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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 534
 
Location: Ohio girl moved to PA | I just started my guy back to work after a 2 month break and yesterday was only day 2 of being back to work. But ive noticed he's wanting to toss his head/shake it a lot but he's also constantly scratching his face too. The tossing/shaking of the head was mainly when i was lunging him and the scratching was when i was riding. We ride with a tie down so he wasn't able to toss. We stopped maybe 5 times and it was long scratches on both front legs. He wasnt sweaty, (we just started our workout) I checked tack, nothing was pinching/poking. I checked ears, nothing in them. He will be due to have his teeth done in march but he's showed no other signs of them needing done. I checked in his mouth as much as i could and couldn't feel anything stuck/poking. Im curious if anyone has any suggestions/ideas. I'm also thinking this could be his way of protesting being back to work after his vaca but he's never done this in years past after his winter break and he's normally quite eager to get back to work. |
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 Texas Taco
Posts: 7499
  
Location: Bandera, TX | He still could have ticks way down on his ear canal. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 534
Location: Ohio girl moved to PA | GoMistyGo - 2018-01-26 8:05 AM He still could have ticks way down on his ear canal.
wouldnt he be shaking his head more often then? im not saying this isnt possible bc i did find one on him monday, but this behavior is ONLY done during workouts. I havent seen him do it any other time. |
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Texas Taco
Posts: 7499
Location: Bandera, TX | Ohiobarrelracer - 2018-01-26 7:46 AM GoMistyGo - 2018-01-26 8:05 AM He still could have ticks way down on his ear canal. wouldnt he be shaking his head more often then? im not saying this isnt possible bc i did find one on him monday, but this behavior is ONLY done during workouts. I havent seen him do it any other time.
Ticks could be reattaching while he is moving and that will cause pain.
I had a horse like this many years ago. She would slam her head around like crazy at times. My local vet thought brain tumor..... took her to A&M and they took x-rays of her skull - found impaction in both ear canals. They laid her down and put an endoscope in the ear. It was full with fat, nasty deer ticks. Crazy. Fixed our problem and no brain tumor!!!! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 534
Location: Ohio girl moved to PA | GoMistyGo - 2018-01-26 8:51 AM Ohiobarrelracer - 2018-01-26 7:46 AM GoMistyGo - 2018-01-26 8:05 AM He still could have ticks way down on his ear canal. wouldnt he be shaking his head more often then? im not saying this isnt possible bc i did find one on him monday, but this behavior is ONLY done during workouts. I havent seen him do it any other time.
I had a horse like this many years ago. She would slam her head around like crazy at times. My local vet thought brain tumor..... took her to A&M and they took x-rays of her skull - found impaction in both ear canals. They laid her down and put an endoscope in the ear. It was full with fat, nasty deer ticks. Crazy. Fixed our problem and no brain tumor!!!!
holy crap, thats crazy!! Well im glad for your sake it wasnt a brain tumor!!! im hoping this isnt the issue and he's just being a little turd. lol I dont need any vet bills this early in the year. But, ill definitley keep your advice in mind if it doesnt change! thank you! |
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 It's not my fault I'm perfect
Posts: 13739
Location: Where the long tails flow, ND | There are so many things. Ticks, ear infection, Trigeminal never pain (headshakers) - keep an eye on it. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 534
Location: Ohio girl moved to PA | SmokinGirlie - 2018-01-26 9:08 AM There are so many things. Ticks, ear infection, Trigeminal never pain (headshakers) - keep an eye on it.
Ive never heard of that so im going to do some research right now! thank you! |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 575
| I took a mare to the vet on Monday because I suspected ticks in her ears. Turns out they were just INSANELY dirty and had all kinds of gunk in them. She cleaned them out and as of yesterday she's back to normal. |
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 Too Skinny
Posts: 8009
Location: LA Lower Alabama | Double check that the headstall is not running into or near the eyes at certain times |
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 Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11493
Location: 31 lengths farms | SmokinGirlie - 2018-01-27 6:08 AM
There are so many things. Ticks, ear infection, Trigeminal never pain (headshakers) - keep an eye on it.
What SmokinGirlie said!!!! This is exactly how my mare that is a headshaker started out. Seasonally it got worse or better to a degree depending on allergies also. Another friend of mine recently had a mare that was having some of the same type symptoms, hers turned out to be ticks in the ears. |
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It's not my fault I'm perfect
Posts: 13739
Location: Where the long tails flow, ND | run n rate - 2018-01-26 10:56 AM SmokinGirlie - 2018-01-27 6:08 AM There are so many things. Ticks, ear infection, Trigeminal never pain (headshakers) - keep an eye on it. What SmokinGirlie said!!!! This is exactly how my mare that is a headshaker started out. Seasonally it got worse or better to a degree depending on allergies also. Another friend of mine recently had a mare that was having some of the same type symptoms, hers turned out to be ticks in the ears.
Mine started with a fractured tooth, that caused an ear infection, that caused her to fracture her face (from flinging it around I'm assuming). Horses. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Sounds like he could have TMJ problems, I would have this looked at by someone that knows what they are doing/looking for. |
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Member
Posts: 33
| Chiro might not be a bad option to look into also. I have a mare that 2 falls ago started shaking her head, to the point it was almost obnoxious to try and ride her (have owned her 6 years and never had the issue before, recently had teeth done also so ruled out). I ended up having the chiro out and she was out at her poll. She was 95% better after the first treatment and stopped completely after her follow up appointment a week later. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 534
Location: Ohio girl moved to PA | well, we rode friday for a good hour and didnt stop once to scratch his face, and he only tossed his head once and he hasnt done it since then. I did some research on the headshakers so im going to keep an eye on that, but hes not shaking like whats been described in the articles i found and its not as often/violent. I did clean ears and boy were they dirty but no ticks as far as i could see. Also going to keep that in mind if this doesnt stop. He does get fiesty when his poll goes out, but i checked and its not out, not even the slightest. All headgear fits and isnt bothering him/slipping, so im thinking its him protesting being back to work but im going to keep all advice in mind. I cant think of anything else to try. |
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head tossing/shaking