Severe Headshaking

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purplehorserocks

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Hi
My share horse was diagnosed about a month ago with head shaking syndrome. I have done some research and from what i understand it is a rare condition which affects the trigeminal nerve that runs from the side of the horses head and branches off to the nose, eyes and mouth. It basically causes pain in his head and face. According to the vet it is a seasonal disorder and there are lots of possible triggers (pollen, sinlight, wind/breeze, rain, dustetc...) He has been on complete box rest until the beginning of this week when he has been allowed out in the paddock at night. We changed his bedding to dust free shavings and are soaking his hay.

The vet put him on a course of tablets (i think they were steroids but i could be wrong) for 2 weeks but they made no difference. The medication was changed 2 weeks ago and he seems to have improved a bit although he is still having more bad days than good. His owner has now been told by the vet that she has to decide wether to put him through an operation with only a 20% success rate (and usually the success cases are mild cases which scars most definitely isnt) or to PTS. Its a horrible decision to have to make, he is such a gentle horse who has behaved amazingly considering the pain he must be in.

My question is this... Have any of you had experience with this? and if so did you come accross any other options that worked? Apparently it is often a manageable condition if you can find a solution but at the moment nothing we have tried has helped much and we are running out of ideas.

Thanks
PHRx

P.S. He is a 16.3hh (at least) polish warmblood.

Will also attempt to post in vet.

ETA he is 7yrs old
 
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My firnds horse was diagnosed with this and she was about to make a decision on her future but when and had her head x-rayed, turned out she had a infected tooth root.

It was taken out and sorted...now limited headshaking. She will always be a headshaker but it's loads better now the tooth was sorted, not something the dentist could see as it was deep down, only the x-rays showed the dark area or infection.

Get a second opion before doing anything drastic like PTS...as this got worse recently etc.....

I trust my vet totally but for the sake of a couple hundred i'd have a second opinion on something like headshaking.
 
Have you checked whether your browband is too short?
It is one of the most commonly over looked causes of headshaking, simply try to place 2-3 adult sized fingers under it between the horse's head and the browband, if it seems even a little tight, try taking it off and not use it for a while to see if that makes any difference. If it's loose then fine, you can cross it off the list, Oz :)
 
Hi thanks for replies

I will check about xrays and teeth etc (it may have been done already -owner not being very communicative at the mo as having other major issues in her life asside from this), I thought about a second opinion too and will definitely suggest that.

It isnt the browband. He had about 2 weeks of box rest where we werent even allowed to touch his head let alone put a headcollar or bridle on!

Anyone else?

PHRx
 
we have a headshaker :-(

we have found that using an equilibrium nose net helps, but only by about 25%, so she still shakes, but doesn't fall all over the place losing her footing & she doesn't get quite so sweaty/stressy. It may be worth a try......... (unless you've already tried that?)

FPM xx
 
Hi.
That website was really useful. wonder why i didnt come accross it before!! They mention the equilibrium nets on there too so will mention that. I really do feel that we need to trial some more things before we just put him to sleep.

Thanks guys

PHRx
 
There are lots and lots of supplements out there to try. Many horses have their symptoms eliminated by one of these, and it's just trial and error to see which one will work for your horse. The one that works for my pony isn't even a 'headshaking' supp, but one that is designed for the health of a horse's airways only.

There was also a new thing last year I never got around to trying 'nostril vet' I think it was called?

We also found nosenets helped, but did not eliminate the shaking. The supplement did for us, but for some horses just the net fixes it.
 
Hi
Thanks everyone for their replies. I just had a text from the owner. She arrived at the yard to find him on the stable floor struggling to breathe so she has called the vet to PTS.

PHRx
 
How very sad. Would have hoped owner would have opportunity/support from vet to investigate options before making that decision for such a young horse.
 
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