Interesting about the Lyme. I have chronic Lyme and get random muscle twitching. It is tempting to smack the offending muscle or flail a limb to try to get the muscle to “reset” (it doesn’t really work but the movement can provide a distraction). I could totally understand a horse responding to stimulus like that by tossing its head.
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I only have access to grass at home, but do road hack and ponied off my other horse with the same amount of HS as when worked in the grass. We’re trailering out all next weekend to an arena so will try that out then or this weekend if we don’t melt first.
I asked about IV Oxytet originally but the vet wasn’t convinced we needed treatment for Lyme in the first place (we were blessed with positive results on EPM and Lyme and we aren’t in an area that is prevalent with Lyme though horse did live in the NE at one point). I think we (vet and I) need to talk more about the Lyme and definitely retest.
In other news - the vet visit was yesterday. Nose, eyes, mouth, teeth, ears all given a good report and appear healthy on basic examination. Vet definitely agreed it’s HS but was convinced it was photonic (sp?) so was shocked that there was no difference in the barn vs in full very bright sunlight (2pm with the sun at full blast). She saw what I was thinking with the allergies due to runny nose/eyes, excessive snorting/ blowing out, running face on legs all coinciding with allergy season kicking off but warned that the allergies could be 100% unrelated to the HS and that the HS may not improve which I already knew. She left me some prednisone (15 tabs for 5 days then tapering down) which she said could help if it is allergies. If not, then we move to antihistamines. If those don’t work, I asked about Gabapentin which I take for nerve pain/ misfiring nerves and it helps. However I think I need to explore the Lyme connection a bit more. Seems to be almost common for HS horses to have a Lyme history? Very odd.
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Good advice!’\
My vet diagnosed my headshaker by watching him go in the round pen. His age (9) and life history (was in work and stopped when I had a pretty bad accident) fit the history of typical head shakers. Exercise exacerbates the condition.
The trigger for my horse seems to be allergies because it is most apparent in the sometimes fall but definitely spring. I use a fitted nose net which really helps. I’m too lazy to take it off so he goes in it year round. His trigeminal misfirings are around his nose and I know this because when he is syptomatic, he presses his nose into me or the fence where I groom/tack up. The fitted nosebands, even if it bounces around when riding, stimulates those neurons and we have good rides.
In the spring, he’ll shake his head despite the nose net and cyproheptadine makes all the difference. I use it for 60 days max, mostly in the spring now, But I guess it depends on the weather.
I’d suggest experimenting with things to figure out what makes your horse comfortable. Someone makes eye nets that block UV rays, and try that if a good, fitted nose net doesn’t work. Try to figure out what triggers your horse. i tracked pollen with his symptoms and now think grass pollen is his trigger.
We learned to manage it very well and he doesn’t miss rides. He’s much more comfy.
kaya84 - is your vet able to do a dermal allergy test for your horse? My horse was tested for allergies when I brought her in for headshaking. She is definitely not photic headshaker (i.e. sunlight does not trigger her HS). They diagosed her as an idiopathic HS. Really, it just comes down to what triggers your horses trigeminal nerve to fire (which clearly varies by horse—that’s why it’s such a frustrating condition). However, if you think, for your horse, that it’s related to allergies, ideally, you should find a vet that can do a dermal allergy test. Then, they will customize a serum for allergy shots.The allergy shots really helped my HS horse!
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I don’t think I’ve posted on this thread yet but I try to catch all the HS topics. If I have forgive me. This may not work for any other horse but it worked for mine.
My OTTB mare suddenly became a head shaker in the spring at age 12. We were about to move up to Prelim and had done a T3day the year before. Long story short vet ultimately diagnosed neurologic Lyme. Doxy alone didn’t help because it won’t cross the blood brain barrier so I had to dose with Doxy and Rifampin (which does cross and may take some Doxy with it). This combo would stop HS for a few weeks after treatment but it would start again. While strongly seasonal (usually started in June, tapered off in late summer) and she was more symptomatic outdoors than in, she had outbreaks in Feb or in her stall so inconsistent.
I use CBD for nerve pain stemming from spinal issues and her pain seemed related to her trigeminal nerve so I tried it on her with my vet’s ok. One oral dose per day for 4 days of 10 mgs* CBD would stop her symptoms for the season. Every spring for the next 4 years or so I would wait for her to have obvious symptoms before treating to see if it was working, and it did. After that her symptoms pretty much abated. (As an aside I, too, was able to stop using CBD after a few years as my pain diminished.).
I lost my mare to unrelated causes last fall but were I to be in the same situation. I’d try it again. It’s cheap and pretty much innocuous. If you decide to try it, please don’t use gas station grade CBD oil. Use some good stuff that has a good testing protocol so you know you are delivering the amount you want to.
And best of luck. HS is heartbreaking and frustrating.
- Calculate the milligrams in the dose from the concentration of the product you are going to use. It varies. For my product (Flora Sophia) it was about a quarter of a milliliter and I used a TB syringe to squirt it in her mouth.
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I will have to look into the CBD - We are in IL so have access to all sorts of CBD products. Did you use an oil made for humans? Sorry if I missed that part.
It seems the Prednisone is helping some - no HS until I get in the tack now (whereas before there was some when tacking up). But it could also be that it’s tapering off going into summer.
The nose net helps some as well. I have been using a standing so as to not get whacked in the face, but feel conflicted as I feel it punishes them for something they can’t control (but I also really like my face the way it is 
). I’ve been riding without a noseband as the only one I have that fits is a PSOS Pioneer (so integrated flash type deal), but it honestly seemed to help even without the nose net - almost like the pressure/ touching (as it is set loose) helps.
Makes me think maybe one of those silly compression face masks may help as well? I am thinking about picking up one of the fly masks in that style (Lycra compression ish) and cutting out the eye mesh to see if that helps or makes any difference.
I used the same CBD on myself and the mare, so yes, human grade.
The Prednisone helped us thankfully! Between that, the nose net and the Lysine + MSM we were able to compete at our first event (I’m a H/J rider normally). It was her first away/ overnight show, first course, first time cantering jumps, first dressage test, and more. We didn’t place, but she exceeded my every expectation and I’m happy that we have found something (s) that keep her comfortable. As an aside, they almost didn’t let us compete in the dressage with the nose net. Please disregard my stirrups, I realized WAY too late they were about 3-4 holes too short .
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Lovely!!! Yes, shows require a note from your veterinarian that your horse has HSS.
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I have a 3/4 TB gelding who developed a headshake at around age 15. More pronounced in spring and fall, suggesting allergies. Vet suggested several options, primarily antihistamine, but they made him groggy, and did not fully relieve symptoms. After doing a lot of research, I discovered that some horses develop a sensitivity/allergy to soy over time. So I changed his feed to TC, which keeps the ingredients stable, unlike some other brands, who increase soy at different times of the year to achieve protein level. I also started him on Spirulina. Within 30 days, headshake was completely gone.
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My mare developed head-shaking two years ago. What finally worked for her was Timothy only, Quiessence, and a nose net that covers her entire nose. https://en.pferde-nasennetz.de/ The type that only covers the top of her nose drives her crazy. The head-shaking stopped after a couple of months.
Head-shaking is an odd condition. No one knows why it starts and successful treatment varies from horse to horse.
OT: I see you also use Scoot-boots. I love them! How long do yours last? Mine last about a year then the toe wears out.
