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boon
Posts: 3
| My wife's horse turns its head sideways coming out of the 2nd barrel. His head will be totally horizontal. I thought he was trying to pull the reigns away from her until we zoomed in on videos and that is not the case. We have had him looked over by vets numerous times and they say he is sound. He will shake his head leaving the other barrels but the 2nd is the worst. Any ideas as to what is going on? He has always done this, teeth are good as well. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 468
Location: Crazy House | Teeth? |
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| i would say maybe take him to a equine dentist and have his teeth throughly looked at..
but also wanted to add some horses just develop a habit like that.. i used to have a lesson horse that while riding she would turn her head horizontal just because it was a habit she had picked up. when you corrected her and made her hold it stright she would just turn it the other direction! she never did come out of it and it annoyed the crap of me! |
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 Serious Snap Trapper
Posts: 4275
Location: In The Snow, AZ | I may have not read correctly, so I apologize in advance. Is it possible that he is trying to "save" his face from being yanked on? Maybe an old habit?
I remember my mare would try and prepare for rough hands when I first got her. She would hold her head up and sideways coming out of turns. I just chocked it up to a green rider before me as we were able to work out of it. |
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| Be sure his teeth are being taken care of by a qualified, trained equine dentist. Very few vets have the specialized training to be good at this, IMO. |
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Location: Ohio | MO gal - 2014-03-10 1:11 PM Be sure his teeth are being taken care of by a qualified, trained equine dentist. Very few vets have the specialized training to be good at this, IMO.
I agree with this...I've spoken with a vet that expressed interest in providing only basic needs to their clients, but preferred certified dentists for all other cases. Some vets are not the case and are very involved in any and all possible dental issues.
Good to hear vet finds him sound. Have you had him checked by a chiropractor or massage therapist? They often find things that may not show up in routine soundness exams. Actually, I resort to them first before resorting to my vet (and I love my vet!). Often times it is something they can help with and is nice to not have to spend money on unnessary x-rays or tests when it is only some theraputic work that needs done over time.
Last thought, I had a mare once who would toss her head while riding, small head tosses though and they weren't in the same place on every run like yours so it was hard to troubleshoot. After I had her checked by chiro/massage, and had vet checked (including x-rays of jaw and poll), and had her ears thoughly checked for deep down problems that we just maybe couldn't see, it was suggested to me to check to see if the roof of her mouth was unusually low. After sticking my finger in every horses mouth in the barn to get a feel for this (real scientific, I know...) I did notice hers was exceptionally lower than anyone (compared to about ten horses). I changed her bit to a "mullen" mouth. Bam! Problem fixed. I couldn't believe it. Many years later and under a different owner, it still is the case and they can use any bit they need just as long as the mouthpiece is a mullen mouth. This mare did not like bits with nosebands or any hackamores, so I just had to stick with the mullen mouth mouthpiece. I never looked any further into this so I always wondered if my suspicion about the roof of a mouth being too low was right, or if I just lucked out and the mare was just happier in a mullen mouth... I was just glad the problem was gone. Good luck to you! |
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Location: Ohio | trnnbrn97 - 2014-03-10 2:01 PM MO gal - 2014-03-10 1:11 PM Be sure his teeth are being taken care of by a qualified, trained equine dentist. Very few vets have the specialized training to be good at this, IMO. I agree with this...I've spoken with a vet that expressed interest in providing only basic needs to their clients, but preferred certified dentists for all other cases. Some vets are not the case and are very involved in any and all possible dental issues.
Good to hear vet finds him sound. Have you had him checked by a chiropractor or massage therapist? They often find things that may not show up in routine soundness exams. Actually, I resort to them first before resorting to my vet (and I love my vet!). Often times it is something they can help with and is nice to not have to spend money on unnessary x-rays or tests when it is only some theraputic work that needs done over time.
