# Horse shaking the head



## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

I'm not very positive it belongs to "training" section, but... 

My paint shakes her head when I ride her. Like something bother her ears and she tries to chase away the flies from her head. She doesn't look annoyed by my riding or anything and somehow she mostly does it at walk (not so much at trot). 

I suspect something is wrong with bridle, but can't figure out what. She's fine about bit, doesn't chew on it or anything (it's a very mild eggbutt french link), the length of the bridle and overall setup is fine (I checked with trainer last Fall when I was taking lessons). I have nice (expensive  ) leather western bridle, very light, with browband. 
The trainer I talked to said she just picked up the bad habit, but my concert is she does it only with bridle on, so something is wrong.

I was thinking about trying a different bridle with one ear and no throatlatch (spell?) Does it make any sense? Any other ideas?

BTW, her teeth are fine and were done last month, and she does NOT like sidepulls and hackamores (no pressure on nose), so it's not an option.


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

What bit are you using and can you post a picture of your setup? Has there been a change in equipment or conditioning such as saddle, pad, muscling, weight. etc?


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## Kristina (Apr 5, 2009)

The key word here is her. Shes a normal mare. Mine does the same thing I spent weeks and dollars trying to find out why she throws her head. It's just her way of showing that little bit of dominance. If you can channel her attitude she will make a better horse.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

iridehorses said:


> What bit are you using and can you post a picture of your setup? Has there been a change in equipment or conditioning such as saddle, pad, muscling, weight. etc?


No change in setup. Same bridle, saddle, pad. She did it last year too (I blamed it to flies though), and she did it yesterday again (I didn't ride them for while, no flies yet). She just shakes so all mane goes up. May be her mane hair are caught under the bridle, which cause unpleasant feeling? My other horse with the same saddle and bit type doesn't do it. 

Here is the link to the bit:
http://www.doversaddlery.com/product.asp?pn=X1-010157&ids=70820800 

Here is the setup (best pic I could find from last yeat, sorry it's small)


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Kristina said:


> The key word here is her. Shes a normal mare. Mine does the same thing I spent weeks and dollars trying to find out why she throws her head. It's just her way of showing that little bit of dominance. If you can channel her attitude she will make a better horse.


I don't think it's a dominance issue with her. I WISH it would be though, because then I wouldn't care much. From her attitude and the way she generally behaves with me it's not a dominance. She also doesn't pin ears. When she's alert she doesn't do it much, mostly on calm relaxed walk.

My other one starts sometime to shake it on trot, but it's very obvious she just doesn't want to do extra work and shows her annoyance. If I don't care much about her lazy "unhappiness" she stops that right there.


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## Aliboo (Jun 20, 2008)

is she okay with her head being touched? she might just be sensitive. a lot of horses bob their heads if the reins are too loose or too tight


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## upnover (Jan 17, 2008)

can you explain the head shaking a little more? is she flipping her head up and down? or sticking her nose out and shaking kind of like a wet dog? does she scratch her nose a lot or sneeze? is it more noticeable during different seasons or types of weather?


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

She's fine with head being touched meaning, she doesn' mind bridle, and I can pet and brush her all over (although she doesn't like brush around the eyes - I do them with just hands). 

upnover, I know what you are asking. Let me try...  She did it last year all the time too whether in ring or on trail (although my feeling was it was less on trail than in ring). She doesn't have any scratches and if I scratch her with fingers she's OK - doesn't shake or move away from me. Again it's mostly happens on calm relaxed walk with loose reins, every 2-5 mins. She suddenly just shakes her head and neck from side to side. Kinda like person does it when the hair gets into the eye. I wouldn't say like a wet dog, because body doesn't move (just head and somewhat neck), but may be like a dog if water gets in ear. 
She doesn't have long hair on front though, and the bridle doesn't get into the eye.


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## G and K's Mom (Jan 11, 2008)

have you had her ears checked for mites?


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

She does it ONLY with bridle on. So I don't think anything with ears here.


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## G and K's Mom (Jan 11, 2008)

kitten_Val said:


> She does it ONLY with bridle on. So I don't think anything with ears here.


Have you had her looked at by a chiro? She could be out in the pole. That would show up once the bridle was on and putting pressure on that part of the body. Test it, but asking her to lower her head by using pole pressure.......It could still be an ear issue. Everything is so connected in their head......


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

She's fine about pressure on pole. One of the ground exercise I do is making her lower the head by using pressure from rope halter on pole. She does just fine - not a single problem. Well, I'll give a try to the other bridle I have - may be it'll fix an issue.


