Advice needed!

[*carrie*]

I need some advice because Carrie is driving me mad.
When I ride her after a while she starts to lift her head up and down. Not exactly snatching at the bit though. I have tried taking up more of a contact and also tried walking on a long rein. She does it less on a long rein but this isn't always practical. She only seems to do it in walk.

I have changed her bit and even bought a shiny new elevator bridle to reduce poll pressure. I really don't know what else to try but it drives me mad.

Has anyone got any suggestions of why she might be doing it? Could she be bored of walking?
I have had her back teeth and tack checked and there are no problems.

Any suggestions welcome!

[peeweesgal]

Could it be the flys? The ratty Sec A i rode yesterday normally does so he is ridden in a nose net.

Sarah x

[*carrie*]

I did wonder but there are never any flies around her. Do you think I should try a nose net? Or some kind of bat man mask? I don't know if it is more to do with her ears coz she seems to waggle them alot too

[KateWooten]

Carrie .. try ear mites .... can't do any harm to eliminate them as a possible cause. Get yourself a box of cotton buds and some 'mineral oil'. mineral oil is just baby oil without the perfume, and you should be able to get it at any good chemist/pharmacy (<-- not sure if you're UK or US or where !!) Dip the cotton bud in the oil and just use it to gently clean out the ears using an upward sort of swipe. It's not too critical - any oil that stays on her ears will be helping to smother the mites. If she's got them, the cotton bud comes out with all black crusty crud on it. My mare got so bad 2 weeks ago I coudn't get a trot out of her without so much head tossing that I thought she might fall over, but she's fine now - might be worth a check at least.

[*carrie*]

Worth a try. How will I know if she has mites? It will be a job to get her to let me look she is a nightmare with her ears. How do you know how far to go in the ear?

[KateWooten]

aha ! well, I see some 'quality time' coming up for you and her then - ear handling LOL!!! plenty of teaching her the 'head down' cue !! My mare hated it the first time, but within 2 or 3 minutes she realised she felt better for it, and it was easy after that.

If she's touchy round her ears, that also can indicate tickly itchy earmites. I think the vet can check for them.... some other conditions also lead to itchy scabs and things that make mares shake their heads about in annoyance. I was getting so irritated with my mare because I literally couldn't do any work with her, so I went ahead and cleaned her ears out anyway and it made an instant difference.

How deep to go ... hmmm, her ear is like a long tube right down to where it attaches to her head .. down there is where it starts to get all convoluted and eary ... like with your own ears - ok, you don't want to be messing with the convoluted eary part, just the outer fur-lined tube-like ear part. Any scabs and things will be on the inside part of that. (do I sound like I know a lot about anatomy ... 'eary' LOL !!!)

[*carrie*]

Sounds like fun NOT! She does let me touch her ears now. She can be a bit of a pain when it comes to taking her bridle off. I think if I take it slowly enough she'll let me do it.
I hope it is something that can be easily fixed because it is sooo annoying!

[vikkit06]

hi.
have you tried a martingale on her?that could help or when she does it just use a lot of leg.good luck xx:o

[theocat]

Dust or pollen allergies? Has it only just started in the last few weeks? If so, it might be an allergy to tree pollen.

[Redenty]

Try a net on her nose as someone I knew had exactly the same problem, but this did stop their gelding headshaking. It was due to pollen. Worth a try! :)

[*carrie*]

Thanks for all the advice. I cleaned her ears out with some oil as suggested. She was surprisingly good. Anyway then I rode her but I had a plan of exactly what I was going to do. She was a little angel. She shook her head once to get a fly off of her face.
I think the flies are causing her some discomfort at the mo because she has a load of bites on her tummy. I bathed her in fly spray last night.

The true test will be when we go out on a hack because it isn't always practical to trot or circle etc so will have to work on that. If she still does it I may try a nose net. To be honest I don't really want to have to resort to sticking a martingale on her as I think it will just give her something to fight without solving the issue.
Hopefully last night was the start of her not head tossing. :)

[BNaturally]

Alleviate all health issues first.
You and us have consider all of the horse's things,the bit and other equipment, stuff.
Then we and you need to consisder ourselves and ask that question- could it be me?
Is it the way my hands handle the reins and is it me causing some of the problem, some kind of way?
You may need to talk with and get a RI to evaluate your riding, tack etc...
I hope this helps.