Head shaking....ideas?so frustrated...

[specialK]

daughter is competing her horse prelim..This year and last, he frequently finishes on his dressage score ..the only issue is that his score is almost always compromised by his head flipping. We used to think it was only evident in the spring..allergies?..but have decided that is not the case. Then we thought it was about biting, rider hands, resistance.. Even in the paddock he'll flip his head...We were at Bromont last weekend and after dressage we needed to meet with the FEI vet after one of the judges was concerned that the head shaking could be related to a lameness issue..it wasn't...FEI vet mentioned something about putting a stocking over the horses nose which would apply some pressure to nerve endings in his face..this would help diagnose the problem..not sure where exactly we would place the stocking or exactly and have to admit i've forgotten what information this test would give us...imagine if there is a significant change in behavior New England Equine could help us make sense of what we are seeing..
Last dressage lesson when horse would flip his head my daughter would halt and rein back to ensure that her horse was really on the aides...head flipping was better by the end of lesson, but still not perfect. The horse is 20ish draft cross who has a very slight roar...He's a horse of a lifetime and he's going to KY for NAJYRCs...I'd love for him to have a better test and know if we could get the head flipping under control it would be a better ride...sometimes the head flipping almost seems like a nervous tick as he'll do it twice in close succession...he'll do it in the paddock but is worse when excited (like victory gallops)
any ideas or thought from the eventing horsemen..horsewomen???

[eventinglvr]

The problem with treating a head shaker who is also competing is that all the usual treatments are illegal in competition. Trust me, I've been through this. While not competing, you might try hydroxyzine (antihistamine) or cyproheptadine. The Equilibrium Muzzle Relief Net has been a life saver for me as well. It's not legal in the dressage phase of competition, but it can bring relief while training. For shows, talk to your vet about doing a decreasing dex oral dosage 5 days before the event. Check the rule book to make sure the dosages fit, but I'm pretty sure as long as you dex for no more than 5 days and don't dex within 12 hours of the show you're legal.

[Middleburg]

I agree with the previous post but if I were you I would check the rules for Dex. I know it isn't legal for FEI but for regular horse shows I am almost positive it is. (I hope so because I give my horse dex at every horse trials, same issue)

When I went to one horse show a few years back, the gnats and bugs were terrible by the dressage rings and so I went up to the TD the morning of the competition and asked her if there was any way she could allow competitors to ride in ear nets/ nose nets because of the bugs. It was a special situation because of the horrendus bugs and she oked it and allowed all competitors to ride in ear or nose nets. Just a thought.

The stocking over the nose is a good idea because if the head shaking stops when the earnet is on, you can attribute it to bugs/ pollen, if not it may be something else.

I have heard of a few horses (Cathy Jones Forsberg's Blueprint is an example) where they had this weird thing when the sun was out, it irritated them and they shook their heads quite a bit, but when the clouds were out the problem dissappered. Sorry I can't remember the full details of what the condition was called.

[Meredith Clark]

My horse Jay is a pretty bad head-shaker. He gets bothered buy pressure in the air (like before it's going to rain and when it starts drizzling) he's fine in the pouring rain but not before or after.

Anyway... I found that the panty hose worked well. I would warm up for dressage in it (ask the TD just incase) and then take it off for the test. He didn't usually shake if I kept him focused in dressage, same with jumping- he was too excited and focused to think about his nose.

I really just got to the point where I knew it wouldn't be productive to ride him outside if it was one of his "bad days". He also always has to have a run in shed in his field to get out of the weather he doesn't like. If it's getting cloudy and going to rain he will be standing in that shed even if all the other horses are across the field grazing!

I guess that doesn't really help you... the only other option I was given was a laser procedure that cuts the nerve in their face. I know they do it at UCDavis. He wasn't "worth it" as he had other major physical and mental problems!

[mythical84]

Practical Horseman just did an article about head shaking syndrome in April 2009. It might be worth a read.