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## G and K's Mom (Jan 11, 2008)

Interesting...... let us know what happens......


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Have you tried a fly bonnet on her, or tried clipping her mane so it doesn't touch her ears, and braid up her forelock so it doesn't tickle her ears? Is the browband too tight? Does the saddle fit well? 

If you haven't had a chiropractor out, I highly suggest using one. Or even a vet. 

Maia did this as well, and I had her teeth done, tried switching bits, had her saddle professionally fitted, had a couple chiropractors out, and she still did it - to this day I don't know why, but it seemed that keeping her mane and forelock away helped. 
The only explanation that helped explain it was that Maia was growing a bit. She was 5 or 6, and in her final growth phase, which explained why she "hopped" up into a trot and had trouble keeping together from a canter to trot. 
I'm sorry this isn't much help.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Interesting. I'll try to remove the mane from around the ears and see what will happen. The bridle doesn't look tight. I'm afraid to loose it, because it'll be hanging in mouth too low. May be will try to put something soft under to see what will happen.

I'll post my attempts later on (we have rain this week, so I can't try).


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## eventerdrew (Mar 13, 2009)

wow. you and your mare are going through EXACTLY what my mare and I are working through! I have switched my mare's bridle, saddle, bit, and done her teeth but nothing seemed to help. She still does it when she has the bridle on but her issue is completely behavioral. I have had her checked out by many many vets and no one can find an explanation for this strange behavior except for she is barn sour and it is an evasion. Each time she shook her head, i would stop. so she learned that she could evade work if she did that. I know it seems like there might be bugs in your mare's ears but I'm pretty positive it's behavioral. 

i would get it checked out anyway but just thought i would share my experience!

Good Luck!


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Thank you, eventerdrew!

OK, just an update... (no good news though  ).

I tried different bridle with different bit yesterday. It was one-ear western bridle. The bit was Korsteel eggbutt french link. Same shaking, plus she looked pretty unpleased with this bit. And she shakes the head when I'm on ground, not on saddle, as well as saddle wasn't even tight. I also noticed when I was walking her in just a halter, she throw her head and mane too exactly the same way. So to me it looks like that strap going behind the ears somehow bothers her. The only time she doesn't care is when she is grazing. Lol! I have no idea what can be done else. May be shave her mane down there. But I kinda afraid to spoil her look.


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## Angel_Leaguer (Jun 13, 2008)

In your pics you have a halter on underneath her bridle... I wonder if that could be bothering her. Maybe it is causing the bridle to rub funny. I really dont know if that would be an issue but it is just a thought that crossed my mind. I hope you figure something out soon!!


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## Jane Honda (Feb 27, 2009)

kitten_Val said:


> Thank you, eventerdrew!
> 
> OK, just an update... (no good news though  ).
> 
> I tried different bridle with different bit yesterday. It was one-ear western bridle. The bit was Korsteel eggbutt french link. Same shaking, plus she looked pretty unpleased with this bit. And she shakes the head when I'm on ground, not on saddle, as well as saddle wasn't even tight. I also noticed when I was walking her in just a halter, she throw her head and mane too exactly the same way. So to me it looks like that strap going behind the ears somehow bothers her. The only time she doesn't care is when she is grazing. Lol! I have no idea what can be done else. May be shave her mane down there. But I kinda afraid to spoil her look.




There was an article in Practical Horseman that was pretty interesting about head shaking syndrome. It's more common in geldings than in mares, but it does happen in mares. What you described is what they talked about in the article. They say that studies show that it could be nerve related, and that wearing a nose bonnet seemed to help.

Treatments for Headshaking Syndrome


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

Val, sometimes there is noting you can do. A mare I had last year did the same thing and no change in equipment would make a difference. She would do it with a halter on as well - BUT only when I rode her - must be her back, right? However, when we went on trail rides with other horses, she didn't do it at all. For her I chalk it up to attitude.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Angel_Leaguer said:


> In your pics you have a halter on underneath her bridle... I wonder if that could be bothering her. Maybe it is causing the bridle to rub funny. I really dont know if that would be an issue but it is just a thought that crossed my mind. I hope you figure something out soon!!


I took the halter off yesterday when I tried different bridles.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Thank you all, folks! 

She doesn't look unhappy when shaking, so I probably will just let it go at the moment. 
I wish I could try brideless on her, but she's too hot for that.  May be couple years from now...

Thanks again!


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