Any experience of head shakers that is expressed in the body?

[rockymouse]

Our 9yo AQHA mare has some odd behaviors whose source has long eluded us.

She is often unhappy about being groomed. She will be overly reactive to being girthed, where she will hop in place at the mere touch of the girth against her barrel. Once she is girthed, she may hop or startle in place as she walks away from the trailer where we saddled.

This hypersensitivity often ramps up to where she the brush of her tail against her hocks will make her spook in place, or the sensation of grass against her belly. Lungeing her in this state entails her being tense and bug-eyed and rushy, maybe a bit of bucking. The sensitivity subsides slightly after some work, though it doesn’t disappear entirely.

These behaviors are always worse on windy days and sometimes also overcast days. On calm days, perhaps none of it is present.

She does not have to be saddled for these hop/startles/hyperawareness to occur. Yes, her saddle fits. She’s been treated for ulcers (no scope) with no change.

My country vet and I are trying to get to the bottom of this. She’s currently rehabbing from kissing spine surgery and has not been ridden in a year. We had thought that these behaviors were likely related to her KS and, in fact, her rehab was going beautifully until recently, when our windy season kicked up and she started exhibiting this stuff all over again.

Today the vet suddenly thought of head shakers syndrome, and wondered if she’s having zaps/pain/oversensitivities over the rest of her body but not her head. On her particularly bad days, she’s borderline dangerous, though as my husband said as he watched the other day, “She’s trying so hard to do what you ask, even though something is bothering her.”

Have you heard of or encountered anything similar?

Thanks!

[sascha]

Assuming she’s N/N and PSSM negative, I’d take another look at ulcers, especially if you treated with omeprazole, and treat with sucralfate, or even just pick up a jug of aloe vera gel and use one jug of that (60cc/day) to see if there’s a change.

If that doesn’t work, maybe try some of the headshakers remedies and maybe some good pain drugs (gabapentin hits nerve pain) to see if it is a pain thing.

Poor girl! Hope you find a solution - btdt with the over-sensitivity (mine was ulcers that responded negatively to omeprazole and positively to Sucralfate) and it’s no fun.

[luvmyhackney]

Not sure where you are located but my steps would be adding magnesium and checking vitamin e levels. Plus testing for EPM.

Low magnesium or EPM can make them super jumpy. You haven’t added any MSM to her diet?

[rockymouse]

Thanks @sascha and @luvmyhackney!

She’s does not have Impressive in her eight generation pedigree, so I think HYPP is out.

Vet doesn’t think she presents as a PSSM candidate.

Haven’t ever treated for ulcers with sucralfate, though she is on Outlast daily and eats a small amount of alfalfa daily to help with gastric health. That’s an easy thing to try.

We live in an area without possums or armadillos (and very few raccoons), so vet doesn’t think EPM is much of a possibility.

She was on magnesium a couple years ago in an effort to solve this and there was no change. Haven’t checked vitamin E levels.

Nope, no MSM in her diet.

She’s fed Purina Smart Edge (four pounds a day), one cup Outlast, a few handfuls of alfalfa and lots of coastal hay (which is all we have around here).

I’ll ask about gabapentin!

Thanks for your input!

[Elliot12]

Ovarian issue maybe?

[rockymouse]

Country vet says he doesn’t think it’s ovarian/repro related. I brought it up to him and he’d like to try other avenues before the cost of an ultrasound and exam.

He called his racetrack vet friend and talked with him about head shakers. Racetrack vet said all the track folks swear by Equiwinner patches, which are advertised to help head shakers, tying up and a handful of other ailments. Country vet and I agree that it seems like voodoo, but the track folks really think there’s something to it, and the track vet said he has seen it make a difference.

So I ordered the patches. There’s a money back guarantee, so that makes me feel better about it. It’s an easy thing to try. I will go through the options one at a time, rather than throw several things at her at once, so we know what is working…and what is not.

[RhythmNCruise]

Have you tried cutting out the alfalfa? I have personally witnessed several horses that are bombproof babysitters on grass hay but jittery nutcases when fed even small amounts of alfalfa. My own gelding is sensitive enough to it that I don’t feed it to him. I know it’s good for gut health, and I have fed it without any issue to many horses, but some of them just can’t seem to handle it.

Just a thought.

[rockymouse]

Hmm. I’d not considered this. Thanks!