[NMK]

I have one. It's inflamation in the trigeminal nerve (facial) from a herpes virus. Some are sensitive to light, some to irritations on the nose and ears(hence panty hose works). The key to my horse is to limit stress. I give every vaccination one at a time, weeks apart. I also use Lysine during competition months. It really does help and is simply an amino acid, therefore legal. I also turn out at night but only for a few hours. The grass iritates his nose, and he will not tolerate a nose net or a stocking. I also put UV screens on all the windows in the barn to keep the sunlight to a minimum. The good news about screens is that they also keep out bugs.

Two years ago this horse would literally go on his knees to rub his nose, and twitched like there was a bug in his ear after being ridden for only 15 minutes. He would also get these "headaches" where he would try and crawl through the darkest corner of his stall. Cyprohetadine did not work on him. I did not want to go the Dex route. Now, sometimes I forget he has an issue.

SpecialK, you can get lysine at Smartpak. It's simple and inexpensive. And good on you for knowing that this is not a training related issue, and asking for help. The vets I talked to were all over the place on this.

Nancy

[Laurierace]

I had good luck with this. I believe its all legal for competition as well.
www.headshaking.com

[engineer_eventer]

My gelding is a touch trigger headshaker, anything hitting his nose sets him off (flies, rain, dust, etc). Recently started using one of these http://www.cashelcompany.com/ProductDetails.aspx?C=1&SC=90&ProductID=10397 and it has made an amazing difference. My trainer and I didn't expect it to do anything, but it has definitely helped. The incidences aren't completely gone just reduced a lot, we can actually work in the rain now. Not having to fight about the head issues in the dressage has made life a lot easier! It looks better than pantyhose too!:winkgrin:

I haven't checked with the ruling powers yet (my guy hasn't even been to his first show!), but I heard a rumor that you could get permission to use the nose nets in dressage with a vet's note. Keep in mind, this is just a RUMOR! I haven't asked anyone official yet. I'm pretty sure its legal in jumping phases, but I would check with an official first.

I was more worried about jumping than dressage. A couple of times I've had him had a major head jerk in the middle of a gymnastic and nearly miss his takeoff spot! Didn't want it happening in front of a solid xc jump :eek:

Good luck! Headshakers are frusturating

[circusponydreams]

I was more worried about jumping than dressage. A couple of times I've had him had a major head jerk in the middle of a gymnastic and nearly miss his takeoff spot! Didn't want it happening in front of a solid xc jump :eek:

The horse I lease shakes his head in the spring and fall, and I have been amazed at how he can throw his head around mid-jump! :eek: He never misses a trick, though.

The nose net helps him a lot, but it's also a bit of a distraction - he's always snorting and snuffling when it's on. Some days I use it anyway, and some days I just deal with the head twitching. Usually by the time we're warmed up and working/focused, he's much better. Maybe it would help to warm up your daughter's horse in the nose net and take it off before she does in the ring?

[Highflyer]

engineer_eventer where did you hear that? That would be great.

I am going through this with my gelding, too. He has always done it a little in the spring, but this year is much, much worse. He only does it while being ridden, and mostly only on the flat--on xc he doesn't do it at all unless it's a school and we stand around. It pretty much killed our dressage test last time out though--I am really hoping it will stop.

I have tried: MSM (no change), checked teeth (no change), bitless bridle (no change), standing martingale (helps with wildest tosses), bit changes (no change), riding on a very loose rein (no change), riding on a very strong contact (helps some), no noseband/ looser noseband/ etc (no change), nose cover (helps quite a bit)

I don't have the nose net yet, but I've found that just using a piece of cloth duct taped around the noseband, so that it hangs down, helps a lot. Of course it also makes him sneeze like crazy, so what I've ended up doing is sticking the duct tape directly on his nose. So far it seems to help--it's only been like a week since I thought of it. I'm not sure if it will be legal for dressage or not, though. I've also tried covering his nose with Desitin (didn't help at all) and Uptite ( not as good as the duct tape but better than nothing)--which really should be legal.

I'm curious about whether the Flair strips will help, but haven't had a chance to try one yet.

I've had people recommend, but haven't tried: Magnesium, Valerian, and Melatonin, as well as dex and various antihistamines. Everyone seems to have a different theory, most of them are contradictory, none of them have much or any research behind them...

