Horse tossing head up and down...allergies?

[J-Lu]

Hi all,

My horse is tossing his head up and down and occasionally adding some side action to this. Here’s the scoop:

He does this in the pasture, when I’m grooming, and riding. I think it becomes more pronounced when I ride-he gets agitated at the increased work load and acts out because he’d rather not work at 100%. He’s had very easy going for the last 6 months (my injury), his work load is stepping up. That said, he has been a saint with the increased work load and I have carefully metered this.I know it becomes pronounced when the weather warms up, as I’ve been tracking this behavior since November. Warm days - head tossing. Cool days - no head tossing. Warm days, he also wants to rub his nostrils on things.

He is very OK with my running my fingers on the outside of the inner nostrils, but not OK with my touching the inner part of the mucus membranes of nostrils. He’s shedding alot. I wonder if he’ s particularly sensitive to shedded hairs or other items touching the mucous membranes?

It is spring here, pollen o’plenty. He lives outside so…?

My vet comes out in two weeks for spring shots, exam and annual dental work. I will alert her to this , in addition to what I think (she has in the back of her mind) a growing sensitivity to flies and fly saliva. Flies have only really been out here for 2-3 days, so I suspect the head tossing is not related.

Does anyone have any ideas about the head tossing that I can run by my vet? Horse has great nutrition (diet balancer in addition to grain), 24/7 turnout, great hay until the pasture produces grass, and otherwise a freakishly stress-free environment.

Any ideas I can run by my vet? Thank you in advance!!

[Nevada10]

It could be allergies or head shakers syndrome. Is it a violent “twitch?” Have you noticed if it’s worse when it’s sunny out? If so, usually a flymask or nose net fixes the problem. If not, Zyrtec (I use the Costco version) works great for allergies. My head shaker is the worst this time of year.

[caryledee]

Sounds like head shaking syndrome. Mine has it and it is brought on in the spring by pollen. Benadryl, magnesium, and riding in a nose net and fly mask have helped him. A lot of times it is trial and error to see what works.

[J-Lu]

Interesting, thank you! I watched some videos of horses with head shaking syndrome, and they look much more extreme than what my horse does. Wow. However, the basic movement seems similar. Interestingly, I rediscovered my dropbox account today where I have a video from exactly three years ago (within a couple of weeks) of my horse doing similar things. I was going to share it with my vet at spring shots but the issue seemed to resolve by the time of the appt.

He pretty much only does it in the spring, when the weather swings to warm days and the pollen comes out…no other time of year. I will ride him tomorrow, when it is supposed to be very warm and the pollen is everywhere (my car is coated), and on Sunday, when it is supposed to be about 25 degrees cooler and it should rain all day on Sat. My experiment to see if warmth and pollen are large factors. I don’t think sun is a large factor.

I wasn’t aware of head shaking syndrome. Is it involuntary? I haven’t seen him do it when he’s focused on something (he not uncommonly needs to focus on something happening around him in case it is going to cause his demise). My barn owner notices that he does it when he realizes she’s coming to feed. (?) My vet comes out in 2 weeks, I’ll send her a note about this now.

Thank you!

[J-Lu]

Update!

You all were right, my horse has developed headshaking syndrome. My vet verified.

I haven’t figured out his triggers 100% but it seems like pollen and sun together. He doesn’t show signs of sun sensitivity, but shows signs of the trigeminal nerve endings at his nostrils being in play with this. On “bad” days, he’ll put his nose on the fence where I groom him, verifying the location. Wind doesn’t seem to matter, sun doesn’t, but pollen in the air so far…yes.

I tried many things! Seemingly, tying regular panty hose to the cavesson with washers to weigh down the floppy ends around his nostrils (not at the ends, but sewn into the ends at varying distances from the edge with dental floss) and the rest going around his nose like a flash seemed to work. He needs sensation on his nostril edges (and he needed to get used to this!). I since purchased an actual nose net but I have yet to try it.

He doesn’t do it much when grazing, I think it’s because the grass stimulates his nose.

Thanks for your help, COTHers! You were right! I feel very lucky that I figured our quickly and easily how to manage it under saddle, and I wouldn’t have recognized it without your help.

[IPEsq]

If it’s pollen is a trigger, you could also try an allergy supplement…like something with omega 3s, msm and/or spirulina. I am trying this. Jury’s still out.

Small bugs also also seem to be a trigger for mine. In that sense, sensation on the nose is not good! I need to hack out with a nose net as well to see if that helps.

Mine also has some violent head flips, nose rubbing and sneezing. But he doesn’t constantly flip or nod like some head shakers…only occasional, yet frequent enough to be annoying to try to ride and steer and have any contact. I think it can present in a variety of ways.

[J-Lu]

I bucked up and purchased the expensive nose net. It comes with three nets, but most importantly, the part that attaches to the cavesson is two strips that velcroe together and holds the net in place. So one can make the fitted part around the nose fit more snugly or more loosely - I like that custom fit aspect. He’ll probably need a more snug fit and I can always use something (maybe more elegant than washers) to add a teeny bit of weight if necessary.

