Noseband irritation? Facial nerve sensitivity?

[dontskipthecafe]

I’ve been reading Susan Salk’s Off Track Thoroughbreds blog for a while, and girly and I were actually featured in February. When I read this article, I was very intrigued. My horse has always tossed her head. She had her teeth done in January by an extremely highly-recommended dentist. She has been treated for ulcers, and does not seem to be in pain. I discovered that she hated the Micklem bridle I was riding her in, and while the tossing frequency went down when I switched back to a standard bridle, it wasn’t completely eliminated.

I read Susan’s article on 4/27 and was very intrigued, so I tried removing the noseband altogether yesterday.

Head-tossing solution was under their nose

She tossed her head once, I think out of habit, and then she stopped! Has anyone else had this issue, with a TB or otherwise? A friend at the barn suggested that the culprit may be irritated or sensitive facial nerves.

Shallow reason: She also looks super cute and I like the look on her refined face.

[caryledee]

My horse is a headshaker. I did try taking the noseband off and it did not change things for me. I also bought him a Micklem. Although I think he goes better in it, he still headshakes with it.

Headshaking is something I think the answer will be different for every horse, as there are a lot of causes.

[scrbear11]

Very interesting article. My Appendix mare is a bit chomper, head tosser, and at her worst- a rearer.

Her teeth were floated, but the bit chomping lead me to put a figure 8 on her. I figured with a closed mouth I would have a softer, more focused horse. WRONG. The Figure 8 made the head tossing worse, and progressed into rearing and refusing to go forward.

Back to her normal bridle. Still head tossing, but now at least going forward. I changed her bit, thinking that may do it (metal French link, compared to happy mouth French link), and put that bit on a bridle with a very narrow noseband. Much happier camper. Just a little bit of head tossing, but otherwise, no problems.

Little mare was kicked in the face as a long yearling and actually broke her face. I believe she has some pain from that injury.

I am going to experiment, and try going noseband-less tomorrow morning when I ride.

[dontskipthecafe]

Also I’m a little shallow and she’s adorable: http://imgur.com/bXuztKR

Calmer than ever on the trail: http://imgur.com/ylSSqJX

[beowulf]

personally, I don’t really see how this is a marvel new idea or finding… I can barely even stand SUNGLASSES on the bridge of my nose… I can’t imagine tolerating a noseband.

Mine go without if they can, but on show days, they have to wear them. Rules say nothing about how tight they have to be, so I show on the loosest hole.

[Bastile]

try an equine chiropractor - some head shakers have the bones in their poll out of wack and an adjustment can help.

[Bluey]

We started many colts every year, TBs and quarter horses.

We use our rope nose hackamore for the first week to several months, depending on the colt and what we are doing, how much time before they go to the track some of those.

We had ONE mare that just didn’t like the noseband at all, so we started her with our regular D snaffle and she was a happy camper.
That same mare could not stand a string girth, she would bite at it and try to lay down and scratch her belly with one, so we used a leather one on her.

If your horse doesn’t like the noseband, why use one?
If you absolutely need to use one for what you do, try changing nosebands, add liners, shadow rolls, higher or lower, looser or tighter.
Leaving it loose, offer treats or some hand grazing with it to see if they get used to it and be sure it is the noseband they object to.

Let each horse tell you what works best for them.