Head shaker
Head shaking is the sudden, intermittent and apparently
involuntary tossing of the head. Most horses will shake
their head occasionally but abnormal head shakers often
exibit this behaviour whilst being ridden or for no apparent
reason.
Clinical signs include sudden and apparently involuntary,
vertical tossing of the head when ridden (which may be
horizontal or rotary), flipping of the nose or upper lip,
excessive snorting and rubbing of the nose.
There are many reasons a horse may head shake including
pollen allergies, teeth problems, uncomfortable tack and
sinus related problems.
Can Equissage help?
There is no definitive answer.
Much depends on whether the cause can be identified but
in most cases investigation has proved fruitless. Unfortunately
headshaking is a poorly understood phenomenon and treatments
have been met with limited success. The fact that in the
majority of cases the horse is fine when worked from the
ground could suggest that the syndrome may be related
to the nervous system resulting in headshaking due to
ill-fitting tack or teeth problems, although this is not
known with any degree of certainty.
If there is a connection with the nervous system then
the effects of the deep cycloidal massage that reaches
even the most distal areas of the body may help to stimulate
(and repair if that is the case) nerve/nerve endings.
If the condition is due to a constriction of fluid vessels
somewhere in the body which causes negative response messages
to be transmitted to the brain, then again the penetrating
massage may help to open up such vessels. However this
is speculative and it is really a case of experimenting
to see if Equissage can help the individual but its use
certainly can do no harm.
Application:
As there are no guidelines to work from then experiment
with the Pad and monitor the horse on a daily basis. So
over equal periods of time, try daily use, alternate days,
every two days and look for any significant changes. Your
input will prove valuable to the Equissage team.
For more information please call 0800 072 1180,
email us at info@equissage.co.uk
or request a FREE TRIAL
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