Once he got used to the sensation always being there, he was fine. He also hates bugs - I think because of the changing sensation when they land and take off because he knows many of the flies bite. I’d say his biggest issue with the panty-hose-washer set-up was that I had to reposition the washers a few times because when they got too low, my horse tilted his head and tried to reach them with his tongue out the side of his mouth. The key was that he needed a sensation halfway down the nostrils but not fully covering (this aggravated him when he worked). It took a few rides to get used to (his first ride was edgy but BOY his gaits were great!) but then he didn’t care.

We’ll see! I will miss the jokes about my horse wearing pantyhose, and people pointing out the runs in his pantyhose.

[vxf111]

My horse did the same and turned out to have food allergies. Testing isn’t expensive, I would do it I’m your shoes

[J-Lu]

@vxf111

My horse did the same and turned out to have food allergies. Testing isn’t expensive, I would do it I’m your shoes

Thanks! I’ll look into this. I’m on a roll with his diet right now, having pasture soil samples taken, pasture grass tested (not expensive), and he’s on two balancers right now (grain was cut out). The food allergy test would be appropriate at this point :lol:. Thank you for the suggestion!

[vxf111]

@J-Lu

Thanks! I’ll look into this. I’m on a roll with his diet right now, having pasture soil samples taken, pasture grass tested (not expensive), and he’s on two balancers right now (grain was cut out). The food allergy test would be appropriate at this point :lol:. Thank you for the suggestion!

It was only maybe a hundred bucks or so and boy did I get surprising and helpful answers

[Ainsley688]

I’ve used Duralactin with great success to help my mares allergies for the past 12 years or so. She essentially gets “hay fever” with head shaking. (Runny, itchy eyes, sneezing, itchy nose, sinus stuff, all the same people symptoms.) she also tested very low in Vit E when she was having a weird skin allergy issue one winter, so that’s worth looking into as well!

[Dressage59]

Wow! This thread has really been informative. Our horse was shaking his head and also tossing it side to side. We use fly predators, yet the vet noticed some gnats bothering him. Started using SWAT in his years and applying fly spray daily and he’s tremendously better. Have also noticed that he’s “coughing” a lot, so I suspect some allergies. The vet said that head shakers have a sensitivity to light. Thanks for sharing!

[J-Lu]

Ainsley688, how did your vet test for Vit E? Plasma?

Dressage59, the issue is thought to be a syndrome (many causes for the same outcome) and is believed to be caused from misfiring or pressure from the trigeminal nerve. This nerve has 3 branches - one that sort of encircles the eye, one that branches to the nostril, the last branches down the jaw. Some horses with “misfiring” or whatever around the opthalmic, or eye branch, are quite sensitive to light. My horse seems to have “misfiring” or whatever around his nostrils. Some horses have issues around the jaw, and the issues are thought to be dental in origin. There all sorts of theories out there on what the origins are, but there is very very little data.

Already I can see that my horse doesn’t shake his head when I walk him out now (maybe his IS triggered by allergies/allergy related) and he probably can go without the nose covering. But it is so minimally invasive, I’ll just stay with it for now. His new fly mask is blocks 70% or more UV rays and has ear coverings, so we’ll see if that makes any difference. I know they make some “riding bonnets” for horses with sun-sensitive head shaking that seems to work well for those affected.

The whole thing IS very interesting. I’ve become so observant of my horse/the environmental conditions.

[Jealoushe]

I know someone who had a horse diagnosed with this also but turned out to have a hemotoma up his nasal cavity. He had to have it ultrasounded to be discovered.

Is the nose net helping?

[Dressage59]

@J-Lu Thanks! That information was so helpful. We had the vet check his teeth and he said they were fine. Any ideas where to find that nose net or fly mask? TIA!

[Wyndwolfe]

When my gelding started shaking his head (at 25 years old), I spent a good deal of time researching both headshaking and allergies. My vet and I felt that the sudden development at his age was most likely due to allergies. We found anecdotal reports of horses developing sensitivity to soy after many years. So I switched to a feed with low soy content and put him on Spirulina powder. In a very short time, he was back to normal.

[Mouse_amp_Bay]

Wyndwolf - out of curiosity, what did you find soy free?

[Dressage59]

@Wyndwolfe I’m definitely interested in this also. Our horse, who is in exceptional shape otherwise, is 21 and just started head shaking. We live in the south with high pollen counts. I’ve seen people driving in their car with nose/mouth masks on. What brand of feed do you use? Also, what does the Spirulina powder do? Thanks so much!

[Dressage59]

@Martina Those were really great articles! I decided to look for a fly mask that has the 90% UV protection and I can’t find one. Have you or anyone found one of these! The closest I could come was an Absorbine one from Jeffers that says it blocks 80% of the UV rays. I would mind having one that has a discreet nose (he’s a bay, so no problem with the sun, just didn’t know if it would help). Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

[Martina]

https://www.facebook.com/pg/GuardianHorseMask/about/?ref=page_internal