real good look.

 

[Ownedby4horses]

In conjunction to your other thread- Definitely need a full workup by the vet, there is definitely something wrong that need attention. Please keep us posted on all the issues and let us know what the vets say.

 

[Leahwood]

This made is doing her very best to tell you something is wrong, going by this and your other thread.

Please get a good equine vet to have a real good look.

She is absolutely lovely pony but I did feel she has had a bit of a bad past. Just wished that people would sell horses honestly

 

[Leahwood]

In conjunction to your other thread- Definitely need a full workup by the vet, there is definitely something wrong that need attention. Please keep us posted on all the issues and let us know what the vets say.

Will definitely keep everyone updated. Just frustrating that you pay for a 5 stage vetting and non of these things were brought up. And sellers are not honest.

 

[Ownedby4horses]

Unfortunately, a vetting is only a very small snapshot of time and reflects how the horse was on that actual day. I hope you get answers from the vets, Im afraid sellers can be so dishonest (no idea if this is the case obviously in this matter). Fingers crossed for you both for the vet appointment.

 

[Leahwood]

This made is doing her very best to tell you something is wrong, going by this and your other thread.

Please get a good equine vet to have a real good look.

Do you

Unfortunately, a vetting is only a very small snapshot of time and reflects how the horse was on that actual day. I hope you get answers from the vets, Im afraid sellers can be so dishonest (no idea if this is the case obviously in this matter). Fingers crossed for you both for the vet appointment.

We were told she had been taken into the stable to have her blood taken and there is no ways that she hadn't of done something. I can only think the owner had got her in the stable when she vet was filling in the paper work. Unfortunately she was sold with no vices or habits and we did ask if she bucked bronked and rear and we were told she had never done this .

 

[Ownedby4horses]

Do you know as im re-reading your post, it has just reminded me of a gelding i had about 12 years ago. He was a rescue and in a bad way and I got him for next to nothing as just couldnt leave him. One of his issues was going into and out of his stable, particularly bad in bright sunny weather, really obvious when he was going from bright light to dark and dark to bright light as he was coming in and out of his stable.

It turned out that he only had 40% vision in one of his eyes. It never effected him much for anything else by the way and he has evented with his current owner for many years very succesfully.

 

[OldNag]

Were you present when she was vetted?

I hope you can get some answers soon. It sounds very worrying.

 

[AmyMay]

Sounds like there’s a lot of issues to get to the bottom of. Poor little scrap ?

 

[Leahwood]

Do you know as im re-reading your post, it has just reminded me of a gelding i had about 12 years ago. He was a rescue and in a bad way and I got him for next to nothing as just couldnt leave him. One of his issues was going into and out of his stable, particularly bad in bright sunny weather, really obvious when he was going from bright light to dark and dark to bright light as he was coming in and out of his stable.

It turned out that he only had 40% vision in one of his eyes. It never effected him much for anything else by the way and he has evented with his current owner for many years very succesfully.

We do feel it is definitely visual as when she is in the horse trailer. If you only open the side door window she will turn her head side ways and try to get away from the area , but if she open the ramp up as well she is absolutely fine

 

[Leahwood]

Were you present when she was vetted?

I hope you can get some answers soon. It sounds very worrying.

Unfortunately not as she was 5 hours away from us. Hopefully we can ?

 

[AmyMay]

Was she taken in and out of the stable when you went to look at her?

 

[Leahwood]

Was she taken in and out of the stable when you went to look at her?

We didn't go a see her. Unfortunately we won't of seen her in the stable as she was left out In the field if we did go and see her . But possibly we would of if we were there for the vetting, unfortunately she was 5 hours away so was a bit difficult to be there

 

[AmyMay]

Ah, ok. So the first time you saw her was when she arrived on your yard.

 

[Leahwood]

Ah, ok. So the first time you saw her was when she arrived on your yard.

Yes , we did have our own transport planned, but the guy offered to drop her off. We do feel that her head flicking would of been seen by the transport people if they picked her up as she also does it in the trailer. Unfortunately were we are there is only one stable shared between two horses and we didn't put her in there for a week , as we couldn't catch her. We only noticed it when she was going into the stable to have her teeth done by our dentist

 

[be positive]

In conjunction to your other thread- Definitely need a full workup by the vet, there is definitely something wrong that need attention. Please keep us posted on all the issues and let us know what the vets say.

I missed this last night, this pony sounds as if she has some serious issues, the dealer 'offered to drop her off', a journey of 5 hours one way is hardly a local trip, he really did his best to help himself get rid of a problem with no comeback not even risking her failing to load and the transporter telling you she was difficult.
It sounds as if she may have more going on than I first thought maybe a head injury or eyesight problem, was she actually given a full 5 stage vetting, do take a look at the form to check nothing was missed out by the vet as the whole thing sounds rather fishy to me.

 

[PSD]

I hope you get to the bottom of it. Going by your other post too this poor thing sounds pretty messed up, shame on the guy selling for being so dishonest. I hope it isn’t too serious

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Did the dealer recommend the vet that you used?

 

[Red-1]

I haven't read your other post, but how high is the stable door?

A friend bight a lovely horse, it disliked the stable door in a similar way, until one day it smacked its nose and took days to come out of the stable again, then flatly refused to get back in. The for was a standard type of door.

The owner re-modelled the stable roof, put an upturned V shape into the roofline, so the minimum height of the door was 8'. Even with that, the horse took some getting in, and a lot of rehab. mentally. Eventually though, she was OK, and was fit and healthy right through, now eventing at intermediate.

It is possible that the horse had not done it before, was nervy because it was a new, dark stable, threw her head up and has now given herself a complex. You may need a higher doorway.

