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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 425
 
Location: California | This is my friends horse, but I thought maybe y'all could help!?
Okay so the gelding has recently been rubbing himself raw in certain areas (nose, under neck). He acts itchy, constantly tosses his head and wants to rub his nose. (tosses head bad when loping). There is no discharge from his nose or eyes. No temperature spike or fever. Never had allergies before. The horse is 16 years old.
His teeth were recently floated, vet checked for ear mites & eye problems/senstitivity, & also drew blood. Everything is normal. The vet is not sure of whats causing the problem.
I attached a picture.
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 Katrina horse joey.jpeg (59KB - 460 downloads)
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| ccarpe18 - 2015-03-09 5:06 PM This is my friends horse, but I thought maybe y'all could help!?
Okay so the gelding has recently been rubbing himself raw in certain areas (nose, under neck). He acts itchy, constantly tosses his head and wants to rub his nose. (tosses head bad when loping). There is no discharge from his nose or eyes. No temperature spike or fever. Never had allergies before. The horse is 16 years old.
His teeth were recently floated, vet checked for ear mites & eye problems/senstitivity, & also drew blood. Everything is normal. The vet is not sure of whats causing the problem.
I attached a picture.
Allergies?? I would start by changing his enviornment, if he is on pasture stall him and see if there is improvement. I would also change his diet- one change at a time though so you know which if any is working. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Is he shedding? If so maybe he's got the itche's from all that lose hair. Just a thought.  |
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 Having Smokin Bandits
Posts: 4572
 
Location: Woodstown, NJ | Oh boy, I hate to say it but those are classic signs of headshaking syndrome. I have a headshaker. The trigeminal nerve that runs down the length of the face gets irritated and when they are symptomatic, they will toss their heads. It almost looks like a bee flew up the nose. Some horses, like mine, are only triggered by exercise. With or without a rider, with or without equipment. It has nothing to do with the rider. If it's his headshaking time, about ten minutes into running, right around the time his blood pressure goes up and he's breathing hard, he will start tossing his head. Some horses do it all the time. Many of these horses are seasonal. Many are active in the spring. Some are active in the winter. A lot of headshakers are photic--light bothers them and they are good to ride at dusk or in a dark indoor. On my headshaking board, a lot of people are reporting symptoms right now due to spring coming and also the glare from snow. My horse will rub his nose on things when he is at rest. He also will dunk his nose in the water trough. He likes to follow his buddy around with his nose up his butt. Must comfort him somehow. I've had him for 15 years. It took me a while to spot these particular symptoms. When headshakers are active, they are feeling pain. If he is tossing his head, she should definitely stop riding him. There is no cure but sometimes the symptoms are manageable and people try many things including Guardian masks, nose nets, melatonin (for the seasonal ones), magnesium (calms the nerves) and various medications. Headshaking usually starts when they are around 5 or 6 but not always. Geldings are most often affected for some reason. A lot of people unload these poor horses to unsuspecting buyers in the winter when they are least likely to have symptoms. Does any of this ring a bell for this horse? |
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  Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4553
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | Don't know anything about this head shaking syndrome. But I would give this horses' head a major scrub and wash and shave and scrub and wash again and wait and see if that takes care of the problem.Treat any open sores. |
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 Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | My horses scratch during the winter from dry skin. I spray them with conditioner or vetricyn. Usually stops them from scratching.
A good herbal bath and a coat conditioner should fix the problem. |
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 Serious Snap Trapper
Posts: 4275
Location: In The Snow, AZ | Is he rubbing on his hindquarters or shoulders at all? Rubbing out mane or tail?
Could be sweet itch/midges. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 129
Location: South | I recently had a mare that all of a sudden started rubbing part of her face raw. I had recently dewormed my herd, so I thought maybe she has parasites and was itchy. I dewormed her again, to find her still itching. I then treated her for lice thinking it was lice. After all my home remedies failed, I made an appointment with my vet who put my mare on steroids for 7 days. She is much better now, and the hair is regrowing back. My vet thinks she started scratching and it became a habit and felt the need to keep doing it. Keep in mine my horse doesn't shake her head, and this is the very first incident I've had with anything like this before. |
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boon
Posts: 2
| Hi,
I am the owner of the horse. I actually thought it was that too, but I have had him since he was 6 and has never displayed any sign like this before. My vet said it's highly unlikely because of his age and due to the fact I have had him so long and nothing has ever happened like this. He is a seasoned show horse and has travelled all over the country for competition, never had allergies. Thanks for your input! |
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boon
Posts: 2
| Only his neck...no tail or mane rubbing. Ill look into that though, thanks. |
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Veteran
Posts: 242
Location: Nowhere Land | I use MTG for sweet itch. Works great for most of the things that cause it.. sometimes it happens for allergies sometimes dry skin.. MTG will keep it clean, hydrated, infection free.. and help the hair grow back. Sorry to hear your horse is having this issue.. best of luck! |
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Veteran
Posts: 174
Location: Wisconsin | Skin conditions are also a sign of cushings. Our pony that has cushings does this every spring. |
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Tried and True
Posts: 21185
Location: Where I am happiest | Google Neck worms in horses. |
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Expert
Posts: 1611
| Might wanna rule these out:
http://thehorsesback.com/neck-threadworms/
I dunno about the head shaking never experienced that issue.
Calm coat is my go to for any skin issue, its antimicrobial and anti fungal.
Edited by astreakinchic 2015-03-10 1:04 PM
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Having Smokin Bandits
Posts: 4572
Location: Woodstown, NJ | Glad to hear you don't think it's headshaking syndrome! Nightmare. Good luck figuring it out. You've gotten some good suggestions on here. |
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