suggestions for head shyness

[JadeWisc]

Our Shetland has always been skiddish when handled around his head. He is calm, trusting , and usually not naughty at all. He is in NO WAY afraid of me nor have we ever givin him any reason to feel he may be harmed when I am touching his head

He just always flails his head away when you try and go near it. When he is accepting his head handling for whatever reason he is showing the whites of his eyes and jerking it alot. We have been working with him for 2 years now and he has progressed so well. He just has this one issue and although it rarely creates any problems I just want to know if anyone knows of techniques to work on this with him.
one thing to add....he is a slight nipper. maybe he has thoughts of nipping going through his head so his reaction is set to "I'm gonna get it" hence the jerking head??????
His nipping has slowed to a near halt and we did this by a firm loud "NO!" and if there was a nudge given to him it was in his side.
nowhere near his head????

well...any thoughts?

 

[Tia]

It might be worth your while to check in his ears to see if he has aural plaques? I know that in North America that is very very often the main reason for head shy horses.

Even if you have to twitch him to get in there and have a root around - it would be worth it to solve the question.

My ex-stallion is ever so slightly headshy. Now I have had him since he was just a few months old so I know fine well he has never been hit and has never had anything happen to him.....however I am aware that he lost the tips of his ears in the Freeze last winter and I believe this is why he has become slightly like this.

Has your pony lost his tips? Or has he aural plaques?

 

[JadeWisc]

Tia, He still has his tips and for sure no aural plaques. In fact I am always amazed at how smooth and clear Charlie's ears are when I am putting in the gel for the biting flies each spring. Chester and Tex will be infested with them and at times blood will be on the rag when I wipe them out. Chester has even developed a permanent rough inner ear. Charlie has never been troubled by them for some reason and even though I still always check him ,as I said, his ears are smooth inside and clear.

grrrrrrrrrrr I may have to live with this or hope that it goes away with even more handling. He is only just turning 3 so it could correct itself perhaps as he ages and calms even more????

It really does not appear a "fear" type response. I am not sure how to word it, but it almost seems like he is "game playing" when he jerks his head. For example, like when one horse goes to "play nip" another and jerks away from the impending backlash. It almost seems playful but it's annoying and trimming his easr and bridle path are always fun

Thanks for the advice!