ETA - I have now read your other thread, and you say that she was bad to mount, and has got worse. The dealer says she has no issues, yet the previous owners say that they sold her because she was bad to mount. As this was a dealer, you can return as it was not as described and is not suitable for what you purchased, simply on the mounting issue.

 

[ihatework]

It does sound all quite dodgy and you may have a real underlying problem. I hope you get to the bottom of it, would you keep us updated?

In the interim I’d use a poll guard on her headcollar. I’d also play around with blinkers, sun visors, fly hoods. It would be interesting to see if restricting field of vision / reducing potential photosensitivity helps with the reactions

 

[lucymb]

I really feel for you. Its sounds like this dealer has sold you a horse with many problems. Did the dealer recommend the vet to you.
I've read your other post too and i think you need to get a vet out to check this horse over ASAP.
She is clearly showing signs that something is wrong and not just with her head and being stabled.

 

[Leahwood]

Thank you for everyone's replys. I have taken the pony to the vets this week and have been told that there is nothing physically (medically) that they can find. They believe with everything she has been through, before we got her. It has caused her to be become very sensitive and very fearful. So have been told to spend a couple of months to try and make everything into a positive experience and help her as she has had so many bad experiences. So has a lot of bad memories, therefore it is tricky to do things as they don't forget. The reason for her head flicking is her way of releasing the pressure when she gets overwhelmed. And also with other experiences that have happened with other owners. (so might of had a bad experience in the stable)

Hopefully she will start to enjoy her life now and know that she will be loved

 

[Leo Walker]

I dont believe theres nothing wrong with her. Just because the vets haven't found it yet, doesn't mean its not there. This pony is screaming something is wrong. I've never seen or heard of a horse becoming overwhelmed and flicking its head only when entering a stable. It makes no sense.

 

[Ownedby4horses]

OP what did the vets say when they checked her eyes?

 

[Meowy Catkin]

What assessments did they do?

Flexions?
Nerve blocks?
X-rays?
Bone scan?
Scope?.. etc...

 

[Leahwood]

I understand it is a bit difficult when you haven't seen her first hand. Ok, so she has a problem with things above her head. Don't know why but most likely she has had a bad experience.

When she is put in the situation where she goes underthings, ie a stable or a archway (we created one in our field) , she finds the situation too much.

So like yourself, you take the pressure keep taking it to the point untill you say I can't take it anymore and get out of the situation. So her head flick is her way of releasing the pressure. It is a bit of a weird way. Other horse will spin, run backwards away , or kick or bite to get away from the problem (pressure) ect. We do not force her to do anything but if you have had a traumatising experience, this memory stays with you, this is the same with horses.
For example, a day we where she is slightly more stressed ie if the wind is blowing a lot or something has startled her these things have added to her levels of pressure (could also say stress) , As she is already have a level of pressure , with me introducing her to going underthings it adds to her pressure level and will cause to be too much and she will headflick.

If you take her into the stable on a good day ie she is more relaxed , ie nice day lots of sun nothing has startled her beforehand. Yes she may headflick when I first attempt to go in as she has a negative experience and may become overwhelmed . Like a person afraid of something ie spiders, they won't be happy to do it first time. However if I keep practicing going in and out of the stable she becomes more relax and does not head flick as there is no pressure and she is comfortable.

Yes the next day she may not want to go in/ under something, as there is still a negative memory / experience but she will be more willing. Bad experiences don't just go away over night and you can't just get over them . The bad experience will stay with her but we have to make her understand and realise that was the past and it won't happen again .

Head flicking is just her way of communicating to us that the situation is too much.

 

[Leahwood]

OP what did the vets say when they checked her eyes?

Absolutely fine.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

It's not just the head flicking though is it? IIRC you have another thread about the same horse and there were also side twitching issues and mounting/ridden issues?

This post.

Looking for some advice. I will take her to the vets next week. I recently purchased a new pony in January. When she arrived she wasn't the best with someone getting on. She would stand still but when you went to get on she would become very tense. When you were getting on her, if you sat down in the saddle like you would normally she would bronke. At first we thought she might be cold backed , however the longer we have had her it has all changed. March time, she would get tense when you put your foot in the stirrup but would be ok when you sat down in the stirrup. However when you kicked her for the first time she would bronke. Now at the moment I can't get on her at all . This is because she now tries to bronke when you put your foot in the stirrup. We have found she is very sensitive around her elbow and her side. So when you touch her with your hand she does spasm. If you keep touching her in that area the spasms do go away. However if you don't touch her for a minute and touch her again in that area she spasms again. I have spoken to the owner before the people I purchased her from and apparently she has been bad to get on and that was the reason as to why they sold her. Unfortunately we were not told about this by the people who we bought her from. Just looking for some advice as it is not something I have experienced before.

 

[Leahwood]

It's not just the head flicking though is it? IIRC you have another thread about the same horse and there were also side twitching issues and mounting/ridden issues?

This post.

This is the reason why she head flicks. The mounting issue is because she being to stressed ( too much pressure ) as she has had a bad experience. Which has never been helped.

Same as the head flicking. When her pressure increases (stress) when getting on, she become very sensitive as she is almost in flight mode. Because she has had a negative experience it stays with her. The days that I did managed to get on her where days she was relaxed and her pressure level was low . She has a negative memory with mounting , and because we were unaware of this. We continued to get on her. Because we kept getting on her , this increased her anxiety of being ridden and touched. So when the pressure gets too much , she bronkes and then her pressure is then released. So like when I got on and ask her to walk on she is on the tipping point of it being too much. So when I nudge her she bronkes, however of I ask her to walk on with my voice there is no pressure and then she starts to relax. Because she is more relaxed I can put my legs on, yes it is pressure and she is not fully comfortable, but because she is not nearly at overwhelming point she does not bronke.