Very interesting, the use of cbd oil for head shaking! I’m thinking it maybe worth a try.
@frugalannie Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to this post! My poor jumper has recently been diagnosed with photic head-shaking, and I have been wanting to try CBD oil for him. Is there a specific kind you get? I think I saw your post on another HSS forum about CBD oil, and I read that it can have great effects for head shakers. I really hope to get my guy more comfortable soon… maybe I can ride him again if the head shaking symptoms can get quieted down…I’m trying to stay positive… He seems to be responding better to having his feed wetted down, and changing to pm turnout. I have also been giving him Previcox and it seems to help some too. The Top Stock has already been ordered and the Spirulina arrived today. I have given him spirulina before, and I wanted to ask you guys if anyone has looked up the amount (in grams) that they are supposed to get? I think I saw on a forum someone mentioned UC-Davis and Dr. Madigan suggested 20g? Is that right? Does that seem like a lot? Who has tried it? Let me know-Thanks!!
I purchased an imported Irish WB who was passed around from trainer to trainer due to excessive and dangerous head shaking. It caused him to be inverted constantly. I purchased him for “slaughter” price and was told no one could make him go on the bit. After years of trial and error, he started going round and was not head tossing as much but was never 100%. These types of horses are best as jumpers.
His triggers were weather changes, wind, sun, and possible elevation as it decreased when we left Colorado.
The biggest thing for him was to let him have grass turnout 24/7. Hands down biggest difference. Also, the combination hackamore bit with happy mouth helped with those funny faces they make under tack. And he wore a face mask almost all the time.
Recently, at the age of 25, he had a choking episode. I brought him to the vet who scoped and ulatrsound him. They found a huge tumor in his chest/near the girth and another smaller one in his esophagus (why he was choking). Who knows where there were others. It could have been a possible culpirt. I had to put him down then, there was nothing they could do for him.
[QUOTE=Quiproco;n10637100]
Is there a specific kind you get? /QUOTE]
Quiproco, I use a pretty high grade CBD oil because it’s for me, too! Flora Sophia is the brand, and I get the Full Spectrum, 1800 mg total per bottle. 1/4 of an ml under my tongue works for me (about 10 mgs). So that’s the amount I gave my mare. A TB syringe was the only thing small enough to dose her.
I can’t promise it’ll work for you, but I hope it does.
Interesting to see this post resurface after a few years and I can post updated info! I am sorry for anyone that has to go through owning a headshaker! It is such trial and error—because triggers vary and what works for one does not work at all for another. I can say that I did end up trying Top Stock at one point. I tried it for several months but it had no effect.
Quiproco - Dr. Madigan (UC Davis) recommends giving Melatonin (20g) at with evening feeding. The idea is to “trick” the horses body into thinking it is winter (alteration in photoperiod). This can help with seasonal headshakers (spring through summer). Magnesium can also help and is recommended to try along with the melatonin. Dr. Madigan’s website is very informative: www.headshakers.org
I have also tried the CBD Oil—which did seem to help (but not completely). My method for administration was to put several drops on a German horse muffin (soft horse treat). She made a face the first time I gave it to her—but quickly got used to it and gobbled it up. I would give it to her about an hour before I rode.
However, I did finally seem to solve my horses headshaking–with allergy shots. HorseGirlMi—I thinnk you mentioned your vet recommended Zyrtec or another allergy type drug. That works to reduce the symptoms of allergies—but it isn’t as effective as immunotherapy (i.e. allergy shots). I had my horse dermal tested for allergies. They made up a custom serum based on her results. Started giving her shots last March and that has made the biggest difference in her comfort and reduced her HS significantly. I would definitely check into those if your vet thinks the HS is allergy related.
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Does anyone have a head shaker that has symptoms irritated by sunlight? My vet says my horse is a pretty “serious” case and advised me not to ride him. So did Auburn’s head of internal medicine. This was several weeks ago, and I’ve managed to minimize his symptoms greatly since then. How do you know when to work your horse again with HSS? Thanks!
Sip2, I think I may have to go the route of allergy testing. I strongly feel Dragon’s head shaking is brought on by allergies. I’m just a little leary on how well the shots actually work and have no clue on what the cost of them should be. But, he’s a young horse, ( just turned 8), and he’s worth the money if that’ll make him comfortable.
Hi everyone! I just wanted to RAVE about Top Stock. It has been a truly transformative supplement for him! He is gleaming, his appetite is much better, he is no longer hiding in the darkest part of his stall bobbing his had every few seconds, and HE CAN GO OUT IN THE LIGHT! This might not sound like a big deal, but my horse was so triggered by the sunlight he refused to go outside in the field, and my veterinarian stated that this is one of the most severe cases he had ever seen! Now he gallops outside regardless of the UV rating. We spent most of the spring and summer turning him out at night and then I decided to just keep bumping his turnout time up more and more, and now he gallops outside again! No bobbing, snorting, or perceivable pain like used to have. We thought we might have to put him down, and now he is doing amazing! I have managed to ride him very lightly once, and it went well- something I never thought I would be able to do again! I am over the moon happy for this horse and hope that he continues progressing on the Top Stock and makes a full recovery! I recommend this brand of supplements to literally anyone- not just head shakers!
My horse was born a headshaker. She was just a few weeks old when starting to show signs of it. I didn’t know what it was at the time and we all joked about her being a bloodhound as she would drag her nose on the ground. She is 19 now and has gotten worse. I rode her a month or so ago and she pulled so hard trying to get her nose on the ground and shaking her head that my shoulders still hurt. I’m now using a complete face mask on her which helps somewhat. I am beginning to think that her hackamore noseband triggers it. I have noticed that she doesn’t shake her head in the pasture, but starts to jerk her head shortly after I halter her. I know a bit triggers it, and that is why she is in a hackamore now. I have been thinking about trying to ride her without a noseband, but that means having a bit in her mouth. My next thoughts are no noseband and a happy mouth or rubber bit on the thought that maybe the steel of the bit starts things going. She is such a good trail horse and so much fun to ride that I don’t want to give up on her
I am now convinced, just through experience no proof, that some horses are allergic to the alloy metals in stainless steel.
You might want to try a bit that is not stainless steel to start off, copper, titanium, or the iron ones that rust.
I switched to titanium bits even though they can be expensive because the horses are so much more willing to take and keep good contact without all those little shakes and stutters that they gave me with the stainless steel bits.
Back when all my bits were stainless steel I was riding a mare who had the most sensitive mouth of any horse I had ever ridden in my life. She did.not.like bitless bridles at all and would go into flinging her head around in them. She stayed quieter in a stainless steel bit, believe it or not. She was OK in a bitless bridle on loose reins, but when I tried contact the violent flinging of her head all around would start. Her nose was even more sensitive than her mouth.
My girl got pretty violent with a bit. In fact it got so that I could hardly bridle her. That is when I switched over to a hackamore. It took quite a few rides before she figured out I wasn’t going to put a bit into her mouth. That is the main reason that I have not tried to go without a noseband as she would have to wear a bit.
While i was doing research, one of the vets wrote “headshaking is a fat gelding disease.” Although I know this is often not the case, I did have a fat gelding when the headshaking started, so it kind of resonated with me. I got some of the weight off and that combined with Remission (for magnesium) and a Micklem bridle has done wonders. Still bring my nose net and riding mask everywhere but it has not been needed as much.
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