Summertime itchy nose

[katecountrymouse]

When spring arrives my horse starts shaking his head in an irritated way. When hacking he wears a fly fringe on his noseband. when schooling he used to wear a net but now manages without. However, when I get off him he presses his nose into my shirt or neck and is obviously uncomfortable. What I would like to know is, if anyone else has this problem, and if there is any sort of antihistamine remedy which might help him.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

I doubt if antihistamines would make any difference at all hun, that's if you could persuade your vet to prescribe them. The symptoms you describe sound like headshaking rather than an allergy. If you google headshaking, or search on the Forum for previous threads, you'll see that it remains a poorly understood problem although some success has been achieved with nose nets. Headshaking is a spectrum disorder so has a lower end and a higher end. At the lower end, you would find a horse that needs to stop and rub its nose on a foreleg during or after a sweaty ride. At the higher end, you would find a horse that is too dangerous to be ridden at all, except maybe in the middle of winter. It sounds as if your horse is at the lower end but could easily move up the scale a little.

 

[SueWade]

My boy starts itching his nose every spring as well, especially if we ride near trees! I am trying him on Clarity from Feedmark and this has helped no end. I also take off his flash and that seems to help. Good luck