# Head Shaking :(



## The wife (30 June 2016)

Ok, I am going to cut a very long story short here.

5yr old homebred. Posted before about extreme aggression in the field to the point of frightening me - I am not easily frightened by horses on the ground. Had ulcers, several grade 3's, large spot of grade 2, treated with Pep, re-scoped today to find a new grade 3 and a few grade 2's... Treat again with Pep...

Not only all this horse is a head-shaker. I am actually starting to wonder if the ulcers are a secondary cause of the head-shaking rather than an entity on their own and wondering why I never thought of it before.

Now I have been looking at some videos and comparing to this horse. He is categorically the worst I have seen on my research. I am sending our video off to the vet today. 

A nose net brings some relief but not as much as I would like. He is ridden in a Micklem bridle, nose net and ear covers at the moment with a simple loose ring snaffle. He will be having some time off during treatment for ulcers. Vet and I agree it is neurological issue rather than pollen etc. He exhibits symptoms on both reins ridden but only one rein loose schooled and doesn't show in the field.

So talk to me about it please good people. We are at our wits ends right now and completely open to any suggestions...

Also, am I right in saying most insurance companies will not cover investigative work until a cause is found? Sorry for the gabbling, I thought I would make it as quick as possible else we would be here all day.


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## be positive (30 June 2016)

I have dealt with a few headshakers and there have been very different causes, 1 was triggered by sugar in his diet, easily remedied and stopped completely once he had no feed with molasses in, hay and grass was fine. 
2  came in after the owner and vet had given up and turned him away, he only did it ridden and they had not had his back/ saddle checked or if they had the people looking were hopeless, he was sorted by a change of saddle and physio after a few months it started again as he outgrew the new saddle putting pressure back on the withers, another saddle change and he was fine.  
3 "normal" presentation nosenet almost completely sorted it.
4 proved to be caused by a diastema and a fragment of tooth left in the gum after a tooth extraction, he responded well once it was removed but the nerves had been damaged and he was pts as it became very distressing for him.

I had another livery that we never got to the bottom of, he is the only one that was sent for investigation, they sent him back saying he was NOT a headshaker and they had found nothing, the vets had been told he was worst in bright sunlight and they did ALL the ridden and lunging trials in an indoor school so of course he didn't do it while there, he moved elsewhere so I have no idea whether he improved or not. 

If it is neurological rather than something external then there may be little you can do, I think they have had some success with a copper wire but I am not sure it works long term, I would do a complete exclusion diet, cut out everything other than hay and grass and see if it helps, keep a diary of how he is each day, the weather etc. get a really good physio in just in case it is like horse 2 who had muscle and slight nerve damage to his withers, double check his mouth, the trigemenal nerves run through the jaw so are easily affected by anything going on with the teeth. 

As I think has been suggested before and there are reasons you cannot, pts must be considered for his sake as well as yours, if it is a brain tumour he is going to get worse and be a danger to himself and anyone handling him. Hope you get to the bottom of it and the above gives you a few more ideas.


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## The wife (30 June 2016)

Thanks Be Positive for your reply.  He is on a no food diet ie) grass only due to his aggression around food. Since my last post his aggression had subsided enough to allow us to at least catch him now without risk to ourselves after I followed advice and pretty much forgot about him. His lack of bucket food has also helped alot with his aggression towards us.

We have ruled out any saddle,back, teeth issues. Physio actually commented on quite how good his back was considering his ridden behaviour. We are now in a catch 22 regarding behaviour as to whether it is the discomfort from ulcers that is causing it, the head shaking or a combination of both - the head shaking is increasing stress which is causing a reoccurrence of ulcers...

IF this horse was mine he would be euthanased. Best case he will live as a field ornament without any hard ever to prevent the aggression and keep him manageable. Worst case he will be a field ornament in pain. Mum had had another break down about him today and I just don't know how to handle it anymore. Feel so fed up. Candid conversations do not work, nor does nicely. We have a good day with him and she gleams hope and brings it back up on bad days but I have shown her a video we are sending to the vet and I am not sure she realised how bad he was.

Sorry, I am ranting and moaning because I am feeling sorry for myself right now not knowing what is best. Do we investigate at huge cost and look for a needle in a hay stack or do we just hope the nosenet is not just masking the problem but helping. He still isn't 100% with it on and I foresee like most things tge effects will subside in time. I hate horses today.


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## be positive (30 June 2016)

Catch 22 and as a homebred it must be even worse than a bought in horse, you have ruled out most of the obvious and easily resolved causes, my current horse is not 100% with a nosenet but is better and in winter is fine so we know it is pollen or flies that causes it.

I think the problem you have with investigating is that there is unlikely to be a cure so is it worth chucking money at it, putting an already difficult horse through a really stressful period at a vets only to have them say nothing can be done.

I know he has ulcers and bute is not going to be good for them but what about a short bute trial, if there is pain and it reduces the headshaking and the stress then it should not make the ulcers worse and at least you have a starting point, treating the ulcers but not the cause will not work long term anyway.


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## The wife (30 June 2016)

I never considered a bute trial. Had not even crossed my mind to be honest due to the ulcers but as we suspect the head shaking is causing the ulcers then what have we got to lose? The bute may agitate them but the head shaking could be making them worse.

Thank you it is certainly worth a try. FWIW, I agree with everything you have said and feel much better for off loading so thank you for that also


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## be positive (30 June 2016)

I was advised by an ulcer expert to do a bute trial on my horse who had previously been treated and was not right behind following an injury, he felt that I needed to rule out pain before investigating whether the ulcers were still an issue, it muddied the water for me as the horse became better behind while on the bute, no worse in his guts but did show lame in front!! totally unexpected and at that point I decided to turn him away for a while rather than keep on investigating, he came right in front, the hind was found to be his SI and we have no reason to think he has ulcers but it can be so complicated to find the root cause when they cannot speak to us.

I think you have nothing to lose by trying, the vet I spoke to said short term it should do no harm and if it does make matters worse it is easily stopped and clears out of the system fairly quickly.


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## Casey76 (30 June 2016)

If the head shaking is due to neuropathic pain (trigeminal neuralgia), I would bet that the ulcers are a symptom of this - not the other way around.


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## The wife (30 June 2016)

Oh bless you. Typical horses, always throw a surprise in. Thanks again for your advice we will definitely give it a try.

Casey - I belive it is a neuro issue rather than an allergy as he does it during the winter as well. We initially thought (rather naively) that he was going into his terrible teens age at the end of his 4th year as the early stages were presented as typical evasion. It is only now that it is presenting as a grade 4 head shaking and has got worse as time has gone on which made us question it. He is a very ungenuine horse and was 'born cross'. Since a foal he has been food aggressive, obstinate and awkward so in our defence it was difficult to distinguish between being uncomfortable and just him. I agree with you.  The ulcers are a secondary cause from the head shaking as his management has been as careful as we can ie)turned out 24/7 etc. Thank you for taking the time to reply.


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