I witheld vaccinations for two years and my horse no longer does this. I noticed it started when she was vaccinated every other month while in foal- but my vet STRONGLY advised I keep vaccinating- after exhausting all options I finally STOPPED the shots and she is finally back to normal.
my horse has head shaking also... its so devastating... iv tried cyproheptadine, antihistimine, equine chiropractor, regumate, dex steroid, nose nets, uv protector face net, magnesium, and several other things. and nothing seems to eliminate the head shaking. its not like it hurts her or anything, just annoys her.
the most sad thing is though, last year, we made it to the 4H regional horse show and we placed 10th out of 180 riders undersaddle... now we are hardly placing due to this condition:(
@StarStruck203 I took him completely off of oats last fall....recently took him off of a loose mineral that contained a high amount of selenium. He hasnt had any real issues with head shaking yet this year. He is still on his meds but has been cut back to just once a day and is doing perfect with just one dose.
Have you tried equine massage? Release the pressure in his poll or get someone who is qualified to do a cranio-sacral massage on your horse. You can check it out on Youtube. It might be the cure in your horse's case too. It helped one of our horses and he doesn't head toss any more now. BTW, your horse is gorgeous.
Do horses with this condition toss their heads all the time? I have a horse who has always tossed his head very badly, but its only when I ride him, never any other time. I always thought it was just a bad habit he got into maybe from bad handling or pain at some point in his life, I have never heard of this.
Kind of an old post, but for anyone else wanting to know, it varies case-by-case. My horse would only do it noticeably while undersaddle. In the field he would do small nods, rub his muzzle on his leg or on the ground/wall, stick his face in the water trough up to his eyeballs. They'll try to hide their faces (stick them between your shoulders, or in your arms), they'll squint their eyes or wrinkle their muzzles. It's an endless list. Some horses show some symptoms but not others
Its such a horrible thing. Do vets actually know what causes it? I recently purchased an anglo arab for endurance riding and Iunging him a couple of times I noticed he was tossing his head snorting ALOT and stopping to scratch his nose on his leg. I initially thought it was behavioural, not wanting to work but now I think its something more. I hope he doesn't get as bad as you boy. Glad to hear he's doing better too! :)
My horse is responding well to the medication. Purdue University wanted over $600.00 a month for the meds but order them from Smart Pak for 100.00 a month. I will be taking my horse to Purdue this fall to see if he is a candidate for the nuerectromy surgery. Occasionally on a windy day my horse will still shake his head some but he is definately able to be ridden now. I am actually planning to show him this wknd! :)
@paintubturner1 Did you start your horse on the Smart Pak? Did you have any success with it? If so how long did it take to work once you started him on ? Thanks
I'd like to know how your horse is doing. We had to have our 6yo head shaker put to sleep. He was in so much pain so often that we were truly devastated. Hope your horse is on the improve.
My horse started doing this, and started having his head going side ways to...I've been researching it now, and i think im going to call the vet out very soon..a lot of things he is doing is pointing head shaking syndrome
He has only been on the meds since last Thur evening (5-20-10) and no improvement yet. The meds can take 2 weeks to a month before I know whether it will work or not. I am sure hoping the meds work! If not he will go immediately to Purdue to see whether he is a candidate for surgery.
Rollin comes in and out of the barn as he wishes-however he does spend alot of daylight time in the barn and comes out more in the evening. I also bought him a uv protectant fly mask that I keep on him during daylight times.
I witheld vaccinations for two years and my horse no longer does this. I noticed it started when she was vaccinated every other month while in foal- but my vet STRONGLY advised I keep vaccinating- after exhausting all options I finally STOPPED the shots and she is finally back to normal.
ArchDandy1134 8 months ago
my horse has head shaking also... its so devastating... iv tried cyproheptadine, antihistimine, equine chiropractor, regumate, dex steroid, nose nets, uv protector face net, magnesium, and several other things. and nothing seems to eliminate the head shaking. its not like it hurts her or anything, just annoys her.
the most sad thing is though, last year, we made it to the 4H regional horse show and we placed 10th out of 180 riders undersaddle... now we are hardly placing due to this condition:(
StarStruck203 9 months ago
@StarStruck203 I took him completely off of oats last fall....recently took him off of a loose mineral that contained a high amount of selenium. He hasnt had any real issues with head shaking yet this year. He is still on his meds but has been cut back to just once a day and is doing perfect with just one dose.
paintubturner1 9 months ago
Have you tried equine massage? Release the pressure in his poll or get someone who is qualified to do a cranio-sacral massage on your horse. You can check it out on Youtube. It might be the cure in your horse's case too. It helped one of our horses and he doesn't head toss any more now. BTW, your horse is gorgeous.
dappledbaybeauty 11 months ago
Makes me happy to see you take such good care of your horse :)
4cellar2door0 1 year ago
Do horses with this condition toss their heads all the time? I have a horse who has always tossed his head very badly, but its only when I ride him, never any other time. I always thought it was just a bad habit he got into maybe from bad handling or pain at some point in his life, I have never heard of this.
Equestrian08 1 year ago
@Equestrian08
Kind of an old post, but for anyone else wanting to know, it varies case-by-case. My horse would only do it noticeably while undersaddle. In the field he would do small nods, rub his muzzle on his leg or on the ground/wall, stick his face in the water trough up to his eyeballs. They'll try to hide their faces (stick them between your shoulders, or in your arms), they'll squint their eyes or wrinkle their muzzles. It's an endless list. Some horses show some symptoms but not others
Bearslittlewhisper 1 year ago
Its such a horrible thing. Do vets actually know what causes it? I recently purchased an anglo arab for endurance riding and Iunging him a couple of times I noticed he was tossing his head snorting ALOT and stopping to scratch his nose on his leg. I initially thought it was behavioural, not wanting to work but now I think its something more. I hope he doesn't get as bad as you boy. Glad to hear he's doing better too! :)
Kimmyloca0 1 year ago
My horse is responding well to the medication. Purdue University wanted over $600.00 a month for the meds but order them from Smart Pak for 100.00 a month. I will be taking my horse to Purdue this fall to see if he is a candidate for the nuerectromy surgery. Occasionally on a windy day my horse will still shake his head some but he is definately able to be ridden now. I am actually planning to show him this wknd! :)
paintubturner1 1 year ago
@paintubturner1 Did you start your horse on the Smart Pak? Did you have any success with it? If so how long did it take to work once you started him on ? Thanks
dcoyable 8 months ago
I'd like to know how your horse is doing. We had to have our 6yo head shaker put to sleep. He was in so much pain so often that we were truly devastated. Hope your horse is on the improve.
brokefordstud 1 year ago
My horse started doing this, and started having his head going side ways to...I've been researching it now, and i think im going to call the vet out very soon..a lot of things he is doing is pointing head shaking syndrome
Horselover3994 1 year ago
Did the medication work?
kcparker2 1 year ago
@kcparker2
He has only been on the meds since last Thur evening (5-20-10) and no improvement yet. The meds can take 2 weeks to a month before I know whether it will work or not. I am sure hoping the meds work! If not he will go immediately to Purdue to see whether he is a candidate for surgery.
paintubturner1 1 year ago
hey i had a horse that had this too....keeping them inside in the dark helps! good luck!!
cutegoldengirl 1 year ago
@cutegoldengirl
Rollin comes in and out of the barn as he wishes-however he does spend alot of daylight time in the barn and comes out more in the evening. I also bought him a uv protectant fly mask that I keep on him during daylight times.
paintubturner1 1 year ago