Post by woodystar on Mar 22, 2016 10:29:38 GMT 1
Hi,
I've posted on here in the past with concerns about our lovely boy, (the last was regarding pain and we finally located a sore vertebra in his neck so physio has sorted that), but I now think we might have stumbled across a possible explanation for the difficulties we've had. I've read an article on Head Shaking Syndrome and it, worryingly, does seem to fit. Obviously I'm discussing this with my vet but I'm wondering if anyone has experience of this? Woody has some, but not all, of the symptoms I've read about...
He flings his head to one side when trotting loose in the field - sometimes so violently it sends him off balance.
He doesn't do the vertical tossing I've seen on You Tube videos but he does a lot of vertical twitching (not triggered by flies).
He snorts a lot, particularly during or after trotting.
He rubs his nose and mouth frequently and often suddenly - when ridden/worked in hand he will stop without warning to rub mouth and nose on his leg. Will itch his nose violently on stable door when in.
He holds water in his mouth for a long time before drinking and often likes to bury his nose in water when he doesn't even want a drink.
He often (but not always) doesn't want his nose, or even lower half of his face, touched and although never a problem to catch, he often doesn't want headcollar putting over his nose (although he'll happily have it put round his neck so it's not an avoiding being caught issue).
He frequently stares vaguely into space for prolonged periods.
I have discussed all these symptoms with vet at different times over last few years but Head Shaking Syndrome was never suggested.
If anyone has experience of Head Shaking Syndrome, are these symptoms enough to fit? If so, does it get worse as he ages or will it just stay at this level? I know there is no cure but does anyone have experience of things that can help? Last question, is it unfair to keep riding him if he does have this awful condition (he only does light hacking) - to me it feels that it would be (and perhaps unsafe) and we do walk him out in hand a lot which he seems to prefer anyway.
Thanks very much for any thoughts, I'm not replacing this with talking to vet - just like other thoughts from people dealing with the same issue too.
I've posted on here in the past with concerns about our lovely boy, (the last was regarding pain and we finally located a sore vertebra in his neck so physio has sorted that), but I now think we might have stumbled across a possible explanation for the difficulties we've had. I've read an article on Head Shaking Syndrome and it, worryingly, does seem to fit. Obviously I'm discussing this with my vet but I'm wondering if anyone has experience of this? Woody has some, but not all, of the symptoms I've read about...
He flings his head to one side when trotting loose in the field - sometimes so violently it sends him off balance.
He doesn't do the vertical tossing I've seen on You Tube videos but he does a lot of vertical twitching (not triggered by flies).
He snorts a lot, particularly during or after trotting.
He rubs his nose and mouth frequently and often suddenly - when ridden/worked in hand he will stop without warning to rub mouth and nose on his leg. Will itch his nose violently on stable door when in.
He holds water in his mouth for a long time before drinking and often likes to bury his nose in water when he doesn't even want a drink.
He often (but not always) doesn't want his nose, or even lower half of his face, touched and although never a problem to catch, he often doesn't want headcollar putting over his nose (although he'll happily have it put round his neck so it's not an avoiding being caught issue).
He frequently stares vaguely into space for prolonged periods.
I have discussed all these symptoms with vet at different times over last few years but Head Shaking Syndrome was never suggested.
If anyone has experience of Head Shaking Syndrome, are these symptoms enough to fit? If so, does it get worse as he ages or will it just stay at this level? I know there is no cure but does anyone have experience of things that can help? Last question, is it unfair to keep riding him if he does have this awful condition (he only does light hacking) - to me it feels that it would be (and perhaps unsafe) and we do walk him out in hand a lot which he seems to prefer anyway.
Thanks very much for any thoughts, I'm not replacing this with talking to vet - just like other thoughts from people dealing with the same issue too.