Last thought, I had a mare once who would toss her head while riding, small head tosses though and they weren't in the same place on every run like yours so it was hard to troubleshoot. After I had her checked by chiro/massage, and had vet checked (including x-rays of jaw and poll), and had her ears thoughly checked for deep down problems that we just maybe couldn't see, it was suggested to me to check to see if the roof of her mouth was unusually low. After sticking my finger in every horses mouth in the barn to get a feel for this (real scientific, I know...) I did notice hers was exceptionally lower than anyone (compared to about ten horses). I changed her bit to a "mullen" mouth. Bam! Problem fixed. I couldn't believe it. Many years later and under a different owner, it still is the case and they can use any bit they need just as long as the mouthpiece is a mullen mouth. This mare did not like bits with nosebands or any hackamores, so I just had to stick with the mullen mouth mouthpiece. I never looked any further into this so I always wondered if my suspicion about the roof of a mouth being too low was right, or if I just lucked out and the mare was just happier in a mullen mouth... I was just glad the problem was gone. Good luck to you!
Let me correct myself, it wasn't a small head "toss", is was a small head shake. Not a violent shake, just looked like something was bugging her ears just a little or something. |
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boon
Posts: 3
| His teeth were just done in the fall... He is ran in a War Bonnet. He will throw his head once in awhile on the first and third, but it is real bad on the 2nd. We joke that he knows every intricate detail of the arena lights over the 2nd barrel. |
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boon
Posts: 3
| He only does this when ran... when slow worked or in expos he does not throw his head. |
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 Tough Patooty
Posts: 2615
Location: Sperry, OK | jrthom - 2014-03-10 2:11 PM He only does this when ran... when slow worked or in expos he does not throw his head.
sounds like there must be a pain issue somewhere...to me anyway. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2161
Location: NW. Florida | Most of horses I see doing this the rider has pressure of both sides of the reins in a turn. |
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I Am a Snake Killer
Posts: 1927
Location: Golden Gulf Coast of Texas | Bleeder possibly |
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Veteran
Posts: 264
| I have a mare that does this on her first barrel. I won't be touching the reins at all and she will turn her head completely sideways. She is up to date on everything, no reason for the odd head shaking. We switched shoers and no head shaking. He was pinching her heels on the right front. It hurt every time she ran full out.
So if you are up to date with everything else, I would go to his foundation! |
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Fire Ant Peddler
Posts: 2881
| My horse was doing the exact same thing. I noticed it in the photos that were take at barrel races. I sent mine to my trainer and this is what we came up with----about 60% of it was rider issues, the rest was from the wide band tie down that I used. Switched to a wire tie down and dropped it lower on his nose. (after a while I was able to go back to a rope tie down, kind of low on his nose) I ALWAYS ride him at home in a German Martingale. I learned to position him better going into the barrel and stay off his head even though I am NOT heavy handed. This horse is light.
My trainer is the best at correcting problems. I picked this horse up on a Thursday and rode him on Saturday. He turned out from under me. He was paying attention to what he was doing instead of shaking his head. Seriously |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Make sure the bit is not pinching his mouth. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 422
Location: Fort Bragg North Carolina | I'm sure you have examined the horses mouth but I have to share this. I have a seasoned barrel horse and she began shaking her head when I warmed her up I Kept saying what are u doing I'm not even touching ur mouth!! I resized my bridle had the vet feel her teeth (they were fine) and I checked my bit even tries diff bits one day she was yawning and I noticed her tounge was CUT! One side of her tounge had a cut that looked to but healing or had healed (hard to tell on the tounge) I assume she has damage to the bars of her mouth too. I think this was from her pulling back super hard in my hand she backed nearly across our whole property lol and I held the reins and went w her this is all I can think of. Very strange and I still ride her I only use her bit when we work barrels other than that I ride her in a side pull. I think it's healed but sore. I would check the bars of the horses mouth and under and around the tounge you never know! :/ |
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Horse Throwing Head on Barrel Pattern