Headshaking

Miriam

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Jun 24, 2000
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Has anyone had to deal with a headshaker? I am requesting any info good or bad after the vet was out today to my friends horse. When she started she was treated for a possable infection and over the past few months has gradually got worse. Vet is hoping to do an explanatory of Sarah's head to rule out various things, but has told my friend to prepare herself for the worst. He will only do this however if her insurance will pay for it. We would like to know what are the chances of putting this mare into foal if she is unable to ride her again. Any info on this subject would be most welcome.
 
there are several theories about headshaking:

1. Allergy to dust/pollen/other airborne something!
2. hypersensitivity of the nerves in the face, so dust/pollen etc. will make it worse
3. something similar to migraine in humans
4. Behavioural (very few people believe this nowadays)

and lots more besides.

Thorough investigations are carried out at many places, but one of the best in this country is Liverpool university vet school. There they use lots of techniques to assess what situations the horse is worst in and try and find the problem. They do believe they can make a difference to some horses. If option 2 is found to be likely, they can perform a type of surgery to help solve it (but this is not always 100% effective and I think some horses get worse - but better than not trying I suppose).

Get your friend to make a video diary of when the horse is doing it. Show it ridden, lunged and how it behaves when it's head is handled, groomed, bridled and the like. Then if it is insured, I think it's worth using the insurance to pay for a thorough work-up.

At the end of the day, if the horse is unrideable because of it (and some are) then the choice is to investigate or to give up. If the insurance will cover it then I'd go ahead. The investigation isn't stressful for the horse. It'll go on a little holiday and may come back a bit better, or with an idea of how to get it better.

Putting mares into foal is always an idea, however please think carefully about wether you can manage a foal, and also that foals are actually quite accident prone, and expensive for vet bills. Also your friend needs to think wether the mare is suitable to breed from. She may have a lovely temperament but if she has conformational problems, she will pass them on to the foal and she may end up with a problem foal.

Ask the vets advice also on wether she can be bred from as a) not all mares are fertile, and b) some mares have poor conformation of their vulvas and will have problem pregnancies.
 
Hi,

A horse i ride has been doing a lot of headshaking sine the summer time.

It started after a mini show we had, iw as taking out his forelock braid, and he freaked.

That day in our lesson, he was shaking his head like crazy! hiw forlcok was a fluffy from the braids, and we thot maybe they were really bothering his ears, so we tucked the hair in his browband.

it helped for a bit, but then he kept shaking, and scratching his head on the wall, and he has done that pretty much every lesson since.

my instructor thinks he might get mega head aches.

this horse iis usually tempramental in the crossties.
He also, when im riding, sticks his head up in the air, to the side.

He usually doesnt shake his head if i do a little TTouch behind his ears, he turns arounf and starts licking me, which was NOT at all like him.

well, bubye!
 
Bowen

Hi, I have only treated one headshaker with Bowen (The Equine Touch) but was successful after vets, dentists etc made the problem worse. Sorry I don't live near you but I'd love to know of any other successes. If you are in UK contact me privately and I might be able to put you in touch with someone. For USA contact www.naturalhorse.com for practitioners.
 
Ponyvet my friend has stopped riding her for fear of her getting too dangerous whilst out as when she starts throwing her head around she jumps into the middle of the road. She also does this on the lunge. Thanks for the info on the foals. My friend has hada foal before. Just thinking on something else that was said. Do you know of a medical condition that is similar to human form that effects the nervous system? Apparently there is a hifgh rate of suicide in humans with this. As this is one of the other things he mentioned but she cannot remember the name. Not sure if it could be conected to headshaking as name goes. Providing the insurance pays up or the explanatory is not too costly then she plans to go ahead.


Jumpergirl this is the problem she has not scratched her head just throws it around.

Intouch we are in the UK. Will speak to my friend and let her know

Thanks for all your replies
 
I have a beautiful mare who has been verging on unrideable for a number of years (she is only approaching seven even now). She has always suffered from headshaking. It was a very violent movement which caused her to lose her balance and was very fightening to ride through. She did seem worse during summer, and near hedgerows, so all "normal" procedures wer followed to try to help her.
Anyway, to cut a long story short - and get to the point - I tried her in a scawbrig, and now have her in a hackamore.
With no bit in her mouth, she has gone from a rarley ridden walk hack - to enjoying gallops on stubble fields, proper schooling work, and even jumping in a matter of weeks. Before now, I had no faith in her legs going where they actually should!
She has no physical reason for her to be uncomfortable in her mouth - presumably it is a mental hang up. But she is now, for the time being, cured.
Worth a go. Especially if your horse has a tendency to go under the bit and overbend. She did - and hasn't done it once since having the hackamore.
Hope it helps.
 
the human condition is called trigeminal neuralgia, and yes that's what a lot of people think it is in horses.

