Headshaking: Owner Assessment and Treatment Survey

This was an interesting and enlightening survey of therapeutic attempts to control headshaking in horses. Of interest was the lack of evaluation and treatment of photic causes of headshaking. Perhaps this is because of the location. Germany is further north in latitude than almost all of the continental US so daylight is not as intense. Also I have been told that the Europeans do much more of their riding indoors compared to US riders. Another cause of decreased lumen exposure. Of note is the frequency that nose covers were beneficial. Perhaps the increase in indoor riding means dustier conditions?
DrO

Equine Vet Sci. 2020 Dec;95:103270.
Overview of the Current Situation in a Sample of Headshakers and Owner Assessment of Effective Therapeutic Measures Used in Germany
Laura Maxi Stange 1, Joachim Krieter 2, Irena Czycholl 2

Abstract
Equine headshaking syndrome is a problematic behavior that has been described in literature for more than 100 years. The signs of headshaking syndrome appear frequently and violently so that riding the horse can be dangerous. The aim of this research was to gain an overview of the underlying causes of equine headshaking syndrome to identify effective treatment options, reduce the distress of horses and, in a second step, potentially improve therapeutic possibilities for horse owners and veterinarians. Most studies on prevalence originate from Anglo-American countries, so this research was to provide an overview of German horses; therefore, an online survey was designed by experts in the field (researchers and veterinarians) and answered by German horse owners. Questionnaires were pretested by a small group of horse owners (n = 5) and redesigned accordingly. The final questionnaire consisted of 27 questions, which were divided into seven open questions with an associated text field and 20 multiple-choice questions (Supplementary Material 1). For some of the multiple-choice questions, multiple answers were permitted. In total, 163 completed questionnaires were obtained from owners of headshaking horses (ntotal = 163). Gender distribution of the horses resulted in 64.4% geldings, 33.7% mares, and 1.8% stallions. Most horses were German warmbloods (55.4%). The average age was 12.7 years (with a wide range of 5 to 34 years). The vertical movement of the head was the most frequently mentioned symptom in 75.5% of the evaluated horses. In 18.4% of the cases, the horse owners identified stress as the main trigger for headshaking. Furthermore, 18.4% claimed that their horses suffered from additional stereotypical behavior. The percentages do not refer to the same horses here. 11.0% of the participants in this study tried scientifically evaluated therapies such as surgical therapy (1.2%) or medical treatment (9.8%). In addition, 54.0% of the owners utilized a nose cover to reduce the symptoms of the headshaking syndrome. A high percentage of 84.0% used alternative therapies such as physiotherapy (31.9%), change of equipment (22.7%), or change of riding style (29.4%). Overall, this study provides a useful overview of causes and effective therapies.