Shaking head

laurenn1010

laurenn1010

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Have owned this horse just over one year, she has suddenly started this week shaking the bit in her mouth and throwing her head rite up then carries on happy enough :S im assuming this may be her teeth that will looked at?

she can be walking along fine then will start shaking the bit momentarily and snatching the reins or throwing her head up... i have also noticed by doing this she is causing the sides of her mouth to rub.

do you think this is teeth related? or is she just over excited to get out? shes stabled full time at the mo due to weather and field conditions and only ridden really once a week
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Sounds like teeth, my boy would occasionally do the odd head shake and chew his bit and we removed his woolf teeth and it has completely stopped now, I would definately get her teeth checked out.
 
yea must get an appointment sorted.

is there much difference in a vet doing their teeth or a EDT? i have always just used our local vet but he wouldnt be orientated with horses much?

Also if anyone has any numbers of an EDT in Northern Ireland??
 
Could easily be teeth. Could also be pleased to be out of confinement or her saddle. Or a combination of all 3! The confinement could have caused stiffness, which with the weight of a rider could mean discomfort
 
I've had headshaking horses. There are 101 things that could cause it - maybe over excitemtn, or needing to escape form hands.

On the one I have at the moment he has a diastoma in his lower arcade - food gets trapped, the gum recedes and the whole thing gets inflamed and painful.

So definitely get your VET to look at the teeth. If soemthign like this needs to be worked on, this is a full sedation and power tool job. Not for your non vet dentist.
 
My new mare was shaking her head. Had her teeth checked by an EDT (she's also a trained vet). The mare had very sharp molars which had caused ulcers to the inside of her cheeks. The EDT also said this had caused tension in the poll and neck which may also have made her head shake. She's not shaking her head very much at all now and I think it's a bit of a habit which will cease with time.
The EDT sedated her for the treatment as it would have been too uncomfortable to carry out the remedial work in one visit otherwise.
 
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