I personally think that some headshakers do have this, and don't think that bowen will work on those cases, but I do believe it will work on horses that headshake for other reasons, such as psychological headshaking.

if insurance will pay then tell her to go ahead, but ask for a referral to Leahurst (liverpool) as they are really good with it, and it sounds as if it may be a neuralgic headshaker, and Liverpool are the only place I know of that can do the surgery.

Good luck with it!
 
headshakers

My horse has been a headshaker since I bought him 4yrs ago.He started off doing it in the spring when the pollen count was high.Also the saddle he had been ridden in before i bought him didn't fit along side his bit which 2" to small (the owners where nice they just didn't have a clue).His head shaking was really bad to the point i was nearly thrown out the saddle with the force.We had more problems in the winter,his headshaking became unbearable and he developed a chronic cough.He was then diagnosed with COPD.:( We now have him on rubber matting and shavings and give him haylage.Although he also suffers with summer copd (has a proper name but can't remember it).I don't ride him if the pollen count is very high.But he is much better and he doesn't shake his ehad very much ,but he does seem to do it if he is stressed,or something upsets him other than that he is fine.I hope this may help you,
also have you considered using a nosenet?
 
Skye, your horse sounds like a typical allergic head shaker:

seasonal and improved by reducing allergen load (pollen, dust etc). however, horses which will put themselves in dangerous positions (like jumping on the road) are usually not allergic, they tend to be painful so will not respond to a nose net. These cases show distinctive signs:

1. if you press on their head, near the facial crest (where a tight noseband would rub) you can see a definite change in expression - the horse looks like a person with a bad neadache - can't describe it any other way

2. After strenuous exercise they do not dilate their nostrils, but keep them clamped shut

3. they are often worse when ridden into the sunlight, or coming out of shade

4. they drag their face along the floor when lunged

5. the frequency of headshaking (number of shakes per minute) increases with exercise, and actually matches the heart rate.

In human terms, the best most of us can relate to is a migraine. i get these and they're awful, so i think it's worth trying anything to relieve it ina horse.
 
Thanks to all who have replied to this thread.

Ponyvet a question. Sarah has been put on bute and the vet did say she may have a problem with her back but was unsure that it was connected. Since putting her on bute she seems to have stopped headshaking and is moving much more freely in the field. Once she would not try and canter or roll now she is cantering and rolling. Could this be connected to her back or just a coincidence. She is going to speak to the vet about it. Will let you know when I get more details.
 
In my opinion a back problem wouldn't cause the headahaking (but I bet you'll find loads of people disagree as this is a very much discussed issue). I would think that a back problem may cause her to stop rolling or cantering, and I wouldn't have thought it was associalted to headshaking either, so it does sound like there are two problems. Headshaking and a back ache!

The back ache may be due to muscle guarding from the headshaking, as if you have a head ache all the time, your neck muscles become tense. If you were a horse then your whole back would become tense as you have a huge weight of tense neck muscles slung onto it. Does that make sense?

The bute will relax the back and make her backfeel more comfortable, and may also help the headshaking for a while, but I expect that will only be a short term effect. I'll be interested to hear how it goes! :)
 
My freind rode Sarah for the first time today in months. Just in the paddock. She cantered and jumped something she could not have done one time. Will let you know when I hear more but it will not be until I come back.

Thanks to everyone for help and advice in their experience.
 
My horse has been a head shaker since I bought him 10 years ago. He starts in May and it usually goes on till August depending on weather conditions. In his case we know it is allergy/pollen related but I too have found that whenever he has been on bute for some other reason the head shaking eases. I have also tried him on bute for a few days during peak headshaking season when he has been fit in every other way and again the nasal symptoms eased (this was done under veterinary advice).

I assume the bute eases the inflamation/irritation in the nasal passage? Obviously this is not a solution as I would not want my horse on bute long term unless neccessary. I have found herbal mixtures no help but devils claw does seem to help somewhat. I have heard some people have success with homeopathy - what are your opinions on this? My horse has been in a couple of trials with De Montforth University for headshaking and the only thing that helped was the nose net.
 
bute is an anti-inflammatory drug (of the same type as aspirin - but bute is toxic to humans), so yes will help reduce the inflammation in the nasal passages and will reduce the headshaking.

I have hayfever, and am actually very allergic to hay (not soaked or haylage though), and when I am suffereing I have a very itchy eye and face. Aspirin helps me so I think a NSAID like bute should help a horse with the same problem.

Headshaking is really a symptom not a disease and can be caused by lots of things. If you need to use bute during the summer months to help the headshaking and it works, then I say go for it. there are side effects with long term use of bute, but I assume you are using low doses and also you are only using the bute for less than half the year. I have some horses and ponies that are on bute all year round and have been for many years. It's not ideal but if it's the only thing that works......! :D

I don't really think that homeopathy will work, but that's because I'm sceptical about homepathy in animals. (sorry but that's my opinion). Try it if you want, and see but if you know what works why not carry on?

I'd also suggest that you ask your vet for some anti-histamines or low dose steroids for your horse during the summer. This will need to be carefully supervised by your vet to start with but there have been some encouraging things said, especially as your horse is obviously allergic!
 
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