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  Discussion on Head tossing/nodding
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Member:
Lindac

Posted on Friday, Oct 18, 2002 - 4:20 pm:

In the last month and a half my horse has gone from being a well mannered quiet fellow to a head tossing/nodding idiot. Although the following incident could be totally unrelated, it's worth mentioning, just in case it may hold some clue.

The first signs of this problem showed up when a friend of mine took him to a 'round pen' clinic. He was fine all day, but when everyone tacked up for a short lesson at the end of the day he started to wave his nose around. It was very mild so I thought maybe it was a rider issue and he just needed to be pushed forward more. When we returned home I noticed his halter had been partially ripped at the ring located on the side of the nose strap. My horses never wear their halters except when they are being handled, so I thought this odd. I mentioned it to my friend who was surprised as she had cleaned it the day before and said she would have definitely noticed the tear had it been there. During the day of the clinic, he was left with his halter on in a spare stall and in the round pen with hay and water during the lunch break. When we returned after lunch he was still standing there quietly eating his hay. My feeling is that he must have snagged his halter on something, but I can't be sure.

For the next couple of days he showed no signs of waving his nose and all was forgotten. However, during the following week the nose waving reappeared along with increased snorting (to a point you would think he was going to blow a gasket), tongue sticking out, wanting to rub his nose, and then the head tossing or better described as nose snapping or flipping. It's like he's being stung by a bee or picked by a needle. He also puckers his upper lip and wiggles his nose like something is tickling it and his lips are constantly trembling and smacking together. These symptoms only show up when he starts to work under saddle or on the lunge line (with and without side reins), and just get progressively worse. The interesting part is the symptoms disappear almost entirely when he is being jumped. He loves to jump and it's almost like he gets distracted so much with the jumping that he's willing to ignore whatever is irritating him.

It doesn't matter whether it's morning, afternoon, or evening, sunny, overcast, wet, dry, humid, warm, cool, windy, etc. it appears basically in all types of light or weather conditions. To start ruling out the obvious, I had his teeth checked by the equine dentist who looks after him on a regular basis. He was unable to find anything. The next step was rest, but that also proved useless. Two vets have examined him for outward signs of trauma (due to the halter incident) and found nothing. Although he showed no signs of allergies, he was put on an antihistamine to rule that out. No luck with this either. In the last couple of days I've noticed that he's begun the wave his nose very slightly when first turned out, although it's not near the intensity as when he's being worked and breathing deeper. My vet has scheduled him for full diagnostic exam next week.

Unfortuntatley this could prove to be a make it or break it issue for this horse. I've read the articles about "Head Shaking" and wondered if this could be a light or trigeminal nerve issue, but I don't understand how either of these would produce the snorting, rubbing and tongue problems, etc., which then disappear when he's jumped. I'm desperate for any clues or ideas that you may have and also would appreciate hearing from anyone else who may have the same or similar problems with their horse.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Oct 18, 2002 - 5:00 pm:

I presume he will be radiographed, scoped and have his ears thoroughly examined. The reason for your horses behavior is because he feels something. Humans that have the problems with the light and trigemial nerve both report feeling somethng that ranges from a tickle to severe pain.
DrO
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