[avezan]

The light sensitivity is called photic head shaking. I had a head shaker a while back that sounds a lot like yours. It was not related to the season or light. Dex and antihistimines didn't work. I FINALLY discovered that the horse was having facial spasms that were very irritating and causing her to shake her head. She would shake so quickly when they would start, that I never saw them before. Finally I had my hand on her head when she shook and I felt them. I don't know if it was a nerve or muscle twitch, but it was related to other EPM symptoms. It doesn't sound like your horse has EPM, but maybe there is a pinched nerve somewhere. Good luck with it. It is frustrating. I wouldn't fool around with non-FEI approved drugs so close to NAJYRC unless closely supervised.

[EventMore]

I have a student who's headshaker is doing better on MSM - not sure of legality at events, so call the USEF and check. It's probably not legal for FEI. This particular horse does not compete at recognized events, so it hasn;t been an issue for us. My student gave double or triple the labelled dose of MSM for a week and the headshaking subsided, then she tapered down to the recommended dietary dose and found it still worked.

[nextyear]

Dr Mary Kahan in Ma. has had sucess with treating head shakers with acupunture.

[CatchMeIfUCan]

I didn't read all the other post but just wanted to say that my friend's eventer shakes his head as well. They found out his eyes were sensitive to light and he has to wear a mask over his eyes while being ridden. It only happens when it's sunny out for him.

[traceyinojai]

Hi. I am sorry you are dealing with this. Headshaking can be tricky to manage.

My last horse was a photic headshaker. He could work normally, however, as long as he wore a flymask every daylight moment. I rode him in it, jumped him in it, etc. and riding in the evening was best. As long as we were religious with the mask, eventually I could pull it off for short periods of time at shows. I would warm him up in the mask and pull it off when entering the ring. If someone accidently left his mask off for even a few hours, it would take 3-4 days to get him back to this point. Over time, he was a little less sensitive except in the spring.

This is one of those conditions that different things work for different horses. Experiment and good luck!

[BarbB]

Other, less exotic, causes of head shaking can be:
wolf teeth
a bad tooth
ear infection
foreign object in ear
tweaked vertebrae
sore back
irritation from bridle or bit

some horses respond to pain anywhere by flipping their head

[eventinglvr]

According to Jo Whitehouse at the USEA:

To get permission to ride in a nose net you must obtain written permission from the president of USEF. You can also try getting permission from the TD, but a lot of times you can't get in touch with the TD until you actually get to the show.

I wish it was as simple as getting a vet's letter to ride in the net, but it's not.

[engineer_eventer]

Eventinglvr,

I had a feeling that it wasn't that easy, or more people would be using them.:no: Did she say if that applied to all phases or just that you couldn't ride dressage in it? I wonder if the Flair strips would do the same thing and those are legal for the jumping phases (I think?).

Thanks for passing along the official word!

[specialK]

wondering if the perission from president of USEF would carry any weight at an FEI event? probably not....
You guys have given lots of good advice..I've ordered the lysine from spart paks...figured it couldn't hurt and might even help..

[hr]

Can someone post a pic of a horse with the stocking over his muzzle so that I can see how to do it? All I can find is the store-bought one that velcros onto the noseband.

[sch1star]

I'm sorry - how frustrating to do all the hard work to get to that level, and then have setbacks related to something like this.

At the risk of sounding impossibly mundane next to the sophisticated advice that's come before, your comment about how he does it in the paddock caught my eye...I have a head flipper who flips in the paddock and flipped u/s too, but he completely stopped after a couple rides in a standing martingale. He still flips like a madman hanging out and especially playing, but no longer flips at all when I'm on his back.

Just on the chance that a really simple fix will work for you...

[CookiePony]

I came across this today:
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=12856

In the new report, "Treatment of seasonal headshaking in three horses with sodium cromoglycate eye drops," British veterinarians explained that an underlying cause of headshaking is only identified in a fraction of horses. To date, headshaking remains a poorly understood phenomenon and treatments, such as steroid therapy, have been met with limited success.

In horses with excessive tearing and photophobia (a sensitivity or aversion to light), sodium cromoglycate eye drops (one drop per eye four times per day) appears to markedly decrease the incidence of headshaking.