Head Shaker?

[led18]

I have a 9 yo OTTB mare who has recently started throwing her head almost constantly. She is retired due to some issues with her neck/back, so is not ridden (and hasn’t been for years) and pretty much lives outside (comes inside during bad weather).

I have checked her ears, hosed her off, fly sprayed her. I looked her over for ticks, we have EPM and Lyme tested her. She wears a fly mask at all times when outside. Whether she is in her stall, in the paddock, has a fly mask on or doesn’t she is throwing her head up and down. I am unsure if this is at all related, but she has also started pawing in her water trough to the point of tipping it as if in a way to get her legs and body wet. Then she will have moments where she just like loses her mind (?) and starts galloping around like crazy. I eventually can get her to settle down, but she seems to be spiraling.

I have had this mare 4 years and she has had nothing but issues, countless emergency vet visits and we just can’t figure her out. I truly feel like I have tried everything for her. I have 3 other horses that are all happy, content, no head throwing, etc.

Any ideas on what could be causing this?

[Incantation]

I am so sorry you are dealing with this. Maybe try putting a nose net on her during the day and see if it helps?

[Simkie]

@led18

Any ideas on what could be causing this?

Head shaking syndrome is an actual thing and often seems to have something to do with irritation of a nerve in their face. It’s nerve pain.

Trigeminal-mediated Headshaking

There are a few things that might help. Worth discussing with your vet. Although there’s also no shame in putting her down. It sounds like she’s in a considerable amount of pain.

[Critter]

My headshaker turned out to have allergies. The first year I had her home after getting her started under saddle, I swear I spent more than $1000 in bits…in addition to using bits I already had. It wasn’t until she started to have a small cough at the start of the ride that I asked the vet to scope just because I didn’t know what else to look for. Scope showed the allergies and inflammation…started her on generic zyrtec. Head tossing completely stopped.

Not saying that’s what’s going on with your mare…but trying a few weeks of generic zyrtec is fairly inexpensive and low risk.

[Pico_Banana]

When my new horse last spring started shaking his head, I immediately googled and found the trigeminal article linked above. After a lot of panic, it turns out it was allergies. A nose net, Zyrtec, and about a month later he was fine when the pollen died down.

[Ottbaxel]

My older gelding has headshakers. Randomly when he was 16 my trainer was riding him one day and he just started jerking his head up like something was zinging him in the face.

I first tried injecting his neck as he has mild neck OA. When that didn’t work, I tried different bits. Still nothing so we decided it seemed to be headshakers and we tried a nose net to no avail. Then we went to allergies, so I put him on cyproheptadine. Still not any better. Finally I put him on magnesium and it made a HUGE difference.

He has stayed on it ever since, and the headshakers only comes back if there is a lapse in him getting the magnesium. Also-I started with him on Mag 5000, then later tried Quiessence at the recommendation of a friend. The minute I switched him to Quiessence, the headshakers came back. Put him back on the Mag 5000, and it went away again. So for him, it very specifically has to be the Mag 5000.

[BrownDerby]

@Pico_Banana

When my new horse last spring started shaking his head, I immediately googled and found the trigeminal article linked above. After a lot of panic, it turns out it was allergies. A nose net, Zyrtec, and about a month later he was fine when the pollen died down.

My exact experience as well. Good luck OP.

[rogueknits]

Mine is almost certainly due to allergies as well, since he does it most this time of year when the tree pollen is bad. This also happens to coincide with when my barn is plagued by tiny gnats that get in his nose and eyes, which doesn’t help. Zyrtec and a nose net when under saddle have helped tremendously, and he needs neither once we get out of heavy pollen season. I also switched his bridle to a Micklem because he does sometimes get sensitivity in his TMJ area and I thought that might be a contributing factor.

[atlatl]

My horse had sinus surgery and a damaged trigeminal nerve. Platinum Steady helped her along with gabapentin for nerve pain. She stopped over time but we had a definitive cause. Much head shaking is idiopathic; no known cause.

Good luck.

[Ottbaxel]

Hey @rogueknits, what dosage of Zyrtec do you give daily? My gelding with head shakers has been doing great but yesterday seemed to be having some pretty bad allergies so I think I need to put him on it and see how it does.

[rogueknits]

He’s currently on 6 am/pm, but can go up to 8 am/pm (he’s a 16.2hh warmblood, so a pretty big guy). I will say that the pollen in my area is intense this year and it’s been a bit of a struggle. I currently have barn staff make sure he is in at least 2 hours before I want to ride so that he has some time out of the pollen to chill out a bit. And a fly mask with nose attachment is crucial because he will try to rub his nose all over the fencing and has gotten some cuts in the past.

[Critter]

My girl is on 14 tabs (10 mg tabs) AM and PM. Tried to cut her back but she got more symptomatic.

The dose is 100 to 200 mg once or twice a day.